Grosse Pointe Students Benefit from Foundation Gifts

The gave more than $46,000 in grants to to help with a variety of projects for the classrooms and learning.

The foundation raises funds with the goal of supporting the district's strategic plan. It aims to enhance classroom programming, technology, elementary foreign language, staff and professional developement, extracurricular and more.

The most recent gifts are as follows:

• $2,100 will be dispersed among the three middle schools, , and , to expand cyber bullying education that focuses on character education, promoting respect and responsible behavior

• $5,000 will be given to the Gearheads Robotics Team that includes students from and high schools. The money will help pay for participation fees and expenses

• $2,849 will be given to Grosse Pointe South for Smart Response XE Clickers, which are to be used in the classroom. These supplement the as a result of the .

• $4,250 will be used to purchase materials for several pilot elementary schools for the FAST spelling program. The district already uses the FAST reading program and the grant request said the staff would like to start using the FAST spelling program. The money will pay for instructional materials as well as for evaluation of the program once implemented.

• $760 will be given to for One School, One Book program. The money will buy each student a copy of a school selected book that every student will read as a building-wide project and for instructional materials related to the book for teachers to use during its reading. This is a program that was used at in the 2010/11 school year that staff said really brought the students together and highlighted the importance of family reading time.

• $1,211 will be given to for the purchase of extra sales racks, software and a printer. The shop is part of the district's curriculum for students with special needs who are transitioning from high school into adulthood.

The final gift is $30,000 that will be used district wide to purchase additional FAST reading training and materials. The gift was given to the district through the Foundation, which accepted the directed donation from another foundation, The Edward T. and Ellen K. Dryer Charitable Foundation.

The Edward T. and Ellen K. Dryer Charitable Foundation is based out of Grosse Pointe Farms and two of its trustees are Grosse Pointers, Jon Gandelot and his wife Lisa Mower-Gandelot.

Lisa Vreede, vice president of the Grosse Pointe Foundation for Public Education, said this is the fifth annual gift the Dryer Foundation has given to the Grosse Pointe Schools. That foundation also helped out with the technology campaign last school year, she said, noting the education foundation's appreciation for the other foundation's generosity.

Jon Gandelot spoke to Grosse Pointe Public School Board members about this gift, explaining how the Dryers lived frugally but amassed great wealth after Edward lost his sight and then his job. Ellen read to him the financial reports from the newspaper, which helped him make investments that ultimately resulted in the establishment of the foundation.

Correction: Due to misinformation provided to Patch, this story was altered Jan. 11, 2012 at 1:03 a.m. to reflect the proper location of a charitable organization and the times it has donated to Grosse Pointe Foundation for Public Education.