Bay Ball Raises $20,000 for Educational Technology

On Wednesday night, the Whitefish Bay Public Education Foundation awarded the school district with $20,000 in proceeds from the fundraising event held in November.

The Bay Ball, which was held at the Discovery Center this year, is the major fundraiser for the Whitefish Bay Public Education Foundation. Since the first Bay Ball held in 1996, the event has raised more than $1.2 million. The foundation had hoped to raise $75,000 this year.

The Bay Ball raised $21,000 this year for the district's 21^st Century Teaching and Learning Initiative to put new technology in classrooms. In the past, the money has been divided evenly among the four public schools and the education foundation, but because of the low fundraising this year, the education foundation decided to forego its fifth of the proceeds and gave a $20,000 check directly to the district to be divided evenly among the schools.

The foundation raised  event last May.

The foundation also approved $36,000 in Ed Nuss grants this year. The grants were created to encourage and assist teachers, staff and students in developing innovative and exciting ideas that can be implemented as a part of the curriculum.

The most recent Nuss grants, approved in December, allocated $14,500 for SMART Boards in high school shop classes, a metal mill and lathe with a ShopBot desktop for high school science classes, light sensors and probes for high school physics classes, listening centers for the French program at the elementary schools, cameras for the high school journalism program and Magformers for high school math and geometry classes.

The foundation also approved a $10,000 capital improvement grant for the high school's bleachers and swimming pool.

"Our dedication to enhancing public education in Whitefish Bay is very strong," said Sandy Murphy, president of the Whitefish Bay Public Education Foundation. "We continue to support funding programs that could not be otherwise be provided through operational expenses of the district."