More than $40K given in grants in past 2 years

Despite not having their annual “Beach Ball” fundraiser due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the East Greenwich Education Foundation (EGEF) raised more than $20,000 in 2021 thanks to generous local sponsors, including Pawtucket Credit Union, Preserve Sporting Club, R.I. Real Estate Services, Providence Diamond Co., Quonset Dental, Thorpe’s Wines & Spirits, Watson Materials, Affiliated Insurance Managers Inc, Bally’s Twin River Lincoln Casino Resort, Oliverio & Marcaccio LLP, Dunkin Donuts, and others. 

“This past spring, our sponsors showed up for our community in a big way,” said EGEF Co-President Lindsay Ferranti. “The grants funded by the EGEF support the kind of sustainable and innovative education that our children need and deserve during these unprecedented times.” 

She also credited past president Katie Keefe, who didn’t let the pandemic stand in the way of helping local students.

Thanks to a record-breaking fundraiser in 2019 and the ongoing support from donors over the past two years, EGEF funded 11 grants during the 2020-21 academic school year, 5 of which were granted during a special fall 2021 grant cycle created by EGEF to assist during the pandemic. The total granted amount for the 2020-21 school year was a whopping $41,274. 

A complete list of grants funded by EGEF in 2020-2021 is listed below. 

Archie R. Cole Middle School 

• Empowered Brain – Social Emotional Coaching Apps to Empower Students with Autism or ADHD (6th-8th, Scott): Google glasses which provides social-emotional coaching to empower students to function more effectively in the school environment

East Greenwich High School 

• East Greenwich Air Pollution Monitoring (9th-12th, Rath): Specialized portable GPS monitoring equipment that allows students to measure air pollution, learn about climate change, and enhance their environmental literacy. 
• EGHS Library Art Display (9-12th, Steever): Student-created art and sound proof panels that foster community and enhance the learning space in the library. 
• Life Skills Color Printer (9th-12th, Healy): Color printer will improve accessibility and comprehension of materials presented to Life Skills students. 

Frenchtown Elementary School 

• Musical Playground (K-2nd, Breidenbach): An outdoor music playground where students engage in musical games and activities via large musical/flower structures. 
• 3-D Printing with MakerBot Sketch Classroom (K-2nd, Gaskill): A 3-D printer which integrates with current computer science and coding curriculum to promote design thinking, spatial reasoning, collaboration, and engineering skills. 

George R. Hanaford Elementary School 

• Curriculum Immersion Project: Using Virtual and Augmented Reality (3rd-5th, Gorter): Virtual and augmented reality headsets (24) which provide unique virtual reality experiences for students throughout the 3rd through 5th grade curricula. 
• The Walking Classroom (5th, Jennings): Through age-appropriate MP3 players podcasts, students listen to stimulating topics in ELA, social studies, and science and engage in class discussion and activities. 

Meadowbrook Farms Elementary School

• Musical Playground (K-2nd, Breidenbach): An outdoor music playground where students engage in musical games and activities via large musical/flower structures. 
• Blow Off Some STEAM (2nd , DelGallo): Hands-on STEAM materials to enhance team-based problem solving and creative engineering skills. To be used across 2nd grade.

Frenchtown and Meadowbrook Farms Elementary Schools

• The New Virtual Classroom: Reaching Our Students’ Needs Both In-Person and Distance (K-2nd, Doucette): LexiaCore will help monitor and enrich our youngest learners’ phonics and reading skills. 

Eldredge, Hanaford, Frenchtown, and Meadowbrook Farms Elementary Schools 

• Making Music in a Virtual Reality (K-5th, Lee): Macbook software allows for music arrangement, edits, and compilation of individual recordings to share and combine into performances virtually. 

Grant applications now open; Beach Ball June 2

Educators can apply for a grant for the 2022-23 school year now at https://egefri.org/application-process. 

The “Beach Ball,” the nonprofit’s largest annual fundraiser, will be back on June 2, 2022, marking the event’s fifth anniversary with a new location, The Ocean House in Newport. 

“We are thrilled to have a Beach Ball again in 2022,” said Co-President Meghan Myers. “Not only does the event raise critical funds for our East Greenwich schools, but it is a great opportunity for members of the community to come together for a wonderful evening to celebrate East Greenwich education! It has been missed for the past two years.” 

Money raised that evening will be used to fund educator-driven innovative and sustainable initiatives in each of East Greenwich’s six public schools. Information on ticket sales will be released in February 2022.

Since its start in 2009, the East Greenwich Education Foundation has funded more than 88 grants, touching every public school in our town and now totaling close to $500,000. 

About East Greenwich Education Foundation 

EGEF is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes excellence in public education by providing grants to teachers to fund creative, innovative and sustainable initiatives in the classroom. The Foundation supports educational programs at all six public schools in East Greenwich. It is through the generous giving of individual donors and fundraising events such as the annual Beach Ball Gala that enables the Foundation to fund grants.