It’s time to make your reservations to attend  SWSF’s fabulous Gala Dinner and Fundraiser Saturday, May 18^th, starting at 5:00 PM, at the Useless Bay Golf & Country Club to support classroom education grants for our kids!

This year’s guest speaker will be Fred Lundahl, a retired Foreign Service diplomat with more than 30 years working in American Embassies abroad, member of the South Whidbey School District’s Long-Range Planning Committee, and a local businessman.  His keynote address is titled “If you can read this, thank a teacher”.

There will be live music, a no-host bar, a before-dinner silent auction, two reports from teachers Jeff Greene and David Pfeiffer who received classroom grants this past year, a student presentation by Maddy Jerome, and an after-dinner live auction hosted by popular local host Jim Freeman.

This event is for everyone who supports our local schools and wishes to help support the Foundation in its mission to provide innovative, teacher-funded classroom grants that promote educational excellence.

Dinner tickets are $75 per person and may be purchased online at

The dinner entree choices will include roast prime rib with au jus and horseradish sauce, grilled salmon with beurre rouge, and Portobello Wellington (a vegetarian entree).  Each dinner includes a green salad with tomato, asiago cheese and balsamic vinaigrette or Caesar salad, chef’s selection potato or rice pilaf, fresh seasonal vegetable, and a fabulous chocolate dessert with after dinner coffee.

Just a few of the auction items that we are featuring include the following:

• Consultation in landscape design and 2 large custom-made flower pots fully planted and delivered
• One day of expert carpentry work
• Deception Pass Jet-Boat Tour for 2
• Two 15# packages of grass-fed local beef from David Nelson
• Useless Bay Golf &Country Club – 1 initiation fee for a Social Membership,  1 initiation fee of $500 for a golfing membership, and 4 rounds of golf
• 3 personal training/physical therapy sessions from Marti Murphy with One-to-One Personal Training
• Georgia Gerber “Otter” valued at $650
• 6-month membership to Family Care Fitness Center
• Crab Feast from the Wileys:  “We will cook crab and crack it, provide french bread/salad/corn-on-the-cob/and a dessert, and deliver to anyone on Whidbey Island
• $50 gift certificate to Quails Run Farm for produce at the Bayview Farmer’s Market
• 2-Night stay at the Boatyard Inn in Langley
• Overnight stay at the Pine Cottage Bed & Breakfast
• Wine and food tastings to include Bloom’s Winery, Prima Bistro, Comfort Farms, and Useless Bay Wines
• 4 horseback riding lessons with Sarah Moulton, valued at $160
• Gift certificates to Lind’s Pharmacy, Payless Foods, Pickles Deli, and Les Schwab Tire Center
• A “Shirlee’s” lemon meringue pie for 10 to 12, served in a Sharon Warwick ceramic pie plate.

SWSF Board member Bob Wiley presents South Whidbey School District Superintendent Jo Moccia with a $25,309 check to fund innovative teacher-requested projects and equipment.

SOUTH WHIDBEY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INCREASES INNOVATION GRANT AWARDS FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW!

In response to shrinking School District funds, the South Whidbey Schools Foundation increased its total grant awards this fall from almost $19,000 last year to over $25,000 this year.

The grant awards were made to 16 educators for 19 learning projects at the District’s four campuses.

Foundation Vice President and Grant Committee Chairman Chris Gibson explained, “for the second year in a row the Foundation had its most successful fund-raising year ever.  The generosity of our community has once again allowed the Foundation to fund innovative teacher projects that would otherwise not be possible due to a lack of district funds.”

Some of the projects funded include access to an on-line encyclopedia, magazine subscriptions for campus libraries, and several high definition video cameras.  Others involve local artists working with students on projects in their specialty area.  Music students at Langley Middle School, for instance, will once again have the opportunity to rehearse, perform and learn tricks of the trade directly from professional musicians who play the same instrument as they do.  The Foundation also awarded over $4,000 to purchase various sensors for conducting scientific exploration at the Middle School.

Foundation President John Knox noted, “It was our best fund-raising year ever, and we’re very proud of that, but we also received funding requests that exceeded the funds available.  As a result, we were unable to fund all grant requests, and not all funded requests received the entire amount requested.  It was great news we could fund so many grants, but there is so much more we could do with the continued support of the community.”

The South Whidbey Schools Foundation is a 501c-3 non-profit organization dedicated to supporting innovation and excellence in the South Whidbey School District.  More information about the foundation, including a full list of the projects funded this fall and how to make tax-deductible contributions to support the schools, can be found at on the Foundation’s website.

A list of the 2012/2013 classroom grants can be found here.

Once again South Whidbey residents stepped up for education, donating over $18,000 to the South Whidbey Schools Foundation at its annual Gala Dinner and Fundraiser held May 19 at Useless Bay Golf & Country Club.

