The Amherst Central Alumni Foundation Grant Committee awarded $4,807 for requests submitted by faculty and staff. Grants were awarded in all four schools for tablets, literacy materials, science outreach and snack programs. Money was also awarded to help fund field trips, a boys’ basketball trip and a French Foreign Exchange field trip to the Albright Knox Art Gallery. The grants are fully funded by generous alumni donations, an annual Golf Outing as well as all-class reunions. No monies are received from the school district. Grants are awarded for programs that are not funded by the school budget and are selected based on the most students that will be positively affected. The Grant Committee expects to award approximately $10,000 in grants for the 2015-2016 school year and has awarded over $68,000 in the last 12 years. The next deadline for requests is March 1, 2016.
Additional grants were awarded through the Appeal Fund. Items over $1,000 which directly affect the entire school district are chosen. This year, the Appeal Fund awarded $7,125 for a new football blocking sled, hockey equipment, and a new Smallwood Elementary community time program. Windermere Elementary School’s Musical Theater Club will be up and running again after a very generous donation from an Amherst Alumnus. The high school’s Orchestra field trip was also partially funded from the Dedicated Seats Fund. Alumni and parents can purchase a plaque to be placed on one of the seats in the high school auditorium. The Dedicated Seats Fund was established to specifically help fund the arts in the school district. The Appeal Fund is supported through generous donations from local Amherst businesses, alumni and parents. The Alternative Funding Committee consists of administration, faculty, staff, parents, community members and Alumni Foundation directors who select the recipients.
The Amherst School District, its Board of Education and the Amherst Alumni Foundation, Inc. invite your participation and partnership benefiting Amherst’s students, teachers, academic programs, arts, athletics and our school’s buildings and learning spaces. For more information on how you can donate please visit www.amherstalumni.org or www.amherstappeal.org.
Tiger Tracks 