After two years of virtual meetings and fundraising events, Brunswick Education Foundation was delighted to hold its recent grant ceremony for the upcoming school year in person. Over the past two years, BCEF has issued 29 emergency grants to the Brunswick schools. From pen pal kits to seed planting at home, the goal was to uphold a sense of normalcy in the most abnormal of times. Now, as we look towards the upcoming 2021-2022 school year, BCEF is thrilled to enrich the education of Brunswick students through grants designed to complement and augment their traditional classroom curriculum.

This year, BCEF raised a total $63,000. It will fund 20 grant programs throughout the upcoming school year. Six of these are multi-year grants, intended to create lasting programs for students. In total, seven grants will go towards the new Kate Furbish Elementary School, four towards Brunswick High School, three towards the Junior high school, two towards Region 10, two towards the REAL school, and two towards Harriet Beacher Stowe Elementary.

Examples of this year’s upcoming grants include a worm composting project at Kate Furbish Elementary. This hands-on life science lesson is intended to bring students outside of the classroom and teach students about sustainability and the environment in an exciting way.

Over at Brunswick High School, a Brunswick School District Speaker Series will be held. Students, parents, staff, and the greater community will have the opportunity to hear from an array of guest speakers on a variety of topics such as diversity, equity, and inclusion. The high school will also receive a $5,000 grant to purchase high-quality mouthpieces for every student in the band. Brandon Duras, band director, hopes to achieve a unified band sound through affordable means.

The TREK school, formally the REAL school, will receive a grant to support students’ interests in traditional boat building. Students will have a unique opportunity to engage in learning activities that integrate science, social studies, math, and language arts via a central theme of conservation, sustainability, and experiential learning.

Brunswick Junior High School will receive a grant to purchase new equipment for the aquaponics program. This new equipment will continue to help actualize teachers’ visions of turning one-third of the 6th-grade science curriculum into hands-on, project-based learning with the potential to spark creativity and connect learning to real-world applications.

The recent grants also include a creative digital media initiative at Region 10 Technical school. This program will allow students to see their digital artwork translated into glass, enamel, and ceramic works, helping them to develop their portfolios for college applications.

Since its establishment in 2015, Brunswick Community Education Foundation has raised nearly 200 grants across all Brunswick schools. BCEF is committed to its mission to fund innovative educational programs that go beyond the traditional curriculum. In order to raise and distribute funds for initiatives and enrichment activities, Brunswick Community Education Foundation relies on proceeds from its annual fundraising campaigns and events, and from donations from generous donors in the community.

A special thanks go out to all the donors, sponsors, board members, grant teams, and event teams that have made these recent grants come to fruition. Most importantly, Brunswick Foundation Education thanks the Brunswick teachers whose innovative visions of what education can look like and accomplish fuel the mission of BCEF.

Emily Swan graduated from Brunswick High School in 2020 and will Graduate from Barnard College in 2024.