Student and School Board members from the Evanston/Skokie School District 65. | https://www.facebook.com/foundation65/
Student and School Board members from the Evanston/Skokie School District 65. | https://www.facebook.com/foundation65/
The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board of Education had a meeting to highlight several teachers who garnered Master’s degrees while teaching and getting support from Foundation 65.
“This is a really celebratory moment,” Alecia Wartowski, executive director of Foundation 65, said during the meeting. “In the spring of 2020, just weeks after the pandemic hit, there were invitations that went out to educators in our community to say, would you like to help support your students by getting your master's in literacy or working towards your reading endorsement? And 12 women, nine of them who are women of color, answered that call and started a journey, probably thinking this (coronavirus) thing would be done in a few weeks or months.”
Its webpage noted parents created the organization because they wanted to support their children and the children in community education.
Twelve female educators from the Evanston/Skokie Community school district embarked on a journey in the spring of 2020 to get their master’s degrees. They all completed the courses and requirements completely online while working with their students and their families through the pandemic and earned their master’s degree by June of 2022.
The organization offers applicants three grants to pick from. It has Strategic Impact Grants that pay for District-wide change and literacy improvement for K-2 readers, Engagement Grants that support educators’ initiatives beyond their classroom, and Change Agent Grants that support educators’ grassroots change.
The opportunity was provided to these teachers by Foundation 65, an organization created by parents to support and provide for the schools in district 65 through different financial and educational ways. The foundation is dedicated to eradicating the racial disparity in the district and ensuring all students achieve their proper grade level literacy.
The board will meet again at 7 p.m. on Aug. 29 and is streamed live on the board’s YouTube channel.
Since it began in 2008, Foundation 65 has given almost $3 million to schools in the district for various opportunities and programs. They focus on younger grades to decrease the achievement gap, and their board of directors is made up of all parents and volunteers.
They fund programs like the teacher literacy program, the Black Girl Magic book club, and the Evanston Speaks poetry club.
Alerts Sign-up