We’re excited to welcome local author and illustrator Aron Nels Steinke to Beaver Acres to help launch our Literacy Week. Aron will meet with three different groups of students during his visit, sharing his writing process with two of his books: Speechless and Mr. Wolf’s Class. Additionally, Aron will engage in collaborative art with the students as a gift to remember their time together. What a fun and inspiring way to celebrate reading and creativity with children! Thank you to the Mike Osborne Memorial Award Fund for this incredible opportunity!
Share:
Fir Grove Elementary is requesting YOUR HELP to support our After-School Jump Rope Program for students in grades 3–5. This highly engaging extended-hours program promotes physical fitness, teamwork, coordination, and confidence while providing a positive and structured after-school opportunity. Students will participate one hour per week, over a 10-week period. The program also supports improved school attendance by increasing student engagement and connection to school.
This will be the third consecutive year Fir Grove has offered the Jump Rope program, which has consistently demonstrated strong student participation and community support. Students work collaboratively to learn jump rope routines and skills, culminating in a performance at a school assembly. This culminating experience builds student pride, leadership skills, and confidence in public performance. We appreciate the support of our amazing Fir Grove community!
The micro:bit is a pocket-sized computer designed to inspire creative thinking in children that can be programmed in many different ways. Through the micro:bit, students are encouraged to explore ideas using real code. The device helps students experience the interaction between hardware and software, and it gives students practical computer knowledge. Using the micro:bit, students can see how the code on-screen has a direct impact on the device they’re holding in their hand. Not only do students learn about coding, but they also engage with mathematical concepts like variables, coordinates, geometry, and conditional logic. Stoller students LOVE coding, so help us support their engineering curiosity with MICRO:BITS!
After-school clubs are a pillar of what makes Meadow Park an amazing community for our students and families. Students are able to have a safe place to engage in positive interactions with their peers and adults outside of the regular classroom environment. Art Club has been one of the most popular after-school clubs at Meadow Park for the past several years. It is run as a makerspace with time, supplies, and support provided for students to pursue their own creative ideas. Having access to a variety of art supplies is essential for students to have a successful and engaging experience! Thank you for helping to make Art Club possible!
For many students, performing in a choir is more than just singing. It’s a chance to build confidence, discover their voice, and connect with friends in a positive, creative after‑school environment. Choir programs also nurture leadership, teamwork, and a sense of belonging—skills that stay with students long after elementary school. At Raleigh Park, we want to continue to offer this opportunity to all 3rd–5th grade students, but we need support to make it happen. Together, we can create a space where students grow, shine, and feel proud of what they accomplish.
This year, our Whitford tech students are engaging with an engineering and design project combining multiple future-ready skills: coding, design, and engineering. They begin by learning how to program a Microbit using both blocks and text. Students program the Microbit to receive and display messages, operate small motors, and act as a light and temperature sensor. Additionally, they use CAD software to make vehicles that can be programmed to follow a course they create. The addition of a Motobit allows students to use larger motors that require more advanced programming and engineering to support multiple motors. Our project aligns with Oregon’s current Tech Standards as well as some of the Next Generation Science Standards. Most importantly, it is fun and engaging! Please support Whitford’s technology program with your donation today!
From mythology to Shakespeare, ISB 7th graders are learning about literature and performance in their Language Arts classes. We would like to take this exploration outside the classroom and allow students to experience a live production with Portland Center Stage this spring! This field trip will support our Performance targets which we do through mythology retellings and Shakespeare “Much Ado About Nothing” performances in class. This experience will allow students to analyze professional performers and learn about stage directions, blocking, and voice techniques to improve their own work. Exciting!
The cost of tickets and bus transportation for 150 students is challenging within our school’s budget. We would be so grateful for any support we can receive to help offset the cost of this exciting, artistic, and educational opportunity.
We look forward to sharing tales of our adventure to the theater and seeing the impact it makes on our students. Thank you for your support!
Mountainside and Aloha High Schools have created a performing arts class that is rooted in universal design and inclusive practices, where students with disabilities can thrive in a space built specifically with their needs in mind. BEF is collaborating with educators this year-long performing arts program has just gotten underway, but the new classes need adaptive musical instruments, props and costumes for movement and theater activities. Teachers also want to take students on field trips to experience live theater. Your donation will help invest in immersive and meaningful experiences in the arts for students with unique learning needs.
They’re back at it again this school year! The Health Careers students are excited to bring the Teddy Bear Clinic program to BSD kindergarten and first-graders once more. The Teddy Bear Clinic is a fun and educational opportunity where young students learn about health care and wellness through hands-on activities—using their own stuffed animals as “patients.”
This is a great opportunity for Health Careers students to use some of their basic patient assessment and first aid skills, encouraging teamwork and boosting confidence as they interact with younger students in a nurturing role. On the flip side, elementary students learn about basic healthcare practices and first aid in a fun and engaging way to reduce anxiety about visiting doctors or clinics. This is also a great way for young students to create stories and situations/injuries for their teddy bears, promoting creativity and storytelling.
The goal is to provide a teddy bear to each student to be used in the clinic, and then this bear may be taken to a doctor’s office to provide comfort and mitigate fear. A $10 donation supports one student with one bear. How many students will you be able to support?
Thank you for continuing to support this meaningful and memorable program!
Teaching PE and health requires a lot of equipment. We teach sports with balls, discs, pins, climbing holds, hoops, nets, and so on. We also teach about the human body, how it works, and what it needs to grow healthy and strong. Materials that are used regularly by students often need replacement, and school budgets don’t often allow for this. For this reason, Physical Education and Health teachers at Kinnaman are seeking $2,500 in funding to create a library of custom, 3D printed instructional materials for our students.
With the help of 3D printing technology, our goal is to be able to create instructional materials ourselves and not depend on a tight school budget. We plan on printing PE equipment, including custom equipment for our impaired students to be able to hold and throw more easily. We will also produce health equipment such as ball and socket joints, as well as hinge joints, to demonstrate how shoulders and hips move compared with elbows and knees. We would like to print small fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and cuts of meats so that our younger students can build their own “my plate” and show how they can make healthy eating choices. Purchased separately, these materials would cost hundreds of dollars, but with 3D printing, creating all this would only use a few dollars of materials. We plan to purchase mostly TPU filament which produces materials that are extremely durable and will tolerate regular student use.
Knowing that our filament supplies are limited, we also plan to create and sell Kinnaman PE Department gear at our annual carnivals to raise money to keep the PE printing program alive for years to come. We hope to become experts with this new and exciting technology so that we may teach others and improve student outcomes at more schools than just Kinnaman. Thank you for supporting Kinnaman students!
