ANOKA, Minn. – (Feb. 11, 2016) – The Anoka-Hennepin School District is one of the largest school district in the state, and like every school district, they are faced with the struggle of programs they’d like to offer, compared to the funding they have. Twenty-five years ago, a non-profit was founded to help address that need. “The Anoka-Hennepin Educational Foundation is a non-profit whose mission is exclusively support the students in schools in the Anoka-Hennepin School District,” said executive director Tess DeGeest. They provide grants for a variety of projects to help their wide variety of students who have a wide variety of strengths and interests. “To make sure every student finds that hook that gets them excited about doing well in school.,” said DeGeest. RELATED LINKS: One way they help is to step in when family finances might limit academic options. “We provide grant funding for students in high school who maybe have taken advance placement courses but can’t afford to take the test to get the college credit. It’s unfortunate that they could go that far, demonstrate the skills, but for the lack of the cost of a testing fee, about $100, not get the college credit. Those are the sorts of things we are trying to do,” said DeGeest. They support projects like this to keep kids interested in success. “It’s helping level the playing field for the students and families who otherwise can’t afford to fully take advantage of the opportunities that exist in the district,” said DeGeest. Other projects the Anoka Hennepin Educational Foundation supports range from the purchase of sewing machines, to resiliency training, to summer programs and more. “There’s a grant we funded this year called Dance to Learn over at Evergreen Park World Culture Community School. This is a project that was available for fifth graders and it was a nontraditional way of engaging students in their education,” said DeGeest. Most classrooms don’t use dance as a way to get kids interested in math or social studies. But at Evergreen Park Elementary, they noticed a difference in student confidence after this unique project. “We brought in an expert dance instructor who worked with the fifth graders and got them up and moving and teaching them to dance and from that they learned self control, team building, they learned how to have fun, how to do something physical, and they confidence in their ability to do something that they didn’t think they otherwise could do, which teachers tell us immediately translates to the classroom when they are confronting a math problem or science problem they otherwise wouldn’t feel so confident. Instead they are saying ‘I got this, I can do this because they already conquered something else.'” said DeGeest. Many teachers and staff throughout the district support the Anoka Hennepin Educational Foundation financially, but a few times a year, they hold a community fundraiser to engage parents, business leaders, and neighbors with their mission. Later this month, their Northern Stars Celebration is set to be their largest fundraiser yet. “In honor of the 25th celebration we’ve ramped up so we have Mr. Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion and Lake Wobegon fame coming and just talking with our audience. Not doing his Prairie Home Companion show but having a conversation about the value of education and growing up in this area. He is a graduate of Anoka High School, grew up on the Champlin side of the river and he’s coming back to talk about why supporting and embracing public education is so important and why nurturing our kids is so important,” said DeGeest. That’s part of the basic beliefs of the foundation. They want to nurture their students interest in education by providing and enhancing educational opportunities in the district. With the help of the community, they’ve been able to do that to the tune of $2.5 million over then 25 year history. “I truly believe the success of the foundation is a success story about our community. It’s the community. It’s the community embracing not just us, the foundation but our students and schools because we realize these kids today are the ones who will be taking care of us when we are older. They’re our future neighbors, our future employers, employees, city council members, all of that so I think we as a community understand that and as a foundation I’m extremely grateful for that,” said DeGeest.
