$30,000 IN MINI GRANTS AWARDED!

Thanks to donations from our community, WEF awarded nearly $30,000 in grants to support students and educators at all Winters public schools for this school year!

Some of the 28 projects we funded included:

·       Outdoor play equipment to engage young learners at the preschool

·       Tools to introduce Waggoner students to coding and robotics

·       Ukuleles to expand music instruction at Rominger

·       Scholarships to outdoor education camp for sixth and seventh graders (who didn’t have the opportunity to attend in 2020)

·       Technology to make learning — and teaching! — high school math easier

These grants are made possible by donations from our community — so thank YOU! We use your gifts to help our district's educators ensure continued educational excellence and equal educational opportunities for every child in Winters public school classrooms. Thank you, again.

WEF RECEIVES BUCK FOUNDATION EDUCATION GRANT

The Winters Education Foundation, is delighted to be selected as a recipient of a Buck Education Grant in the amount of $9,500.00.

The grant is for two purposes:

· To supply K - 5 classroom libraries with books in Spanish that can be sent home with students, providing access to learning materials in the primary language used at home, as well as in English.

· To fund paraeducator interpreters and translator support for home contacts, allowing the schools to close the loop and help direct families to District, school and community resources, including access to reliable Internet, materials pick-up dates, parent workshops and support meetings. 

Special thanks goes to:

· Kurt Balasek, President of WEF, who arranged a meeting with Superintendent Jimenez at the beginning of summer to introduce himself and Board member, Don Palm.  Together they provided information about WEF, its history and mission.

· Superintendent Jimenez for suggesting the ideas that made their way into the grant when mention was made of the Buck Grant during the meeting.

· Don Palm, the current secretary of WEF, who took on the task of writing the grant proposal.  Anyone who has written a grant proposal knows the challenges it entails.  Don, with his usual aplomb, dedicated his time to writing a succinct, articulate, and ultimately successful application. 

Everyone on the WEF Board is passionate about public education in general, and, specifically, about the public schools in the Winters JUSD. Special kudos to those mentioned above. They paved the way for students in the K - 5 classrooms to have enrichment materials, and for their families to have the benefit of home contacts, both of which will build and maintain strong relationships between home and school. 

WELCOME NEW BOARD MEMBERS! 

WEF is thrilled to announce the addition of two new board members, the dynamic mother-daughter duo of Liz and Vasey Coman. WEF is always on the look out for community members to serve on our board and volunteer at our activities! Join this great group and help get dollars directly into Winters classrooms.  For more information email winterseducationfoundation@gmail.com 

CONGRATULATIONS to Mia Tretjakov for earning 1st place in the Newspaper Article Contest for her report Winters High School Freshman go to the Theatre. Click here to read her report of the WEF supported WHS class of 2022 field trip to see the Woodland Opera House production of To Kill A Mockingbird.

2018-19 OVER $15,000 IN MINI-GRANTS AWARDED!

WEF mini-grants supporting all grade levels are so popular that this year the demand was higher than ever requested in the past.  Over $15,000 was awarded district wide to support Winters students. Check out our Funding In Action page to see a complete list of funded grants through the years.  To help WEF continue to meet the high demand for mini-grants please donate by clicking on one of the donation buttons located on this page. We appreciate your support.

Big Day of Giving 2018 raises big funds for WEF and our students!

The preliminary numbers are in and $7,968 was raised to support public education in Winters! Thank you to all of our generous donors and thank you to our West Yolo non-profits that joined us for BigDOG and Brew at Berryessa Brewing. We hope every organization enjoyed success on BigDOG!

Steady Eddy's Coffee House Dine and Donate a big hit!

Local customers and teachers ordered lunch on two consecutive Wednesdays with 20% of the sales going to WEF. A total of $140 was generated.  Combined with previous fundraisers sponsored by Steady Eddy's they have helped raise a total of $2,840 since March for WEF and our Winters public school students! 

Thank you Green River Brewing and Tap Room, Steady Eddy's Coffee House and an anonymous Winters Social Club! $1665 raised for our students!!!!

Guest Bartender Mel Wroten and Carla Wroten (of Steady Eddy's) worked the room at Green River on April 13th and raised $400 with a raffle benefitting WEF.  Woo Hoo!  And an anonymous Winters Social Club contributed an additional $1265!!  WEF is thrilled to be part of a caring community that supports our Winters public school students!

