january 2023 update
foundation focus
Grant allows Avanti students to engage in outdoor education
About 20 Avanti High School students experienced an immersive field science investigation through the Mount Rainier Institute this past fall thanks to a $2,000 Olympia Education Foundation grant.
Avanti High School teacher Quasar Surprise, one of nearly 100 school staff who has been awarded a Foundation grant so far this year, said the support she received allowed her students to, among other things, "engage in two research groups during their four days of outdoor education: carbon sequestration and fire risk. Each group collected data in an experimental forest run by the University of Washington, analyzed that data and then presented their findings at a culminating symposium."
They also spent time connecting -- to each other and the land.
Surprise shares more below about the experience the grant afforded her students.
Since October, the Foundation has awarded more than $82,000 in Teaching & Learning Grants, more than $5,000 in Browsers Grants, and more than $23,000 in SEL/Mental Health Grants.
The next -- and possibly final -- deadline to apply this school year for a Foundation grant is Friday, Feb. 17. Visit our website or contact info@olyedfoundation.org for more information.
“We played games, laughed together, and investigated fallen logs, BIG trees, mushrooms and more. We slept in cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, ate together in a dining hall, and navigated the ups and downs of sharing space with middle schoolers. We had a lively debate about how to manage our resources in light of the climate crisis. Our last campfire was a beautiful sharing of poems, songs and skits. Students walked away with a true sense of belonging ... to each other and this beautiful place that we live in and the earth we live on. We reflected deeply on the connection to land and the native tribes — Squaxin, Nisqually, Chehalis and others — that have stewarded this land for tens of thousands of years. Our day on Tahoma (Mount Rainier) was a much-needed source of joy playing in the snow. Mount Rainier Institute felt like the perfect way to welcome in community while engaging in transformative learning.”
An Olympia Education Foundation grant helped make this immersive outdoor education experience possible for about 20 Avanti High School students this past fall.
event update
Save the date for this year's golf tournament!
Our annual golf tournament will be back this summer, tentatively set for Friday, Aug. 18. (The date is tentative only because we want to make sure it doesn't conflict with another major fundraiser in town this year. Stay tuned!)
Team registration will open in the early spring.
We hope you will hold this date for what is always an incredibly fun day -- and that we see you at the Olympia Country & Golf Club on Aug. 18 this year!
grant gratitude
Speaking of grants, we want to thank the Nisqually Indian Tribe and Squaxin Island Tribe for awarding the Olympia Education Foundation two separate grants that will help support our Mental Health Initiative (MHI). This year we are focusing MHI funds on grants that support counselors, social workers, behavior technicians, and restorative justice centers in their pursuit of materials or the development of programs that specifically address social-emotional learning and mental health.
