Glorious Grants

It’s 2:35 p.m. on a chilly Tuesday afternoon at Lake Forest High School. Twenty-four “Robotics with Physics 1” students are busily brainstorming the quarter’s challenge: Create an autonomous robot able to use a pingpong paddle and ball to make a legal serve. (Extra points awarded for landing the ball in a cup after service.)

The sketches the students dream up to meet the challenge include sensors and wires—gizmos and whatnots that will be created from an astounding array of supplies and equipment surrounding the room. There are five 3-D printers, three high-tech routers, laser engravers, electronic components, and more—all made possible by grants from the Lake Forest High School Foundation.

Now gearing up for its fundraising luncheon April 17 at the Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, the foundation, school administrators, and teachers are taking stock in where they’ve been and where they’re going with the grant program and all that it makes possible.

In the 16 years since it was conceived, the foundation has awarded grants totaling more than $2.1 million in classroom improvements.

“We feel so lucky,” says art instructor Carolyn Bielski, speaking from the newly renovated Digital Arts Room, just across the hall from the Makerspace where the Robotics class meets.

Recent foundation grants allowed Bielski along with photography and animation art teacher Jennifer Thomas to redo this space, adding six whiteboard collaboration tables with attached 50-inch video monitors, an Apple TV for wirelessly monitoring displays, an 80-inch monitor for class demonstrations, plus Dragonframe-4 software and keypads for stop-motion animation.

“We hear horror stories from schools in other parts of the country where programs are severely underfunded and art especially is undervalued. But our community gets us,” says Bielski. “They understand the importance of collaboration, critique, and cultivating creativity, and their funding supports that.”

Burgeoning interest in digital arts (photography and animation) means the new classroom tools will be put to good use. “When I started at LFHS three years ago, I had one animation class with 11 students,” says Thomas, “Now we are capped at 37 students, with interest growing. Before we had the tools the grants brought, we were able to cover a lot of ground, but the tools were not as sophisticated. These kids learn so quickly and they move fast. With new tools, we are able to move forward at a faster pace.”

And, as is the case with most of the grant-funded enhancements at the school, the tools, equipment, and programs are cross-utilized between different departments, to maximize benefits.

In fact, foundation grants have touched every department in the high school, spilling over into community enhancement through programs such as the Business Incubator which gives student entrepreneurs the chance to develop their own products and services, coached and mentored by business experts from the community, and TEDx lectures. LFHSF provided the seed money to launch the Business Incubator and continues to coordinate the annual “Pitch Night” that brings in investors to the BI program. Grant monies recently purchased a multi-camera video switcher, HD camcorders, wireless microphones, and a confidence monitor for the TEDx events as well.

At the high school, grant-funded enhancements range from the uber-practical (new moveable student work stations in the science department,) to the fun (hand-holds for the Outdoor Education climbing wall) to the creatively beautiful. Upcut saws and routers installed in Applied Technology classrooms are now used in Guitar-Making classes. Students build a guitar during the first semester and then spend the second semester learning how to play the instrument.

Genesis for the LFHS Foundation came in the late ’90s/early 2000s when increases in District 115 enrollment strained budgets. To generate solutions for the lack of funding, then superintendent Dr. Jon Lamberson convened a meeting to explore the idea of starting a foundation to help the district raise money.

“The idea was to supplement programs, invest in unique learning needs, technologies, professional development, and community engagement,” explains Jeff Folker, chairman of the foundation board. “We had seen that foundations were being implemented at various neighboring school districts and felt that this would be a strategic and accepted way to raise additional funds.”

From the very beginning, the foundation has carefully aligned its mission and investment strategy with district priorities and opportunities.

“We always work closely with District 115 Administration and teachers to make sure our grants enhance District programing,” says Folker.

Priorities include providing resources for students, staff excellence and creativity, and school and community collaboration.

Towards this end, 10 to 20 grants are awarded each year. “Any student, student family, or teacher can apply for a LFHSF grant,” says Christiana Walsh, vice-chairman of the grants committee, but the majority of grant requests come from faculty. This year, there are 16 grant applications in the running, with requests for everything from musical instruments to projectile launchers.

Much of the action around grant applications happens between October and mid-January, the grant app deadline. In between, grant committee liaisons meet with each department head (called “instructional directors”) at the high school to explain the grants and process. Once applications are ready, departments may make presentations about the projects for which they hope to receive funding. Finalists in the grant process are presented to the executive committee, and then to the full board for a final vote.

Because figuring out which areas need investment across all learning disciplines is a huge task, thought around potential grants is a year-round pre-occupation. Teachers and department heads are constantly on the lookout for ways to enhance their programs.

Bringing all of this to the forefront, LFHSF’s annual spring luncheon, co-caired by Kathy Beck and Lynne Kennedy, serves several functions. It’s a celebration for grant winners and school supporters, a good marketing moment to let more of Lake Forest know about foundation opportunities, and, is one of the groups primary fundraising tools. This year’s luncheon will feature a silent auction and two raffles.

For more information, visit lfhsfoundation.org.