Over $1600 raised at Coffee Fest! Thank you Steady Eddy's Coffee House, Sponsors and Supporters!

In five short hours, over $1,600 was raised to support the students and staff in Winters public schools. 100% of that will go right back into the classrooms in Winters. Not only were funds raised for WEF, but awareness of what we do for our school district was also raised.

A big WEF thanks goes to Berryessa Gap Winery, Turkovich Family Wines and Sudwerk’s Bewery for donating their products to be served in the wine and beer garden. We were happy to be serving your wine and beer and appreciate you supporting the students and staff in Winters. We love that we have so many local businesses that support our schools.

The Coffee Fest was made possible through the hard work and determination of Carla and Mel Wroten, owners of Steady Eddy’s Coffee House. We were thrilled when they chose us to be the non-profit recipient for this event. They walked us through each step to prepare for the event and provided everything we needed. They also helped us apply and receive a $750 grant from Sam’s Club! So in a short time, they helped us raise over $2,300 for WEF.

Thank you Carla and Mel for all your hard work and dedication to the Winters Community. Your support means a lot to us and the students in the Winters Joint Unified School District.

WEF Proudly Supports Technology for WJUSD Students

Winters schools were featured in a Los Angeles Times article about bridging the digital divide for rural schools. Read the article here. California wanted to bridge the digital divide but left rural areas behind. Now that's about to change.

WEF Grants Over $12,000 in Mini-Grants for 2017-18

The Winters Education Foundation (WEF) has awarded over $12,000 in mini-grants to Winters Joint Unified School District programs directly benefiting students. Mini-grant funding was made possible this year by generous donations to WEF during the Big Day of Giving along with donations made throughout the year.

A sample of grants funded this year include: hands on science materials for the pre-school, books for 2nd – 5th grade reading intervention groups, STEM Foundation Curriculum for elementary students, sound system for the 4th – 8th grade music program and Robotic Team materials for both middle school and high school students. 

2017 Big Day of Giving = BIG SUCCESS!!!!

Over $13,000 in donations.

WEF was thrilled to participate in its first Big Day of Giving on May 4, 2017 through the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. Thank you to ALL of our donors, your dollars will go directly to Winters public school classrooms through teacher initiated grants. Check out our Funding in Action page to see how your donations make great things happen for our students.

A special thank you to the Winters Friends of the Library (WFoL) for partnering with Project Playground and inviting WEF to share in the Party in the Park. It was a wonderful event and a terrific opportunity for showcasing the generosity of the Winters community. Thanks too, to Winters Broadband for providing temporary wi-fi at the park.

A very special thank you goes out to WHS teacher Mike Challender and his robotics team for demonstrating their robots at the WEF booth. Check out this video of kids having fun!

Jill Aguiar, Winters Combined PTA, Carrie Green, WJUSD Board of Trustees, Paul Fawcett, WHS Principal and Kurt Balasek, Winters Education Foundation accept the Partnership Award from the Yocha Dehe Community Fund

WEF 2014 Yocha Dehe Certificate of Recognition Winner

The Yocha Dehe Community Fund jointly honored the Winters Combined PTA and Winters Education Foundation with a Partnership Award at its seventh annual Partners in Philanthropy Luncheon. Winters Combined PTA and the Winters Education Foundation were recognized for their ongoing committment to promoting academic excellence and creating opportunities for all students in the Winters Joint Unified School District

In 2014 the Yocha Dehe Community Fund focused on supporting partners and neighbors in Yolo County and the surrounding areas, funding more than two million dollars in grants to 60 organizations including education, health care, native rights, social services and environmental stewardship. WEF is grateful to the Community Fund for their support and honored by their recognition.

 Anonymous donor makes generous gift to WEF!

Thank you to our anonymous donor who recently made a generous donation to WEF through the anonymous fund of the Yolo Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. This donation will allow us to continue to support all students in the Winters Joint Unified School District through mini grants to all WJUSD school sites. As a non-profit, all-volunteer organization WEF relies on donations such as these in order to continue our work of ensuring continued education excellence and equal educational opportunities for every child in a Winters public school.

WEF promises to put your money directly into a local classroom. Tax deductible contributions can be mailed to the Winters Education Foundation, P. O. Box 1047, Winters, CA 95694.

Watch this space for more news and upcoming events.