Wellesley Home Magazine 2022-23

Wellesley
Education
Foundation:
REWARDING INNOVATION IN CLASSROOMS
By Judith Dorato O’Gara
What brings added value to the classroom? In Wellesley,
a district that boasts excellent schools and teachers, dedicated
parents and a supportive community combine to further
elevate innovation and excellence in the schools. For
over 30 years, the Wellesley Education Foundation (WEF)
has underwritten grants to educators with great ideas to
enhance their classrooms.
Over the past 10 years, the Wellesley Education Foundation
has given $2.8 million to the schools, with about $250,000
per year being the organization’s goal, says WEF co-president
Amy Hernandez (who shares the role with Elizabeth
Shlala) She explains that the amount given “depends on the
teachers. We’re not the experts, the teachers are. We rely
a lot on if the teachers need it. They have the pulse on the
district.”
Hernandez explains that grants run the gamut.
“Some of these grants are so exciting,” says Hernandez.
“There’s a lot of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering
and Math) grants – robots for the Middle School, they
build and program robots in a science class, portable microscopes
for physics classrooms, kits so they can analyze
DNA, a Padcaster, to create their own weather videos. It’s
really value added to the classrooms. Sometimes we’ll get
grant (applications) for reading, and we think reading is kind
of essential, but for the first grade, we did provide books
with bags to take home. We’ve given makerspace materials
for libraries, and this year we had a bunch of theatre stuff, in
the auditorium in the high school, microphones and lighting
and funded grants for public speaking.”
Hernandez continues, “We can’t do things like help with
teacher salary but have funded professional development.
We focus a lot on project-based learning. We purchased
furniture for certain classrooms to promote project-based
learning, and recently, given the pandemic, we did some
with social-emotional learning. We also will fund speakers,
working with the district to see what the need is. We did
one grant for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion director, for
the author of Caste to come and speak, and some books
for different classrooms. Sometimes we’ll pilot some things,
like Spanish for K-5th grade. We funded it for three years, I
36 WellesleyHOME
believe, and then (the school) continued it.”
Hernandez explains that grants WEF funds must provide
innovation and excellence in the schools. This year, WEF is
funding a district-wide social-emotional learning audit for
the schools.
The 35-member board, who have only begun meeting
in person after two years of meeting remotely due to
COVID-19, meets six times a year to review grant applications
and work on fundraising. All members are parents
who live in Wellesley, with two co-presidents and two
vice presidents (also presidents-in-training), and all make a
4-year commitment, with an option for a 5th year.