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Oswego nonprofit ‘fills the gap’ by providing grants to enhance educational opportunities at District 308 · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Oswego nonprofit fills the gap by providing grants to enhance
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  Speaker 1: educational opportunities at District three hundred and eight. Written by
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  Speaker 1: Eric Schlkoff, This article is being read by an automated
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  Speaker 1: voice brought to you by Everlett. Since nineteen ninety five,
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  Speaker 1: the nonprofit organization Oswego Foundation for Educational Excellence has provided
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  Speaker 1: grants to enhance the educational opportunities for students in Oswego
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  Speaker 1: School District three hundred and eight. We fill in the gap.
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  Speaker 1: Retired District three hundred and eight educator Carla Honks said,
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  Speaker 1: the teachers can't foot the bill and the district can't
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  Speaker 1: afford it, so we kind of fill in that gap.
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  Speaker 1: The group was incorporated in November nineteen ninety five as
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  Speaker 1: a vehicle to enhance the educational whole program of the
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  Speaker 1: district by providing materials, equipment, and funding for initiatives that
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  Speaker 1: cannot be supplied through limited public reads sources. The district
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  Speaker 1: quickly expanded from just six schools to twenty two schools
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  Speaker 1: to meet the rapid growth in Oswego in the late
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  Speaker 1: nineteen nineties and early two thousands. Seven nineteen new schools
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  Speaker 1: were built in just twelve years. This school year, the
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  Speaker 1: Oswego Foundation for Educational Excellence was able to fund forty
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  Speaker 1: two full or partial grant requests to aid teachers in
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  Speaker 1: classrooms for a total of fifteen thy three hundred and
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  Speaker 1: thirty dollars. We wish we could give much much more,
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  Speaker 1: Honks said. We have a few ways we raise money.
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  Speaker 1: We do it primarily through events and donations. There also
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  Speaker 1: is the opportunity for teachers to donate from each paycheck.
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  Speaker 1: Any school District three hundred and eight faculty or staff
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  Speaker 1: member can apply for a grant. Honky's wants to get
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  Speaker 1: the word out to more people about what the group does.
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  Speaker 1: For as long as it's been around, there are still
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people who don't know that we exist,
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  Speaker 1: she said. The group will hold a fundraising event from
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  Speaker 1: Newton to nine pm Thursday at the Scoop ice cream
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  Speaker 1: Shop one zero eight Main Street in downtown Oswego. That day,
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  Speaker 1: ten percent of all sales will fund teacher grants. Kelly Rice,
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  Speaker 1: who co owns the Scoop, serves on the group's board
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  Speaker 1: of directors. Thursday is also the first day of the
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  Speaker 1: fall semester for District three hundred and eight. Students. You
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  Speaker 1: should celebrate the first day of school at the Scoop.
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  Speaker 1: Rice said. The group will also have a booth at
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  Speaker 1: the Christmas Walk in downtown Oswego on December fourth, and
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  Speaker 1: every January we do a calendar fundraiser where for the
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  Speaker 1: low low price of twenty five dollars you're entered into
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  Speaker 1: a drawing every single day in the month of January.
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  Speaker 1: January to win a prize, Rice said, we give away
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  Speaker 1: thirty one prizes. It's so much fun. We spin the
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  Speaker 1: wheel on our Facebook page and pick winners every single day.
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  Speaker 1: A trivia fundraiser is also planned for next year. Rice
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  Speaker 1: hopes the group will be able to help even more
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  Speaker 1: in the future. It's such a burden to so many
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  Speaker 1: teachers that they can't afford all these things that would
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  Speaker 1: help the learning experience for the kids, she said. More
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  Speaker 1: information about the Aswigo Foundation for Educational Excellence is available
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  Speaker 1: at its website Oswego Foundation dot org. Grant applications are
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  Speaker 1: available through the website starting September first,