Wayland Public Schools Foundation Celebrates 40 Years In 2023

WAYLAND, MA — A Wayland nonprofit that provides extra funding for school-based programs will celebrate its 40th year in 2023, and plans to mark the birthday with two upcoming events.

On May 6, the Wayland Public Schools Foundation will host its annual spring party and fundraiser, which is already sold out. The nonprofit will also host a spring golf tournament on June 2.

The foundation provides grants for a variety of school programs. Here are desciptions of some current initiatives they support, according to the organization:

Play For Change: This grant fully funds a year-long partnership between the Claypit Hill School kindergarten teachers with facilitators from Play for Change. Through theatrical experiences, puppetry, music and art, children will experience lessons in racial justice and learn to become change makers. The facilitators from Play for Change will also work with the kindergarten teachers to crate and then share anti-racist and social justice lessons. This work is directly in line with the Adoption of School Committee Anti-Racism Resolution.

National Geographic Giant Continent Maps: This grant fully funds the acquisition of the National Geographic Giants maps for the social studies and world language middle school teachers to use with their students. The maps will allow students to learn in an interactive manner and support their understanding of world geopolitics and world geography. The size of the maps will encourage students to interact with them and experience lessons in a more engaging and dynamic manner. In addition to the maps, the grant supported the purchase of additional materials to use during social studies and world language lessons.

Wayland Exploration Lab For Design (WELD): Designed as a "school within a school," WELD at Wayland High School imagines a culture where students pursue projects that are meaningful to them and develop teamwork, empathy, and passion. The program will lead students through a semester long Introduction to Innovation course, an elective of their choosing, and a year-long capstone class for upperclassmen to utilize their own individual skills and passions on a team focused on incubating and accelerating an idea into an actionable project or business. In line with WPSF's mission, this program will be integrated into the curriculum by using current offerings and creating one additional capstone class to pull the program together. Additionally, there is an emphasis on social emotional learning that allows students to pursue ideas of interest, practice leadership and self-reflection through Stanford School's Library Design focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. This project encourages experiential learning and creative endeavors by allowing students to explore the methodology of innovation across their experience at Wayland High School. This will all be based in the WELD two part space that allows multiple teachers and students to utilize innovation tools and methodology simultaneously.