The evening’s program included live music by the DBJazz combo, presentations by recent Foundation grant recipients, a keynote address by South Whidbey School District’s Superintendent Dr. Jo Moccia, and both a silent and a live auction. The money raised will help fund teacher-requested project grants in the 2012-13 school year.

Highlights from the event included a presentation by elementary school students who participated in a sustainability “Green Team” project, which was funded in part by a $1,000 Foundation grant. The students explained how they first assessed their school’s waste production, then devised ways to significantly reduce it. As a result, teacher Susan Milan, grant author and project leader, was selected as an honorable mention recipient for the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators by the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. South Whidbey High School teacher Jeff Greene also gave a presentation on his two $1,000 SWSF grants and their impact on his students, which were the First Tech Challenge Robotics Club and a Digital Video HD Camcorder and Camera.

In her keynote address, Superintendent Moccia noted that it was exactly a year to the day since she had accepted the position with the district, and revealed she now feels fully acclimated to island culture, and loves it. Moccia explained her vision for making the district an “education destination”. Noting the unique opportunities the district offers students, such as the award winning music program, she believes there is an opportunity to attract more students as a way to off-set, at least in part, the general trend of declining enrollment. Moccia also thanked the Foundation for its efforts on behalf of the schools. (See separate video post of Dr. Moccia’s speech.)

Dave Haworth was recognized for his role as one of the organization’s founders in 1995 by a fellow founder and current Foundation board member, Jean Shaw. Both spoke briefly about the “early days” when meetings were held at kitchen tables and coffee shops, and they managed to raise a few thousand dollars each year to fund classroom projects. Both Shaw and Haworth said they are thankful that those early efforts blossomed into the Foundation’s current ability to fund close to $20,000 a year in teacher grants.

Foundation President John Knox and Gala MC noted how fortunate it is to have a community “consistently willing to step up for education, whether it is volunteering, attending school-sponsored events, or simply giving money.” Knox recognized event volunteers Sue Frause, who as auctioneer solicited $10,000 in donations during the live auction, and event organizer Becky Foote, who made sure the evening ran smoothly, as crucial to the Foundation’s success.

“Without people like Sue and Becky volunteering their time and talents, the Foundation would not be the effective and efficient organization it is today”, said Knox. He also extended his thanks to all the artists who donated to the silent art auction, Georgia Gerber, Rob Schouten, Gary Schallock, Don Wodjenski, and several student artists, to Mary McLeod who organized the art auction, and to the many organizations who helped sponsor the event; including Whidbey Island Bank, Coldwell Banker, One-to-One Personal Training, Family Care Fitness Center, Les Schwab Tire Center, Clinton Foodmart, The Goose Community Grocer, Ken’s Korner Red Apple, The Star Store, and Michael Gibson Wine Imports.

The South Whidbey Schools Foundation is a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to supporting innovation and excellence in the South Whidbey schools.

This year South Whidbey High School science teachers Jay Freundlich and Greg Ballog are incorporating the study of alternative energy systems into their high school physics classes. As an adjunct to the classical physics curriculum, they are teaching students about the physics of energy production, including the study of energy usage, kinetic energy, solar and wind energy and how these systems can work together with traditional energy sources.

Thanks to a generous grant from Puget Sound Energy, augmented by funds from the South Whidbey Schools Foundation, Freundlich and Ballog were able to obtain needed energy monitoring equipment and a “human powered generator” for their classes. “We were very pleased to see the interest the students had in studying physics this year, and especially their interest in alternative energy” noted Ballog. Ballog also noted, “The PSE and Foundation grants helped us get equipment that will bring these studies to life for our students.”

Freundlich has had a long interest in alternative energy systems, and is excited about the opportunity to help his students understand these vital new technologies. He explained, “It is our hope that with programs like this, and especially with the support of the community and businesses like PSE, we can engender a real interest and curiosity in our students, encouraging them to continue to study and eventually work in the field of energy production and conservation.”

Walt Blackford, Community Service Manager for PSE, presented a check for $750 toward this grant to South Whidbey Schools Foundation Vice President Chris Gibson. “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the South Whidbey Schools Foundation to create enhanced learning opportunities for South Whidbey students, especially in this field,” said Blackford. “Our energy future depends on developing bright young students and encouraging them to become scientists and technicians so that we can continue to improve our ability to generate and use energy wisely.” In accepting the grant on behalf of the Foundation, Gibson said “We are blessed with talented teachers like Jay and Greg as well as bright and interested students, and it is so important, especially with the budget pressure faced by our District, that resources to enhance the educational program continue to exist. Thanks to the generosity of Puget Sound Energy and the many members of the community who support the Foundation, we were collectively able to fill this need.”

The South Whidbey Schools Foundation is a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to supporting innovation and excellence in the South Whidbey schools. More information, including information about the Foundation’s upcoming Gala Celebration on May 19th, can be found at southwhidbeyschoolsfoundation.org.