North Allegheny Foundation grants aid schools

The North Allegheny Foundation awarded $30,000-plus worth of grants this spring to aid students and teachers in the school district.

The foundation also provided more than 20 students with scholarships. Both rounds of awards were announced at the North Allegheny School Board meetings, May 15 and 22, respectively.

For the grants, this is the second round of funding for the current school year, with more than $25,000 being awarded in the fall, said William Mascari, secretary to the NA Foundation. Any district staff member can submit a grant application.

“For a grant to be considered for approval, it must explain how the grant will impact students, how many students it will impact and how it connects with the message of the school district as well as the mission of the NA Foundation,” said Mascari, a teacher at Marshall Middle School.

If a grant is not approved, the grants committee provides feedback and applicants are welcome to apply in a future selection period.

“We are very fortunate to have a wide variety of grant applications each selection period. We especially appreciate the variety of schools, grade levels and content areas that apply for a grant,” Mascari said.

The highest award for this round includes $8,700 to fund the expansion of vocational programming at the high school, specifically the addition of a sublimation printer to the Tiger Den, a program used by students in the special education department to support vocational skills.

Nearly $4,500 will go toward a jungle gym “ninja” course at Ingomar Elementary. This athletic climbing course will encourage physical, mental, social and emotional growth to improve self-esteem, overall wellness and coordination, according to the grant description from the foundation.

A grant of $4,000 will fund a robotics and coding program at Bradford Woods Elementary, where students can create interactive, collaborative storytelling experiences using robotic kits.

A Tiger Arch grant of $3,311 will replace an older, worn model that has been used for many years. The arch is seen at numerous North Allegheny events, including NA Foundation fundraisers such as the Trick or Trot and its golf classic, Mascari said.

A $3,000 grant for McKnight Elementary will fund sensory paths that help extend the sensory room into the building’s hallways. This helps students have quicker access to an area to improve their well-being.

A grant of $2,500 was given for students within the emotional support program at Ingomar Middle School to practice social and environmental learning through monthly community service projects. Examples of previous projects include holiday visits to nursing homes, making blankets for oncology patients at UPMC Passavant hospital and volunteering with Animal Friends, Mascari said.

Ingomar Middle’s Garden Club will use $1,980 for garden refurbishment at the school.

And $1,500 will go toward new room signs for hallways at the high school, where art students will interview the teacher of each room to design an appropriate artistic motif reflecting their role in the school. Students in technology and engineering classes will design and cut the logos while art students will create the artistic rendering, according to Mascari.

An amount of $700 was approved to cover transportation costs for high school junior and seniors to travel to district elementary schools next academic year to complete several projects with younger students.

IMS also received $500 toward games, puzzles, LEGO sets and crafts for students to use throughout and beyond the school day.

In addition to the grants, the NA Foundation awarded 20 scholarships to students at the school board meeting on May 22, presented by Alice Rumberger-Beckett, who chairs the foundation.

Each scholarship is about $1,000, so approximately $20,000 was awarded to the graduating NA seniors. Five scholarships are funded by the NA Foundation, while the others are funded by private donors.

The North Allegheny Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization governed by a 23-member board of trustees that represents a diverse group of community and business leaders. For more information, visit www.northallegheny.org/nafoundation.