Currents in Education
York Education Foundation fundraisers put students first
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Village Elementary School teacher Carrie Stearns and Coastal Ridge Elementary School parent Lynn DellaPasqua work out for a worthy cause, the York Education Foundation, at Coastal Fitness.
Courtesy photo
Lynn, Mark and Jake DellaPasqua take a break from the Cardio for Kids fundraiser event last Saturday, May 19. Mark DellaPasqua hosted the event at his Kittery fitness center, Coastal Fitness, for area schools to raise money for worthy causes. In York’s case, the beneficiary was the York Education Foundation.
Courtesy photo
YORK - This June, for the third consecutive year, the all-volunteer York Education Foundation will present grants to local teachers who have come up with innovative ideas to enrich the classroom experience for their students.
And this past Saturday, May 19, local residents, educators, parents and Coastal Fitness in Kittery all chipped in to help YEF take another step closer to funding those grants.
On Saturday, residents had the chance to work out at Coastal Fitness while raising funds for the school district of their choice in a first-ever event called "Cardio for Kids."
Between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., York residents went to work in the Kittery fitness center, burning calories while earning dollars for a good cause. The York Education Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization of community volunteers that provides funding for innovative and challenging projects in the town's public schools.
And when the donations were counted, Coastal Fitness owner Mark DellaPasqua was able to match the $1,000 raised by YEF with an additional $1,000 to the organization. While the event was open to other area schools as well, with participants from Kittery, Eliot and Portsmouth, N.H., DellaPasqua just happens to be the father of Coastal Ridge Elementary School third-grader Jake DellaPasqua, who was on hand for the event with his mom, Lynn DellaPasqua, who worked out for the cause.
Other local participants included Coastal Ridge Elementary School staff members Eileen Brault, Rich Johnston and Kathy Welch; Village Elementary staff members Andy Gray and Carrie Stearns; local residents Margie Carley, Coleen Coughlin, Jim Cronin, Susan Cusack, Stephanie Saltzman , A.J. and Yvonne Steffenberg and Kaki Webb, and YEF Directors John Alexander, Jaime Bock and Kristen Gustavsen.
Those who took part in the event had a variety of reasons for becoming involved.
Welch, for example, said she decided to be a part of Cardio for Kids because "I love kids, and I love to exercise! It's for a great cause! ... It helps me to support businesses that support our schools."
Carley, meanwhile, said she read about the event in the newspaper and, after seeing that Welch had signed on to participate, called her to learn more and arrived in Kittery on Saturday to be a part of the event.
"It's my pleasure to sweat for the teachers who give their own blood, sweat and tears to our kids," said AJ Steffenberg. "It's nice to give back a bit for everything they do; I can't do what they do, and thank God they do what they do!"
Saltzman, a former York student who is now in college, said her parents called her at school to let her know about the Cardio for Kids effort.
"It seemed really easy because I was going to come and workout anyway and raise money for YEF at the same time," she said.
Alexander, who is president of the York Education Foundation and both a York alumnus and parent participant, called the event "another example of the tremendous support we receive from area businesses and community members. We all recognize the need to do more for the teachers in our schools. Thanks to Mark DellaPasqua and his staff at Coastal Fitness, all of our participants and all of our sponsors, we are that much closer to providing funding for exciting and innovative projects which benefit our students."
For those who were unable to participate last weekend, there is still time to support YEF.
"YEF is gearing up to give away another round of grants in June to York teachers, so the Cardio for Kids at Coastal Fitness is just one of our fundraising efforts this spring," Bock explained before Saturday's event. "After we finish working out at Coastal Fitness this weekend, we'll head to the Dockside Restaurant in York Harbor to ‘Uncork' and unwind on Sunday, June 3, from 1 to 4 p.m."
Uncorked, as the event is known, has become a favorite for local residents, and again this year, area food establishments and wine vendors will come together to benefit the York Education Foundation. The funds raised will support the grants to be awarded for the upcoming academic year.
In its very first round of grants, awarded for the 2005-2006 academic year, YEF funded $7,500 in projects. Last summer, the funding level jumped to more than $20,000.
As School Committee Chairwoman Patty Hymanson put it last week, YEF is "a wonderful organization" that she said creates opportunities for students beyond what is funded in the annual school budget.
Tickets are on sale now for Uncorked, and all proceeds will help fund grants for the 2007-2008 school year. To learn more, visit http://www.yorkeducationfoundation.org/.
