Sequim Education Foundation
What: A nonprofit, public charity established to benefit students, teachers and schools in the Sequim School District
On the web: sequimeducationfoundation.org
More than a decade ago, when two school levy efforts failed to get approval from local voters, frustrated Sequim school advocates started looking for a way to keep options open for students.
Taxpayers in Sequim haven’t failed to approve a similar measure since that so-called “double levy failure” in 2001, but the group that came together to form the Sequim Education Foundation still is going strong. While the mission has stayed the same, new faces in new roles are giving SEF a new look and new outlook.
“We found a purpose,” foundation vice president Elna Kawal says. “Even though the levies passed, there are a lot of things the school district couldn’t do.”
Leading the charge of this nonprofit 501(c)3 group is new president Jodi Olson, following the recent resignation of Craig Stevenson. Since January 2011, Olson has served as director of SEF’s Student Enrichment Program. She was a co-founder of the foundation’s Sequim Science Café and helped establish a summer underwater robotics program for Sequim students with the Feiro Marine Center and SEF’s new Exploring Engineering Day for elementary and middle school students.
Olson served as the foundation’s co-president since September 2014 before assuming the full role.
“We want to give kids all the tools (to succeed),” she says.
Making a difference
Sequim Education Foundation helps with a number of school-related programs, from various scholarships (achievement-based, pay-to-play athletic, etc.) to teacher grants for books and materials, providing money for field trips and in-classroom projects.
The foundation also hosts events like a student film festival, engineering challenges and the Sequim Science Café program, held each second Tuesday at Paradise Restaurant during most of the school year.
Olson started that project in June 2012. “I was tired of driving to Bainbridge Island,” Olson says, noting that was the closest program of its kind. Now the program brings in local experts in science fields for lectures and question-and-answer sessions, with as many as 70 in attendance.
“It’s been a great way of involving the community,” Olson says. “We have a ton of retirees here — such an incredible resource.”
The foundation gets students involved with its annual engineering challenge, with hundreds of youths exploring various themes of engineering, as well as its annual film festival that sees student filmmakers compete for scholarships and awards.
Mary Budke, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, said she’s seen the film festival make a big, positive impact on some of the youths her club serves. “(The festival) provides access for those that usually don’t have resources or avenues for them to express themselves in the fine arts,” she says.
While the annual engineering challenge has taken on different forms over the years, this year’s event — set for early June, soon after rounds of testing are complete — is based on the Design Squad Nation educational website.
Fun, hands-on projects is “what makes it meaningful to them,” Olson says.
“It’s just life-changing for some of these kids,” Kawal says.
The foundation awarded a rather unique grant earlier this school year, when eight middle school teachers approached the group for funds to experience the Pompeii exhibit at Seattle’s Pacific Science Center and incorporate that into their studies.
The Sequim Education Foundation also is known for scholarships to help students with their next steps. Former Sequim school board director June Robinson and her husband Ray both have scholarships in their name through the foundation, one for youths studying journalism/history and another for science.
SEF also has helped fund teacher Deb Beckett’s science club at Sequim Middle School, one that sends students to national competitions each year.
“People see a specific need and want their money well taken-care of,” Kawal says. “We’ve been able to provide that.”
In 2010, the foundation awarded a special grant to Lucas Shores for him to attend the University of Pennsylvania’s Biomedical Research Academy. Shores is now a student at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.
“It’s opening doors for those kids, inspiring (them) and showing them what is out there,” Kawal says.
The foundation board is seeking more help from volunteers. “We’re a working board,” Olson warns. “There’s always more to do.”
See www.sequimed.org.
