Check out the video below from the PPS Foundation President, Cindy Morris! |
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Join us for our Annual Golf Outing! |
This event is our largest fundraiser and always a lot of fun to participate in. Last year, the private dollars raised through this golf outing supported classroom grants, our Horizons Career Exploration Program, scholarships and so much more.
Sponsorships are so important to this event. We want to ensure that all funds raised can go directly to support our work with Peoria Public Schools. CLICK HERE to view more information on sponsorship pricing.
Ready to register your foursome? Click on the button below or feel free to contact cindy.morris@psd150.org with any questions!
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Volunteers Needed for the Wine & Whiskey Walk! |
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The 10th Annual Wine and Whiskey Walk is almost here and we are seeking volunteers to help with this fun event! This fundraiser will be held on Saturday, April 22nd from 1-6 pm at the Junction City Shopping Center. Volunteers are needed at the tasting tables to pour drink samples and to setup/cleanup. All volunteers will receive a link for $10 off the admission ticket price so you can still enjoy this event before or after your shift! All the proceeds from this event benefit the PPS Foundation! |
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We were so excited to partner with the PPS 21st Century Program for the Game of Life experience. Sophomores from across the district gathered at Woodruff Career and Tech Center to play the interactive, larger than life, game which simulates a person's travels through his or her life, from college to retirement, with jobs, marriage, and possible children along the way. Key to the program is learning about financial literacy skills, budgets, and cost of living. Students were also introduced to various career possibilities. Thank you to all the community partners for their participation.
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We love partnering with other community programs to expose students across the district to diverse possibilities for their future! With our own Horizons program, we are currently looking for speakers to come into the classroom and share their career story. If you can help, click the button below to see available dates and schools.
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Adopt-A-School Update
Check out the amazing things happening in this program!
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The Peoria Symphony Orchestra’s visiting artist, Janice Martin, recently performed for the students and staff at Trewyn K-8 School. Janice is an aerial acrobatic violinist and performed along with dancer Ava Molina, with the Central Illinois Ballet. Together, they wowed the students with their remarkable talents! We are so grateful for the relationship with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra. |
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Our next Peoria Public Schools Garden meeting (open to all) will be held at Dr. Maude Sanders Primary School, April 19th at 4pm. If you have seeds, plants, flowers, etc. to donate for our schools, we would love to distribute them among our school gardens. We created a new Facebook page that allows our school garden committee to stay connected. Please visit us at “Peoria Public School Garden Network”.
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Our Adopt-A-School program partners business and organizations in our community with the schools in our district. These partnerships are flexible and so rewarding! For more information on becoming an Adopter, please contact Janet Ham, our Adopt-A-School Coordinator, by emailing janet.ham@psd150.org.
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Congratulations to our March Hero, Tagwana Webster! Tagwana is the definition of advocate for all students. As the Climate Transformation Project Director for Peoria Public Schools, Tagwana is charged with the implementation and oversight of the hugely impactful Lights on Peoria grant program, and helps coordinate career development in the high schools. She has always been a champion of the PPS Foundation with both volunteer time and donated talents, being a guest on our Facebook Live Buzz Chats and providing supports for our career program growth. Thank you, Tagwana, for all your hard work! We appreciate you. |
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We recently had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Michael Brix, who teaches at Woodruff Career & Technical Center. Read on below to learn more about him!
Thanks for talking with us, Mr. Brix! Before we get into the 5 questions, can you tell us a little bit about your background?
Sure, I was born in Decatur, IL.. I am the oldest of three children - I have two younger sisters. My wife, Ann and I live in Edwards on a few acres in the country. We have four daughters, a five-year old granddaughter and one more grandchild on the way in September. Our property has a small cottage on it where my mother lives. This is my 9th year at Woodruff Career and Technical Center. I teach our Renewable Energy class and Construction Work-Based Learning class.
That's awesome! Congrats on the new grandchild on the way! We are so glad to have you at Peoria Public Schools. What’s your favorite thing about the Peoria area?
Peoria is a great community with many activities to choose from, but my favorite is probably walking/hiking in one of the many park/wildlife centers that we have in the area.
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Yes, this area definitely has a lot of nice walking and hiking paths! Besides that, what's your go-to weekend activity?
Some of my favorite things to do when I’m not in school is hang out with my wife and girls. We have a very large yard and garden that take up a lot of our time. I also like to fish on our pond.
Do you have a favorite band or concert you’ve been to?
Yes - Kid Rock!
How about if you could snap your fingers and immediately learn to do anything, what would it be?
I would want to be able to speak Spanish.
Yes, that would be awesome! Last question, if you could only have three apps on your smartphone, which ones would you pick?
The three apps would be Safari, Messages & Tesla.
Thank you so much for chatting with us today, Mr. Brix! We truly do appreciate everything you do for PPS students.
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Valentine's Day Basket Mini Fundraiser |
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This Valentine's Day, the PPS Foundation warmed twelve hearts with our special baskets filled with goodies that were donated by local friends. We had twelve donor friends make a donation to our Little Free Pantry Fund so we delivered these baskets to their loved ones. Thank you so much to these donors!
Want to help us keep our school pantries well-stocked and continue to spread love and kindness? You can donate to our Little Free Pantry Fund by CLICKING HERE!
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Check Out Buzz Chats: a PPS Foundation Video Series! |
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Each month we connect with different members of our community to talk about our public schools and how they interact with current events in Peoria. The video chat is streamed live on our Facebook page.
This month we will be chatting with Mike Brix and Sarah Chapman about programs at Woodruff Career & Technical Center. We also keep old episodes up on our page so scroll through to catch any you may have missed!
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WE ALSO TAKE ONLINE DONATIONS!
Click the picture below to donate.
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All proceeds from the sign advertisement go directly to help Peoria Public School's campaign to improve the stadium property. Feel free to reach out to Jen Adler at jennifer.adler@psd150.org for more information on pricing, artwork or any other questions!
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Thank You to our Community Partners! |
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We'd like to give an especially big shout out this month to Starbucks, Hy-Vee in Sheridan Village and K2 Benefits for going above and beyond to further our mission to improve the quality of education in Peoria Public Schools! |
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PPS Foundation's Board of Directors:
Dan Adler, Andre Allen, Beth Crider, Solivian Dismuke, Maarten de Haas, Alex Elger, Kim McGhee, Cheryl Sanfilip, and Doug Shaw
Ex Officio Board Members:
Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat (PPS Superintendant) and Mike Murphy (PPS Board of Education)
PPS Foundation's Staff:
Cindy Morris - President
Trish O'Shaughnessy - Director of Programming & Community Engagement
Jen Adler - Administrative Director
Janet Ham - Adopt-A-School Coordinator
Matt Violet - Data and Programming Logistics Coordinator
Jaleesha Allen - Career Program Coordinator
Annalee Anderson - Career Tech Advocate
Ellie de Buhr - Career Tech Advocate
Catherine Murray - Career Tech Advocate
Olivia Smith - Career Tech Advocate
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