Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation Archives

Oak Ridge Education Foundation donates $81,000 to city schools

May 1, 2013 By Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation Leave a Comment

Deirdre Barrett, right, is pictured above with Alice Feldman, Linda Young, Anne Garcia Garland, and Margaret Gottshall. (Submitted photos)

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation presented a check for $81,000 to the Oak Ridge Schools at the Foundation’s award ceremony Friday evening. The funds will be used to provide a variety of educational materials in each of the city’s seven public schools.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director and Foundation Chair Thom Mason told an audience of more than 150 attending the event that the gift was part of the Foundation’s “Making a Critical Difference” campaign that provides teachers small grants for teaching tools not available in the city’s education budget. Mason said that, since the program began in 2004, the Foundation has awarded a total of more than $408,000 to dozens of teachers in every grade. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, Education, K-12, Nonprofits, Top Stories, Uncategorized Tagged With: awards ceremony, Cathy Toth, Deirdre Barrett, grants, Lila Metcalf, Making a Critical Difference, Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation, Oak Ridge Schools, Thom Mason

Harvard psychologist to discuss dreams, innovation at Education Foundation program

April 15, 2013 By Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation Leave a Comment

Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist on the Harvard Medical School faculty, will discuss dreams and innovation as the featured speaker during an April 26 program hosted by the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation that will honor teachers who have received the Foundation’s 2013 grant awards. (Submitted photo)

Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist on the Harvard Medical School faculty known for her research on dreams and hypnosis, will return to her hometown to speak on “Dreams and Innovation” on Friday, April 26, in Oak Ridge.

Barrett is the featured speaker at the “Dreams and Innovation” program hosted by the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation to honor teachers who have received the Foundation’s 2013 grant awards, beginning at 5 p.m. at New Hope Center.

The free event is open to the public, and no reservations are required.

Barrett is an Oak Ridge High School graduate, and she will describe how dreams contribute to innovation and problem solving, relating research from her book, “The Committee of Sleep.” The book is subtitled “How Artists, Scientists, and Athletes Use Dreams for Creative Problem-Solving—How You Can Too.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: College, Community, Education, Health, Nonprofits, Top Stories Tagged With: Behavioral Medicine Program, Deirdre Barrett, dreams, Dreams and Innovation, grant awards, Grants Program, Harvard Medical School, hypnosis, Lila Metcalf, Making the Critical Difference, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation, psychologist, psychology, Supernormal Stimuli—How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose, The Committee of Sleep

Company pledges $10,000 to five-year school foundation campaign

December 12, 2012 By Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation Leave a Comment

Cadre5 and Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation

Steve Hicks, president and chief executive officer of Cadre5 LLC, is pictured with Cathy Toth, Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation secretary and chair of the ORPSEF Making a Critical Difference campaign. (Submitted photo)

During the next five years, the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation (ORPSEF) has set a goal to provide $100,000 annually to the Oak Ridge schools.

Cadre5, a full-service technology and design firm with a focus on custom software development and technology innovation, recently made a $10,000 commitment to the campaign, and the company will give $2,000 annually to help the ORPSEF reach its goal.

“Finding employees that have the skills to face some of the nation’s most difficult technical issues can be a challenge,” said Steve Hicks, president and chief executive officer of Cadre5 LLC. “By supporting our local schools, we not only create a community that is attractive to grow today’s businesses, we are establishing a strong foundation for our future workforce to ensure that we will have the talent to answer tomorrow’s tough questions.”

Education Foundation gives city $400,000 for ORHS debt

December 6, 2012 By Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation 1 Comment

Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation Executive Director Lila Metcalf presents a $402,611 check to Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson to help pay the debt on the renovation of the Oak Ridge High School. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation recently made its eighth annual contribution for the rebuilding and renovation of Oak Ridge High School, a project that was completed in 2008.

In November, Lila Metcalf, the foundation’s executive director, presented a check for $402,611 to Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson to assist in the high school debt repayment. Since the payments began in 2005, the Education Foundation has presented the city with more than $3.5 million for the high school.

The Education Foundation raised $8 million in private funds for the high school, and that money provided the leverage for special bonds available for public schools. Together, the private funds and bonds provided the final piece of funding that made the renovation of Oak Ridge High School possible.

Grants program for school classroom projects discussed Tuesday

November 18, 2012 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A board member of a local nonprofit organization that helps schools will give a Tuesday presentation on a program that uses grants to fund classroom projects in Oak Ridge.

The presentation by Cathy Toth of the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation starts at noon Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church.

“We are well aware of the ORPSEF efforts in the renovation of Oak Ridge High School,” Toth said in a press release. “Most of us are not aware that ORPSEF has quietly been making a difference with a grants program that has funded dozens of classroom projects in every school in Oak Ridge. The grants provide resources beyond what can be provided by tax dollars to help make the critical difference between adequate and outstanding academic experiences and performance.”

Guest column: Education Foundation seeks to raise $500,000 for teaching grants

September 2, 2012 By Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation 1 Comment

In the past seven years, the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation has awarded more than $322,000 in grants to more than 100 teachers. Because of the grants, at-risk readers are discovering the joy of reading through Kindles. Students are practicing a variety of skills using clicker response systems that provide teachers immediate feedback on what they’ve learned. Special needs students using iPads are pursuing new paths to learn reading comprehension skills.

With these grants, teachers are advancing learning with technology and equipment that wouldn’t be available otherwise in areas of science, art, music, special needs, the manufacturing academy, and foreign language, among others. The Education Foundation’s grants program does not replace public funding, but provides resources over and above what tax dollars are able to fund. It is an investment in our children and educational excellence.

UT-Battelle donates $50,000 to Oak Ridge science competition

July 17, 2012 By Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation Leave a Comment

UT-Battelle has announced a $50,000 donation for the FIRST Robotics and FIRST Lego science competition for Oak Ridge schools. Pictured above are, from left, Thomas Zacharia, Jeff Smith, Martin Keller, and Thom Mason. (Photo submitted by ORPSEF)

UT-Battelle has announced a $50,000 gift to fund the FIRST Robotics and FIRST Lego science competitions for Oak Ridge schools.

The announcement came as part of the capital campaign sponsored by the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation to make a “critical difference” by providing additional resources to Oak Ridge teachers and students.

Two of the region’s most popular and fastest growing activities, FIRST Robotics and FIRST LEGO are team competitions that combine the excitement of sports with real-world challenges of science and technology.

Myricks pledge $25,000 to Oak Ridge schools fundraising campaign

July 15, 2012 By Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation 2 Comments

Tim and Teresa Myrick (Photo submitted by ORPSEF)

Tim Myrick’s involvement with Oak Ridge High School—as a loaned executive and consultant helping with the reconstruction of the high school and later as a volunteer in advance placement environmental science classes—has convinced him that teachers’ needs in the classroom are sometimes greater than budgets will allow.

Myrick and his wife Teresa believe that grants to teachers will make a critical difference to Oak Ridge Schools. They are pledging $25,000 to the “Making a Critical Difference” campaign for grants and scholarships as they help launch the individual giving part of the campaign.