Ideas to Impact: Your Gifts at Work
Teacher Grants

Huddled around an iPad, four 7th graders in Ecker Hill Middle School's (EHMS) Digital Design and Exploring Technology courses work together to navigate a custom designed and coded robotic cart through a race course of PVC pipes.  

Brad Gannon, Computer Technology and Engineering (CTE) teacher at EHMS, introduced "Sphero Wars", named for the Sphero robots used to power the carts, into the class this year. The friendly competition helps illustrate computer technology and coding concepts for students in a fun and interactive way. The robots were originally introduced into the CTE curriculum through a Teacher Grant from PCEF in 2016. 
 
Teacher Grants  are grants awarded to teachers to bring innovative ideas, concepts, or practices to life, or expand past successful ideas in the classroom or school. Terry Daenitz, a former teacher in the Park City School District (PCSD) and member of the Teacher Grant Committee at PCEF, knows first hand the positive effect Teacher Grants can have on students' learning experience.  She was the recipient of several Teacher Grants over the course of her career in PCSD.  
 
"The added value for the student is the improved learning experience provided by the grant and the academic gain we are all looking for," says Daenitz.
 
Teacher Grants often create momentum around innovative teaching concepts that spreads from teachers, to other schools, and across the district.   Read More

Click here for a full list of this year's Teacher Grants
Read the Park Record article about Teacher Grants.
Watch the story on Park City Television (Teacher Grant story starts at 4:13)
Want to Know More About PCEF?

Be sure to check out the  PCEF Website for all kinds of information on the $1.5 million in programs you fund in our district. Keep up with the latest PCEF news on  Facebook, and  Twitter, too!
Make a New Year's Resolution You Can Keep! Early-Bird Registration is Open!

Running with Ed,  Park City's Best  Athletic Competition and Fundraising event,  is May 19th, 2018! 

Early-bird registration for Running with Ed , presented by Park City Mountain's Epic Promise and Jaybird, is open!  

All proceeds go to PCEF School Grant programs.

Register now and you'll receive:
  • Discounted Pricing
  • Swag! Ragnar Trucker Hat for the Team Captain (Teams 51 - 100)
  • NEW! Every student 18 and under receives student pricing of just $50
Register now at runningwithed.com!
Donor Spotlight, Why We Give: Lynn and Tom Fey

Tom and Lynn Fey moved to Park City from New York 25 years ago. "Tom was asked to be the CEO of Mrs. Fields Cookies.  Our friends said we'd move back in two years! But we had been coming west for quite a while.
 
"I went to CU Boulder, and Tom and I met in a ski lift line at Aspen. We brought our kids out west to ski every year, and one summer, we came out to Park City. We were sitting at the Deer Valley concert, listening to the 1812 Overture, and I turned to Tom and said, 'Wouldn't it be amazing to live here?' And we both laughed.
 
"We've loved everything about being here - the outdoors, the skiing, the people, and the culture. We can't imagine living anywhere else.
 
"Now our grandkids are going to school here. Giving to the PCEF Teacher Grant program makes us so happy: happy that we are able to help make our schools better, happy to give students an enriching learning experience, and happy to provide teachers additional opportunities to make their classrooms better. We want our teachers to feel like they can do the special programs they want for their students. It's not just for our grandchildren; it's for ALL our children. It really does benefit everyone in the long run."
Calling All Volunteers - 80 More Judges are Needed for Elementary Science Fairs!

Our elementary schools are having their science fairs over the next two weeks, and lots of volunteers are needed! Many shifts are available - check out the SignUp Genuis

Top 5th grade projects go on to the PCSD District Fair on 2/24, funded by PCEF donors!

Teacher Spotlight: Susan Minneci
  • Began her teaching career in 2000 in Vermont.  Took 5 years off from teaching to pursue a ski industry job. 
  • 7 years teaching in PCSD
  • Teaches Kindergarten at Trailside Elementary School
  • University of Vermont: BS, Johnson State College: MA (Education). Received Reading Specialist Endorsement and Level 1 Wilson training. 
     
  • 7 year old son, Larson, who is a 1st grade French Dual Immersion student at TSES.
  • Loves skiing, biking, camping, and really any outdoor activity that leads to the exploration of the mountains and landscapes that Utah has to offer. 
Sue spent much of her youth and early adulthood pursuing individual goals in both sports as well as other career paths. "Despite many wonderful  experiences and successes, I felt as though something was missing. In my efforts to fill this gap, I took a job as an aide to the speech and language pathologist at the Stowe Elementary School, and realized that I loved working with kids, and better yet, that I loved helping people," commented Sue.

She shared one of her best memories as a teacher. "I was taking my kindergarten class on a field trip and passed out clipboards with the letters of the alphabet and a space after each letter for the students to use as a word search. As they looked around at the many  advertisements within the interior of our public buses, one little boy exclaimed, "There are WORDS everywhere!" The concept of print became real and tangible to that student that day, and he became much more motivated to learn the letters and the sounds of the alphabet from that day on."
Author Ruta Sepetys: "Everyone Has a Story!"

Students, teachers, parents, and community members, enjoyed One Book One Community author Ruta Sepetys, thanks to PCEF donors.

One community member told us, " I loved hearing how she gets her ideas, fleshes out her characters and where she is headed next. What an amazing opportunity for our students and community to see behind the words on the page and fall in love with reading yet again. Thank you PCEF!" 


PCEF Silver Scholar Circle members enjoyed a private dinner with Ms Sepetys. She sp oke passionately about how much she learns from the students who read her books. 

The PCEF Scholar Circle is comprised of families who invest $1,000 annually in Park City schools. To learn more or become a member, click  here .

Check out the Facebook album.

Salt to the Sea was this year's book. Ms Sepetys, a NY Times Bestselling author and winner of several awards, has also written Out of the Easy and Between Shades of Grey (to be renamed Ashes in the Snow.)
Get Info Straight from the District Office
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January EVA Lesson

The featured artist for this month's EVA lesson was Italian painter, Amedeo Clemente  Modigliani. Students created Modigliani-inspired self portraits using 
oil pastels.

EVA is a collaboration between the Kimball Art Center and PCEF. PCEF donors provide $90,000 to fund EVA.
Just a Few Tickets Left for the Sweetheart Gala!
Prepare to be blown away by the talent at the PC Bands biggest fundraiser of the year! Support the students of TMJH and PCHS Marching Band, Jazz Band, Percussion, Pit Orchestra, and Concert Ensembles!


Golden Apple Sponsors:


 

  Park City Education Foundation | 435-615-0235 | www.pcef4kids.org
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