HUDSON — A recent surge in donors and one especially generous estate gift has doubled the money available to the Hudson Educational Fund in less than nine months.

The Hudson Educational Fund was established in 1997 to provide community support for the school, students and teachers. Since then the volunteer foundation board has awarded 61 scholarships totaling more than $27,700. This year, they are expected to award about 20 scholarships valued at about $14,000.

“We’ve had some fantastic growth. We’ve had some generous donors as well as an estate gift, which helped,” said Buzynski.

Since last March the foundation received a little more than $100,000, bringing its total value to almost $230,000. Deb Klingaman, the board president and a talented and gifted teacher in the middle and high school, said the recent donations will give the fund some extra credibility when volunteers solicit donations in the future.

In addition to scholarships, the board also funds district projects that may not be eligible for general fund money. Amanda Truax, a sixth-grade science and social studies teacher, was on the receiving end of a $150 grant in 2002. She used the money to purchase supplemental materials during a trip to China sponsored by the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia.

The trip cost her $1,000 out of pocket, but while there Truax picked up several other items, like shoes worn by girls whose feet were bound and head pieces from a minority group of Chinese people.

“This is a good way to support local projects and teachers who are trying to do different and innovative things in the classroom,” Truax said. “I know the students who receive the scholarships appreciate them greatly. It is a very positive program for the community.”

Klingaman said the support of district teachers was an important piece of the founding board’s vision for the fund. They wanted to make sure that all students, not just those with good grades and financial need, benefited from the donations.

One of the most recent large donations was an estate gift left by Raymond and Verjean Busching. Some of that money will be used to give two $2,500 scholarships this May. Hudson teachers also are generous in their donations, Buzynski said.

“I think this says a lot about the values of the people in our community and the support the community has for education for youth and wanting them to have the opportunity to go to college. I think it echoes a lot that some of these people have had a good educational experience in Hudson and view this as an opportunity to give back,” Buzynski said.

Source: www.wcfcourier.com

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 20th, 2007 at 5:53 pm and is filed under Education, Scholarship. Tags: College, Education, Grant, Scholarship, Student. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.