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SEEDLING
FOUNDATION
ABOUT US:
"Supporting public schools through building
community."
Formerly known as Travis Community Education Foundation,
for over a decade, a group of committed
citizens, public corporations and small
businesses have worked collaboratively with a number of schools in the
Austin Independent School District to build long-term, sustainable
partnerships. These partnerships have provided computers, software and
training for teachers, new facilities, Internet support, mentor support,
major exterior renovations of campuses and a variety of academic
enhancement programs for students ranging from math summer camps to paid
summer internships in specific career pathways. Working with our AISD
partners, the Seedling Foundation has invested millions of dollars in the "Renaissance of
Austin Public Schools."
Our
Current Programs:
Seedling Campus Beautification:
The Seedling Foundation
has used landscaping and exterior improvements for AISD campuses to
build community in our public schools. SF has three-year plans for the
schools we support and we develop these plans with the school
leadership, parents and neighborhood representatives. SF "Working
Saturdays" are as much about building community as they are about
improving the campus. Often we begin with breakfast and make time for
lunch. The students, parents and faculty work with us and it is magical
to see them develop a new sense of pride in their school. The work is
varied and always challenging, with heavy equipment days before to dig
holes, put sprinkler lines in place and prepare the work area.
Frequently a handful of skilled people will build new flowerbeds, create
lovely rockwork and borders,
install sprinklers and spread topsoil before the volunteers arrive for
the "Working Saturday." The fun is in the planting, and we want that to
be a good experience for our community volunteers. In the weeks that
follow, smaller crews work on painting, mold abatement and drainage
issues. Sometimes the more challenging issues must be set aside until
the summer when our contractors have provided the work crews and
materials for major projects including courtyards and sidewalks.
Seedling Campus Beautification projects can be seen at more than thirty
AISD campuses, and are often a visible sign of the rebuilding of
community at those schools. In 2008 the APIE Salute awards
recognized Seedling Director Chuck Borgeson and his wife Luan as
"Outstanding Volunteers of the Year."
Seedling's Promise - Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents:
SF
has expanded its mission to other areas as well. Challenging situations
are just what children of incarcerated parents face each and every day,
and in 2005-2006 SF piloted a small and focused pilot program at four
elementary schools and one middle school that provided one on one
mentoring to this group of children. In the “Seedling's Promise”
Mentor Support Program, specially trained mentors from the community are
paired with these children who are identified by their counselors, but
not separated out from the general population.. The mentors are given ongoing support by SF and their volunteer
experts in this area and a staff coordinator who assists the school with
the coordination of the program. The SF Mentor Support Program won the
“Outstanding Program of the Year” award from Austin Partners in
Education and AISD for 2005-2006. In 2006-2007, with the addition of
Sari Waxler as our Executive Director and the award of a three-year
grant from the Dept. of Health & Human Services, SF more than
tripled the program and affected more than 150 children in 17 AISD
schools. In 2006, the Seedling Foundation became a proud member of the
Travis County Reentry Roundtable. In 2007 SF was a finalist in the APIE Salute awards as both
"Rookie of the Year" and Sari Waxler as "Mentor of the Year."
In 2007-2008 Seedling's
Promise partnered with 19 schools in AISD, pilot schools in Pflugerville
and Round Rock ISD and affecting over 200 children. At the
invitation of the Seedling Foundation in 2007, journalist and noted
author Nell Bernstein ("All Alone in the World, Children of the
Incarcerated), renowned trainer Ann Adalist-Estrin, and Dee Ann Newell,
champion of the
children's bill of rights visited and trained the AISD Guidance and Counseling professionals in an effort to aid
this growing demographic in AISD students. Executive Director Sari
Waxler was recognized as APIE Salute Awards "Mentor of the Year" for
2008 and the Seedling's Promise program was a finalist for "Outstanding
Program of the Year."
Additionally, in
2007 the Rourke College Scholarships were added and two
mentored students from Webb Middle School won $5,000.00 awards from the
Foundation. These funds will be held in trust for the students
until their graduation in 2011 from an AISD school and acceptance into
the 2 or 4 year program of their choice. In 2008 a student from
Dobie Middle School and a student from Bedichek Middle School won two
more $5,000.00 awards from the Foundation and their awards will be held
in trust until their graduation in 2012.
This is a growing
program that has gained national attention as a successful site based
way to match high quality mentors with a specific group of children
through a cooperative partnership with a large urban school district.
AISD has been a leader in the nation, and through this partnership many
children are getting the support and adult friends they need.
Supported, nurtured and encouraged, Seedling's Promise Mentors get a
great mentoring experience and the return rate has been far above the
national average. Quality mentoring over time makes a great
impact, and that is what the Mentors are doing.
Seedling Post Secondary Programs - CAMP (College Admissions Mentoring Program):
An outstanding academic
support program began in 2004-2005 when professional SAT Tutor and
Princeton Review authority Chris Blazier, and renowned Mathematics
Teacher Frances Martinez joined our volunteer team and recruited a group
of specialists to work with rising juniors at Akins, Travis and Lanier
High Schools with the goal of achieving recognition in the PSAT National
Merit Scholarships. The College Admissions Mentoring Program
is ongoing
and has nearly tripled in size. In 2006-2007 SF support resulted in
PSAT Semi-Finalists and Commended Scholars from the original group of
students, in schools that historically had few, if any PSAT award
winners.
