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Foundation for Rural Education Excellence |
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Supporting Academic Achievement in
Rural Northeast Florida Communities
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The Foundation for Rural Education Excellence, a registered 501 (C)(3) organization, was founded in 1998 to facilitate philanthropic support for rural school districts of the North East Florida Educational Consortium (NEFEC): Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Nassau, Putnam, Suwannee and Union Counties as well as Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind and PK Yonge Developmental Research School. Working collaboratively, our mission is to enhance academic success and career opportunities for rural students in northeast Florida.
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ALL OF US!
At this time of the year, it's important to take some time to reflect on our families, friends, and colleagues. We are so thankful for each of you. All of you care about our students and work hard to make education excellence attainable for them. We hope that your holidays are filled with laughter, love, and some rest.
FREE also hopes that you have a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. We plan to begin 2021 with fresh engagement and renewed energy for our foundation and our students. Thanks for being a catalyst for making that happen!
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NEFEC Highlighted at National Conference |
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Two staff members from NEFEC facilitated sessions for the Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA) National Conference. The sessions, hosted by Jake Massey and Dr. Shane Jay Fairbairn, focused on secondary math classrooms and visualizing data for educators.
In the session Literacy in the Secondary Math Classroom, Jake outlined successful strategies used in professional learning to connect literacy to mathematics. Jake co-facilitated a second session with Dr. Fairbairn, along with Sean Casey from the Ed-Fi Alliance, to highlight “from soup-to-nuts” how to visualize data for educators to help with determining student needs for support during (and beyond) the pandemic.
The AESA Annual Conference is a wonderful opportunity to highlight how innovative rural collaboratives support their districts, students, caregivers, and stakeholders. For more information, contact Jake Massey or Dr. Shane Jay Fairbairn at www.nefec.org.
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Lastinger Family Foundation Awards Grant |
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FREE was recently awarded a $10,000 grant from the Lastinger Family Foundation to support early literacy development.
Parents of struggling students Pre-Kindergarten through 2nd grade will be supplied with a Learning Dynamics literacy kit that supports reading for beginning readers as well as struggling readers. The kit provides prescribed directions for parents to teach letters, sounds, and blends and the material progresses as the students becomes more proficient. Digital downloads are available that contain alphabet songs written and composed to support the curriculum. Flashcards are provided for letter naming.
Allen and Delores Taylor Lastinger have always felt that children provide a bridge to the future, while preservation serves as an important link to the past – both aspects being equally important. Thus, they established the Lastinger Family Foundation in 1998 to support efforts that preserve our historical treasures as well as initiatives directed at enhancing the well-being of children. Whether helping to enrich young minds, fostering safe family environments or enabling ill children to realize their dreams, the Lastinger Family Foundation is dedicated to helping children flourish.
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Continuous Support for New Standards |
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In January of 2020, Florida adopted new standards in the areas of English/Language Arts and Math. To prepare for implementation, NEFEC district leaders, administrators, and coaches are participating in a series of “Train the Trainer” sessions.
ELA has been the focus of all fall sessions. The spring sessions will focus on Math standards. Topics include organization, coding, vertical alignment, and lesson planning. Participants take the information back to the individual school districts to share with teachers.
This professional learning series has also included assistance in the selection of high-quality instructional materials for ELA. In January, NEFEC will host an instructional materials fair where publishers can share products for districts to analyze by rubric. This leads up to the adoption of new ELA materials for the 2021-22 school year.
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23rd Annual Golf Tournament
FREE's annual golf tournament is scheduled for March 26, 2021, at the Palatka Golf Club. Look for registration information soon.
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Summer Leadership Conference
NEFEC's Annual Summer Leadership Conference is scheduled for
July 27-28, 2021, at the Sawgrass Marriott in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.
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Foundation for Rural Education Excellence
(352) 317-0621
foundationruraled@gmail.com
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