BPEF's Mission and Summary

MISSION STATEMENT:
Enhancing Educational opportunities for our students by increasing community involvement with our schools.

The Bethel Park Education Foundation Seeks To:

Create initiatives that support imaginative and creative opportunities for excellence and innovation in education.
Collaborate with educational, cultural, public, and private entities to enhance and enrich students' educational experiences.
Develop supportive relationships between the district, community, and alumni to raise funds for the above purposes.
Provide funding that is unavailable through traditional local, state, or federal resources to encourage academic excellence in the school district.
Provide a perpetual source of funds through endowment gifts from all parties interested in supporting excellence in education.

The BPEF board members review proposals initiated by students, teachers, and administrators to benefit Bethel Park School District's students. Proposals that best meet the Foundation's objectives are recommended for funding and implementation.

Please direct any questions to [email protected]

2023-2024 Grant Summary:

The Bethel Park Education Foundation closed out another great year of supporting
excellence and innovation in our schools. Three grants were awarded this year, totaling over $24,600.

One grant went to Michelle Sappas, a Kindergarten teacher at William Penn Elementary School. She was awarded $1,633 for S.T.E.A.M. manipulatives and activity kits to incorporate with the math and science concepts in the curriculum. Mrs. Sappas proudly reported to the Foundation how “the atmosphere in the classroom was “filled with cheer” when the STEAM materials were dispersed. It was beyond rewarding to hear the collaboration students use when working towards meeting the objective of each lesson.”

Independence Middle School teacher Mr. Dylan August received a $3,000 innovation grant to expand student access to digital fabrication tools and graphic design techniques that will enhance the Inventionland curriculum. Inventionland is a middle school special area rotation course designed for cross-discipline, interactive learning to inspire creativity, solve problems, invent something, and build confidence in students of all abilities.

Lastly, the Bethel Park School District was awarded $20,000 to provide unique, interdisciplinary educational experiences outside the traditional classroom when the new elementary school opens. The new school will employ S.T.E.A.M. teachers who create interdisciplinary and highly engaging experiences for students during their special area rotations. While the school is being designed and equipped with S.T.E.A.M. classrooms, the grant will support the creation of an outdoor classroom and the installations to complement and hopefully enhance the current curriculum. This project, a partnership with the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, will highly engage our children with the natural world around us and interact meaningfully with the six simple forces of nature. This project is unique because it will benefit all Bethel Park elementary-aged students and the generation of students to follow.

Bethel Park High School students Maggie Booth and Melinda Bova worked with the Foundation this year as part of their D.E.C.A. project. D.E.C.A. is a co-curricular program in the high school that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for college and careers. One outcome of their efforts was raising over $400 from a spirit night at Chick-fil-A for the Foundation.

These awards are funded through donations, such as $300 from the law offices of Weiss, Burkhart, and Kramer and the annual “Fantastic Four” charities golf outing in the fall. The B.P.E.F. seeks to support programs that promote high-quality educational experiences. You can learn more about the foundation at https://www.bethelparkfoundation.com/.

2022-2023 Grant Summary:

The Bethel Park Education Foundation closed out another great year of supporting excellence and innovation in our schools. Five grants totaling over $10,000 were awarded this year.

**Mrs. Lisa Cusick was awarded $1,500 to furnish and supply the new Therapeutic, Emotional support, Avoidance Monitoring and Support (T.E.A.M.S.) room at the high school with sensory materials, furniture and décor to create a welcoming and calming space. These funds support the T.E.A.M.S. initiative being implemented there.

**Mrs. K.D. Meucci was awarded $498 to pilot an “in-classroom” T.E.A.M.S. space similar to the high school space, except it would be contained in the regular elementary classroom.

**The Independence Middle School music department, under the auspices of Mr. Keith Born, was awarded $5,763.30 to implement a pilot unit on guitar playing in the 7th grade general music program. All 7th-grade students participate in this program.

**Mrs. Patricia Heasley, the Department Facilitator, and the school district librarians were awarded a $1,200 matching grant to supply the libraries with social and emotional learning (S.E.L.) books. S.E.L. refers to the process of learning and applying the skills of self-awareness, self-management, social skills, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

**Mr. Tom Kelton, the technology education teacher at Pathfinder School, was awarded $1,250 for purchasing new household power tools and lawn maintenance equipment. His project supports the life skills students’ home repair and maintenance skills development.

Funding for these awards comes from donations, such as $1,000 from the BPHS Class of 1971,

and from the annual “Fantastic Four” charities golf outing in the fall.

The BPEF seeks to support programs that promote high-quality educational experiences.