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Health & Fitness

Dedham Education Foundation Continues Funding Programs …

 In a recent “Teacher Recognition Ceremony”, Dedham Education Foundation (DEF) President, Steve Bilafer, summed it up perfectly. “It was twenty plus years ago, that a group of Dedham citizens got together with the goal, of helping our community`s public schools make sure that key programs and initiatives – threatened by budget constraints – would continue.”

 For those of you not familiar with the DEF, it is thanks to the continued management of their endowment, along with prosperous fundraising efforts (ie: Dancing with the Dedham Stars - $40,000), that the group is able to supplement our school`s regular classroom work and help grant teacher requests for special programs, materials, and field trips otherwise not possible.

 Over the years, the DEF has awarded over $320,000 in grants, and each year the number of proposals continues to grow. The 2013-14 school year, saw over 55 grant requests submitted for consideration, and after careful evaluation, they were able to award nearly $20,500 to the schools around town!

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 Thanks to the generosity of the DEF, our students will be able to visit the Lowell Mills, the Museum of Science, and the Boston Symphony. There will be assemblies targeting bullying, reading, and understanding and appreciating our Solar System.

 Recently, we had the pleasure of visiting the Early Childhood Education Center (ECEC) and spending some time with the boys and girls in Kindergarten. ECEC teacher, Julie Lally, had the good fortune of having her grant request approved by the DEF, and showed us first hand, just how important and effective these programs are.

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 With the help of Principal Paul Sullivan, her fellow teachers, and aides, Ms. Lally was able to initiate a reading incentive program for our little ones – “Find a Treasure, Open a Book.”

 Ms. Lally explained to us, that the “purpose of this reading incentive program, is to help instill a life-long love of reading in these children.” Lally continued, “we have asked the 300 plus children in our school, to read at least 50 minutes per week.” Then, “each week parents fill out a tally sheet with the amount of time read, and return it to school.”

 Thanks to the DEF, the ECEC was able to purchase a real, wooden treasure chest, and fill it with over 1,400 small toys and prizes for the students to choose from. While Lallly admits, that the commitment of tallying their minutes and returning their sheets is important, “having a student read at home” is their ultimate goal. Every student who reads at home, will receive a weekly prize!

 We got to witness the sheer excitement as these little ones lined up, with their sheets in hand, to take their turn at the Treasure Chest.

 As DEF President Steve Bilafer said, “we want our children to have experiences that may open doors, or spark an interest, that will last a lifetime!”

Story and Photos by: Joe Kilroy





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