SEF and partner provides boost to Sequim students, staff

When the Sequim School District was in financial trouble after a double levy failure in 2001, community members Jeanne Martin, Lee Lawrence, Alan Millet, Walt Schubert and Jim Pickett stepped up and founded the Sequim Education Foundation (SEF) to make sure students still had access to learning “beyond the basics.”

Since then, SEF has been dedicated to its mission of being a catalyst for vibrant growth of each student. This has meant giving opportunities for students to engage their creative side and win scholarships with the SEF Film Festival, funding grants to teachers wanting to provide innovative programs and hands-on experiences to students, academic scholarships to students wanting to continue their education beyond high school, funding students advancing to state and national academic competitions, and giving the community the chance to interact and learn from professionals with Science Cafe.

Each year, teaching grants are available for educators to engage in projects that will result in expanded, well-coordinated learning opportunities for Sequim’s students. Applications are reviewed by a committee comprised of SEF board members, partner community organization members, parents, and community members.

All applications are evaluated in conjunction with district administrators to make sure they are in line with the district’s goals, objectives, and capabilities.

STEM support

One private community donor, HVK Fund, became involved because, “we learned how supporting programs and teacher grants would leverage our contribution and benefit large numbers of students, instead of just one or two people,” so they donated to fund programs that matched their interest in STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, and Science), such as new microscopes, visits to elementary schools by Pacific Science Center’s Science on Wheels, and iPads for students to create and broadcast their newscasts. Their decision to fund a Teaching Grant request for a new Music Production Class was a game changer.

In this class, students create, collaborate with classmates to add instruments, edit and give feedback from their own stations.

Teacher Joe Sullivan remarked, “There is a huge diversity of students in the class spanning from several of the most highly trained and capable musicians at SHS to students who have never been involved with music outside of listening. It has been super rewarding to see the growth in both ends of the spectrum.”

Knowing that students could be intimidated by learning to record vocals with a microphone, he created a project where students met with second grade students at Helen Haller Elementary to record a narration of their favorite book as a gift.

“It has turned out to be a great assignment as it took the intimidation factor out of the way, gave freedom for different levels of proficiency, taught new technical skills, and made some second-graders very happy,” he said.

Partnerships

While SEF has provided more than $200,000 in Teaching Grants, it has not done so alone. Sequim Education Foundation has partnered with Sequim’s community organizations, churches and individual donors to make the lift easier and provide those experiences and opportunities that help students make connections, discover and explore their interests, and find their path.

SEF can fund many its Teaching Grant requests — including throughout the COVID pandemic — because of its collaboration with Soroptimists International of Sequim, Sequim Sunrise Rotary, Sequim Noon Rotary, Sequim Valley Lions Club, Kings Way Church, Trinity United Methodist and many others as they have all joined with SEF to use its process to identify and support the specific needs that align with their organization’s mission.

District Family Literacy Night, clubs such as Knowledge Bowl and HOSA, robotics programs for kindergarten through 12th grade, fine arts education for elementary students, music instruments for the secondary band programs, a “The Boys in the Boat” author talk and book study for students, and countless others since 2001 have all been made possible as a result of the community’s generous support. Thank you!

SEF has also been the grateful recipient of grants from the Haller Foundation and First Federal Foundation which enabled SEF to help the district pivot on a dime and offer one to one computing to its students during the pandemic.

SEF is proud to say that many of its board members also are represented in our community organizations. This has served to deepen understanding of how we can work together “smarter not harder” to achieve our organizations missions.

Every donation is important and valued as we leverage our resources to ensure students have access to opportunities and are prepared to pursue their dreams.

SEF accepted Teaching Grant applications through June 1.

For individuals and groups interested in funding a grant request, or for those interested in learning more about SEF, its programs and how to become involved, contact SEF executive director Jessica Elliott at 360-680-3061 or email to sequimeducationfoundation@gmail.com, or see sequimeducationfoundation.org.