90th Donation Applicant: Southborough Education Foundation

Southborough Education Foundation (SEF) was started in 1998 to provide financial support to Southborough Public Schools for new technologies and innovative curriculum that goes above and beyond what can be supported by the school district budget.

Amy Yazdani, SEF President, Kathryn Rose and Beth McGonagle, SEF Board Members, visited Long Cadillac in June to discuss their competitive grant process and community fundraising. “SEF’s primary interest is in enhancing, not duplicating, the standard curriculum,” said Amy. “Teachers are able to come to us with their proposals, which have already been vetted by the school principal, and we evaluate the cost, number of students who will be affected, and the chief goal of the project.” Past SEF grants have supported standing desks, high school podcast development, and a gas chromatograph for use in Algonquin’s science classrooms. All SEF grants are funded entirely by private contributions and through fundraisers like Red Apple Awards and the Annual Spelling Bee.

“One of the things that SEF does well is encouraging the creative and innovative thinking of both the teachers, and then in turn, the students,” observed Scott Barry, Long Cadillac Executive Manager. “We all need to support one of the most important factors we have in raising our children, their teachers.” Through direct funding to teachers, SEF grants empower motivated faculty to initiate programs which would not otherwise receive funding.

Currently, the SEF is discussing an upgrade to the Trottier Middle School’s outdated computer lab. “A new cutting-edge Active Learning Center is under advisement,” revealed Kathryn Rose. “It will be designed to foster a collaborative environment that will better serve our students.”

To learn more about projects supported by SEF or to join in their fundraising efforts, please use the contact information below.

Contact: Amy Yazdani, SEF President southboroughedfoundation@gmail.com (508) 709-9733 www.southboroughed.org