Seedling Fine Arts Program:
SF
loves arts in schools, and over the years we have formed a partnership
with Zachary Scott Theatre’s Project InterACT. Six elementary
schools received SF sponsored productions at their campus in 2005-2006,
eight schools were sponsored in 2006-2007 and eleven schools enjoyed this
program in 2007-2008. In 2008-2009, ten AISD schools, two Round
Rock ISD schools, two Georgetown ISD schools and one Pflugerville ISD
school will enjoy productions sponsored by the Seedling Foundation.
Other areas the Foundation has affected:
School to Career:
The Seedling Foundation funded the
first two Career Pathway Institutes for the Austin Independent School
District. At William B. Travis High School, the foundation worked with
the Hotel and Restaurant Associations in the design and construction of
a 6,500 square foot state of the art teaching kitchen for the
Institute of
Hospitality & Culinary Arts at Travis.
In 2005, twelve IHCA students spent a 3-week internship in Ireland,
sponsored by SF donors. The next project TCEF led was the conversion of
10,000 square feet of old homemaking labs at Lanier High School into a
state of the art facility for the
Lanier Health
Sciences Institute. Next came an
exterior finish out for the Naval ROTC program at Travis High School.
Military service is a very important option for many of our high school
graduates who desire additional training and travel. Planning
and construction are now underway for the
Automotive & Body
Repair Institute at Crockett
and this new Institute
opened Spring, 2008. School-to-career institutes are efficient ways to
lead students into both careers and higher education in their fields of
interest.
Technology Support:
Technology is extremely important in the education of our
children and our first challenge was to work with our classroom teachers
in helping them to integrate computer technology into their teaching
skills. Over a three-year period working with INTEL Teach to the Future
and some very outstanding technology focused instructional specialists,
we have made considerable progress in the computer literacy of our
classroom teachers. We have provided several high schools with state of
the art computer labs and have worked with local high tech companies to
provide the technical support to sustain these systems on individual
campuses. Travis High School and Reagan High School are now used for the
evening computer literacy courses featuring extensive training in areas
ranging from basic word processing to network administration and these
classes are offered at no cost. Over 4,000 adults have completed various
programs and we have found that more that 40% have obtained better jobs
after completing these programs. In 2005 SF formed a partnership with
Summitt PTA and provided matching funds to make a new computer lab
possible for the children of Summitt Elementary. In 2006 more SF
matching funds bought computers for the magnet program at Kealing Middle
School, which made JAVA programming classes possible.
Internet Support:
An addition to our
services in partnership with AISD was added in 2004-2005 with the
creation of customized web sites with webmaster support for targeted
schools that did not have this valuable resource. 24 hour turnaround on
posting of new information to the site was always the goal, and we
found the websites to be excellent community builders and an efficient
way for schools to inform their community and potential students and
their families. Smaller and less connected schools found that an "Internet Presence" can help attract new families and new
teachers to their schools and involve them immediately. One of our
enterprising elementary schools, Ortega Elementary, actually used their
computer lab as a bilingual cafe for parents on specified mornings.
Parents came in and had coffee with a teacher who then showed them how
to use "their" web site and take advantage of many bilingual and Spanish
language links that increased their English language skills along with
their computer skills. Ortega Elementary won the "Austin Partners in
Education Campus Spirit Award for 2004-2005" for their innovative use of
the SF donated web site and Summitt Elementary won an Outstanding Web
Site award in 2005-2006 from Texas PTA. In 2007-2008 SF supported 15
elementary web sites, 3 middle school web sites, the Austin Council of
PTA, Texas PTA Area 6 and the St. John Community/School Alliance web sites.
Software issues forced the discontinuation of this program as of the
close of 2007-2008.
Summer Academic Enrichment
Program:
In the past,
SF has
also facilitated Summer Academic Camps for freshman and middle school
students. We have sponsored these camps on up to five high school campuses
and two middle school campuses.
The goal was to help those who just needed a little assistance to do
well in algebra and reading. Nationally prominent educators directed the math
camps initially and paid classroom teachers learned new ways to teach math
concepts. Small class size was a priority, and the classes aimed for a
20 to 1 ratio, or lower. The feature of these camps that differentiated
them and made them work was the small daily stipend per student,
provided by SF donors. This stipend made the difference between
struggling learners coming to a two to three-week long math camp or
taking a low-paying part time job that would lead them nowhere fast.
Perfect attendance and diligence was rewarded by the stipend, but the
real payoff came in their increased comprehension and passing rates in
high school algebra and getting back on grade level in reading.
The
Seedling
Foundation
is made up of people just like you, who are dedicated to making a
focused and targeted difference in public schools. Public schools are
ours to support or lose, as we choose. The beauty of the public school
system in our society is that all are served, whether rich or poor, high
or low performing, normal or handicapped, advantaged or disadvantaged.
No one is turned away. Is this a purpose you can support? Think about
getting involved with SF, whether financially or with the gift of your
time or goods. We welcome your support.
SEEDLING FOUNDATION
Changing the
Landscape of Education
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