A packed fieldhouse audience proved generous the afternoon of March 20, contributing much-needed cash that will directly benefit students in the Enumclaw School District.
The event was “Jazzing Up Education,” an annual fundraiser hosted by the Enumclaw Schools Foundation. When the pledge cards were collected at the end of the 90-minute program, approximately $29,000 had been delivered to the nonprofit ESF.
The Foundation, headed by an all-volunteer board of directors, has aimed to enhance programs – both academic and extracurricular – since being founded in 2004.
In its early days, the ESF boosted the Magic Strings program for elementary musicians and a summertime Literacy Camp. The Foundation later rallied to help support a full-day kindergarten program and, in 2010, began rewarding district teachers with “enhancement and innovation” grants.
Since 2010, the ESF has awarded 88 grants to ESD staff, totaling $110,000. Grants have been given for programs related to science, reading, math, career education, English Language Learning, special education, the performing arts and more. The ESF also is a partner in the annual STEM Expo, aids the district’s “Birth To Five” initiative, helps fund a program that exposes elementary students to the arts and pays for Enumclaw High sophomores to take the PSAT.
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The Enumclaw Schools Foundation, as part of its ongoing mission to benefit children, will be sponsoring two fundraisers during the first part of May.
• All are welcome to attend “food truck wars” May 4 at the Enumclaw Expo Center. It’s the second year for the Star Wars-themed event (“May the Fourth Be With You”).
Gate admission will be $5 per person or $20 for a family (up to six people). Gate receipts benefit both the Foundation and the Enumclaw Expo and Events Association.
Food trucks will selling food and drink and Star Wars characters will roam the grounds.
Tickets will be sold at the gate or may be purchased in advance at https://foodtruckwars.brownpapertickets.com.
• The Harlem Wizards will bring their special brand of basketball to the Plateau, performing May 11 in Enumclaw High’s Chuck Smith Gymnasium.
Promotional materials tout the Wizards as delivering a “high-flying, slam-dunking, rim-rattling” show.” The Wizards have been around since 1962 and now have three units that crisscross the USA and travel the globe.
The Wizards will be challenged by Teachers in Sneakers, a team consisting of school district staffers. Game time is 7 p.m.
Tickets will go on sale April 2, available at esfwa.org.
