The work of the Saskatoon Public Schools Foundation continues to build on its success in enhancing learning opportunities for students at Saskatoon Public Schools and celebrating the vital role that public education plays in our society.
The foundation is a non-profit charity that partners with committed businesses, organizations and individuals to support high-impact programs and initiatives that go above and beyond core educational services.
One of the foundation's flagship initiatives, The Early Learner Literacy Tutor Program, marked a third successful year of providing intensive one-to-one support to young learners falling behind in their reading. With the support of private donors, the program expanded to offer 216 twenty-hour tutor sessions this year alone, bringing the total number to 459 sessions over three years.
Students from 19 schools participated in the program and gained an average of three reading levels over one session. So far nearly 10,000 hours of individual tutoring has been made possible by the foundation and the program's generous donors.
The foundation's Summer Reading Camps, continued to grow thanks to a generous $62,000 donation from Brian and Kathy Turnquist, supporters of the program since its inception. The summer of 2016 saw 186 children benefit from the two-week reading camps hosted by 14 schools. A new math component was piloted at two camps and a partnership with SaskSport brought afternoon sports activities to four locations.
PotashCorp's generous contribution of $200,000 to the PotashCorp Food4Thought Nutrition Program was celebrated at a special gathering. Throughout the year PotashCorp's contributions helped provide nearly 700,000 nutritious meals and snacks to students from 19 schools, giving them the nutrition they need to be successful in the classroom.
Each year the foundation provides Program of Excellence Grants to schools to support innovative, high-impact initiatives that fall outside basic curriculum with grants worth a total of $40,000 awarded to 17 schools during 2015-16. Projects include spoken word poetry and anti-oppression education at Royal West; an effort to enhance indigenous art, song and dance at W.P. Bate; North Park Wilson's Mural Mosaic Canada 150 project; promotion of leadership and healthy living by the DreamTeam at Fairhaven School; a Spirit of Youth group at Centennial Collegiate; and math literacy at Silverwood Heights.
Increasing learning opportunities for new Canadians was the focus of a special 2015 holiday season campaign. The Project Welcome campaign, launched in partnership with the Saskatoon Open Door Society, generated more than $5,000 for enhanced learning tools, such as dual-language books and picture dictionaries.
The Cameco Centre of Excellence completed its second year of programming at Bedford Road Collegiate. Thanks to the generous support from Cameco and excellent instruction by teacher Curtis Clements, students had opportunities to be trained in pneumatics, 3-D modelling, microcontrollers, robotics, electrical circuits, computer control, drafting and 3-D manufacturing. This year 42 students completed the program and received a Practical Applied Arts Credit in Design Studies 10.
Contributions from the foundation and the Saskatchewan Association of Optometrists made it possible for the Eye See Eye Learn Optometric Clinic to begin operations at Confederation Park Community School. Eye examinations were performed on 169 children, with approximately one-third receiving a recommendation to wear glasses.
The foundation also facilitated numerous donor-directed gifts during the year. For example, a generous donation of $100,000 was directed to Pleasant Hill Community School by the estate of Mr. Durward Seafoot. Because of this contribution, students attending Pleasant Hill will benefit for years to come from opportunities that go above and beyond the core services provided by the school.
The foundation's full report for 2015-16 is available on our website.
