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02/16/2016 01:00 PM

Saybrook Education Foundation Fundraiser Offers Wine Cork Pull


Bottles of fine wine, tickets to Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees games, or a get-away weekend in Newport are among the donated items that could be yours for the right bid if you attend this year’s Old Saybrook Education Foundation fundraiser on March 11 from 7 to 10 p.m. at Saybrook Point Inn and Spa.

“Last year’s event raised $53,000 between sponsors, donated auction items, and event ticket sales,” said Education Foundation President Mike Rafferty.

And he wants to beat that fundraising target this year.

Each year the funds the education foundation raises support enrichment grants for innovative educational programs, enrichment activities, speakers, and other expenditures for which the normal school district budget cannot pay. Foundation spending choices are targeted toward enrichment activities and scholarships and does not supplant or substitute for items for which the school district budget normally pays.

“We gave out $42,000 last year in enrichment grants to the schools and $17,500 in Old Saybrook High School senior scholarships,” said Rafferty. “So far this year, we’ve given out $28,000 in grants.”

One grant paid for a pilot program at the Old Saybrook Middle School to buy four or five standing tables and chairs to put in several classrooms of one middle school team. Studies have found that some students benefit when offered the option of a standing table at which to work. This pilot program allows the district to test this proposition.

The foundation’s funding also has supported the purchase of technology at the high school to help expand the engineering and business offerings. This spending also supports the school district’s strategic plan, which emphasized strengthening school-to-career programming for students.

At the middle school, an education foundation grant paid for the purchase of five iPads to help a team of teachers better communicate with parents and between parents and kids. A $5,000 grant to the high school supported scholarships so all students could go on the junior field trip to Washington, D.C. Another grant paid to bring a math training program to the district to benefit teachers in the elementary and middle schools and parents through a special evening math training program. Other grants paid to bring a speaker on African cultures to Goodwin Elementary School and for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and 1st-grade classes to attend a special arts event at The Kate.

“We’ve supported the district’s strategic plan initiatives like school to career. And we also really want to support innovative classroom instruction and solid classroom instructional practices,” said Rafferty.

Tickets to the education foundation event at $25 per person are now on sale at each of the district’s three schools and at Harbor Books on Main Street. Included in the ticket price are light food choices (including a pasta bar); a cash bar is planned.

New this year will be a special fine wine grab bag. With a $25 payment, attendees can purchase a wine cork with a number that they’ll pull from a jar. Each cork’s number matches a number affixed to a donated wine bottle. Each of the wine bottles will be valued at least at $25, but some will carry a value in the hundreds of dollars range. So with this program, an attendee cannot lose. And each wine cork payment will also support the enrichment programs of the Education Foundation, so this fine wine will enrich both the buyer and help support the district’s students.

Attendees will be able to place bids on donated items or offer bids during the auction segment of the event.

“Always popular are the packages offering reserved high school graduation seats and parking, reserved seats and parking for the middle school 8th-grade closing ceremony, and reserved seats and parking for the 3rd- to 4th grade promotion at Goodwin Elementary School,” said Rafferty.

For any group of 10 purchasing tickets together, the organizers will reserve a table.

Tickets for the March 11 fundraising event will be on sale during school hours at each of the district’s schools and at Harbor Books on Main Street.