Education Foundation Announces 2024 Spring Grant Award Winners
WHITE SALMON, WA - The White Salmon Valley Education Foundation (WSVEF) is pleased to announce it has awarded more than $32,000 to outstanding educators and programs in the White Salmon Valley School District. As part of the foundation’s annual Grant Award program, this investment will support STEM, literacy, arts, music, career and technical education, and cultural exploration projects that expand educational opportunities for White Salmon students.
“We're grateful to continue to support projects and programming that our educators have chosen to enrich their classrooms and expand the experiences available to students across the district,” said Kylie Uffelman, the foundation’s executive director.
The Grant Awards are made possible through the generosity of donors, community partners, and supporters of the WSVEF. These contributions enable the foundation to continue its mission of providing opportunities for growth and learning within our schools. Since 2006, more than $919,000 in community-raised donations have been awarded to the schools directly from WSVEF.
For more information about the White Salmon Valley Education Foundation and its grant programs, please visit wsvef.org or contact WSVEF Executive Director Kylie Uffelman at kylie@wsvef.org.
2024 Spring Grant Award winners:
Columbia High School (CHS) Diverse Composer Sheet Music (Peter Prosch-Jensen) – $3,200
Sheet music to diversify and enhance CHS’s music library.
Electronics Trainer (Del Medenbach) – $5,365
Twelve electronics training units (trainers) to use in conjunction with training modules for students in the new Electronics Technology course in the Career and Technical Education department of CHS.
CHS Kitchen Upgrade (Caitlyn Cray) – $4,700
Updating the nearly 30-year-old kitchen learning space at CHS to provide hands-on, real-world knowledge and skills to students from intermediate school through high school during school hours and after school programming.
Whitson Book Room Revitalization (Becky Williams and Sharon West) – $4,000
New books for Whitson Elementary School’s instructional book room that are aligned to research-based practices from the Science of Reading and will help teachers differentiate instruction to meet the needs and skill levels of their students.
Gizmos (David Monnig and Maggie Lariviere) – $1,978
A one-year pilot program for Science and Math Curriculum for WPSIS to support current labs and hands-on experiences to help students learn content visually through investigation and inquiry.
STEM Tubs (4th-grade team at Whitson) – $1,000
Materials for hands-on, creative resources for teachers to inspire students to engage with and learn math in nontraditional ways.
Celilo Project (3rd-grade team at Whitson) – $3,485
Introduces students to local history from the perspective of tribal culture through hands-on art projects, writing activities, reader’s theater, historical text analysis, and visits from tribal members.
Outside Funding secured by WSVEF Grant Writing Efforts:
White Salmon Academy Artist in Residence (Doug Avon and Amy Steunenberg ) – $2,700
Funded by the Tulalip Tribes Charitable Fund (https://www.tulalipcares.org/), this program brings trauma-informed artist Allison Bell-Fox to the White Salmon Academy for hands-on art experiences.
Empty Bowls Project (Kelsey Lemon, Ashley Renfrew, and Stephenie Going) – $5,000 Funded by the Muckleshoot Charity Fund (https://www.muckleshoot.nsn.us/charity-fund) K-12 students from all five schools will create, decorate, glaze and fire earthenware bowls, which will then be filled with soup and sold at a fundraiser, with proceeds going to our local food bank.
CHS After School Funding (Rachel Suits) - Three percent of the total dollar amount raised from the United Way of the Columbia Gorge (https://unitedwaycolumbiagorge.org/) will help support the cost of staff time, supplies, and transportation to and from the CHS after school program for students in grades 9-12.
About the White Salmon Valley Education Foundation
The mission of the WSVEF is to enrich the education of PK–12 students in the White Salmon Valley public schools. Since 2006, over $919,000 in community-raised donations have been awarded to the schools directly from WSVEF. Community donations have also been leveraged through WSVEF grant writing services to secure over $6.45 million in grants from outside funding sources.