8th annual LEEF Gala garners $75,000 for education excellence
LEEF Gala attendees Ben Branch and Sherry Walker look over some of the items available in the silent auction.
Reminder Publications photo courtesy of Joe Aberdale
By Debbie Gardner
Assistant Managing Editor
LONGMEADOW -- It was an opportunity to get gussied up, gab, graze -- and give.
The eighth annual Longmeadow Educational Excellence Foundation (LEEF) gala filled the rooms of the Longmeadow Country Club the night of Nov. 14, tempting patrons with tables laden with treats and treasures.
And the 300 attendees responded enthusiastically. While strains of jazz piano and chamber music floated through the rooms, women in their cocktail finery and equally well-appointed men good-naturedly competed in the live auction or silently penned their bids on items donated expressly to help fund educational excellence programs in the town's schools.
"Please be generous. Tonight is all about the kids," LEEF President Dan Grow told the crowd just before the live auction began.
"The purpose [of LEEF] is to provide excellence opportunities for all six public schools, " Wendy Upson, co-chair of the 2009 LEEF Gala, explained to
Reminder Publications during the event. "We provide [teachers with] grants [that go] above and beyond taxpayer dollars."
On the eve of the event, gala publicist and LEEF board member Joe Aberdale said the non-profit organization didn't "have a goal." in mind for this year. The Monday following the gala he reported the auctions had raised $75,000.
"People have been very generous because I think they realize the difference these grants make in our schools," Aberdale said.
"On Dec. 1, teachers will receive their initial [grant request] packets," said Grant Committee Chair Peg Landon. "Their grant requests will be due in March."
Last year, Landon said her grant review committee, comprised of nine volunteers, received and reviewed over $300,000 in grant requests. They selected and funded a record 36 grants for a total of $120,000 in extra programming for the schools.
"We challenge the teachers and they come up with some wonderfully creative and innovative ideas for their grants," Aberdale said.
An example of a recent LEEF grant in action was the $10,000 awarded to Wolf Swamp Elementary School reading specialist Kristina Gagne to develop a book closet containing approximately 2,500 titles, which allows teachers access to materials that better match a student's individual reading level.
"LEEF gave me this wonderful opportunity to build this closet," Gagne said. "It's just been amazing. It's been a lifelong dream ... I'm so grateful."
Teacher Tracy Bradshaw, now at Williams Middle School, said LEEF supported a district-wide lesson study program she and fellow teacher Donna Hutton developed for the three elementary schools.
The grant provided professional development training that expanded teachers training in mathematics and laid the foundation for collaborative lesson planning, sample lesson teaching and post-lesson evaluation of the learning experience.
"LEEF supported us for two years and now [this program] is a self-sustaining system," Bradshaw said. "I'm sure that's what LEEF wants, to get teachers excited to continue their work."
Over the years LEEF grants have funded such diverse programs as a bookmaking project, access to translation computer software for language classes, a seismograph and weather station at the high school and five sets of an in-class electronic student response system at the middle school that allows teachers to get immediate feedback to questions.
"From my point of view, I am very proud of my teachers. They are doing wonderful things with their grants, using all the tools and advantages from LEEF," said School Superintendent E. Jahn Hart, who will retire at the end of this school year. "It's a wonderful partnership."
Since its inception in 2002, LEEF has funded $681,000 in grants for Longmeadow public schools.
This year's gala was sponsored by Arabella Insurance, the McKenna family, Fathers & Sons Motors, and "many businesses and families with children in our schools," said Aberdale.
