The Florham Park Education Foundation Aids Township Schools
Jan 31, 2023 10:30AM ● By Steve Sears
34 multicultural books were awarded to Mrs. Maria Zeija’s 4th grade Brooklake Elementary School classroom (courtesy of Florham Park Education Foundation)
Alexis Seubert, President of the Florham Park Education Foundation (FPEF), offers what she feels is the key word for the volunteer group’s work.
Opportunity.
“Opportunity for teachers to have the resources they need in the classroom; opportunity for students to learn in different ways and be exposed to different ways of thinking, and different ways of using creativity and imagination; opportunity for families to get support; and opportunity for parents to get more involved in the schools and their children’s lives,” Seubert says.
The FPEF was a Florham Park Board of Education goal in 2017, when the school district put together a five-year plan and distributed it to the school community and the wider community. “One of those goals was the formation of an education foundation,” Seubert explains. “The way educational foundations typically work is they are independent from the school district, although anything we donate back to the school or grant is in line with the goals of the administration. Basically, an education foundation becomes kind of a fundraising arm for the school, because all operations and donations, all funds that we raise, we award back in the form of grants.”
A Playground Communication Board was awarded to Mrs. Anna Nowacki for all Briarwood Elementary School students (courtesy of Florham Park Education Foundation)
After studying what nearby communities were doing and seeing how the businesses and residents supported the schools, a steering committee of volunteers was formed, and from 2017 to 2019 research was conducted. Seubert says “We received our 501c3 in 2019, and then we were off to try to scale in capacity and build and get our name out there.”
The core value of the FPEF is that every student receives an exceptional education. It does this in three ways. First, is the belief that every student deserves a tailored learning experience. They do this through teacher grants, and since its inception they have run both fall and spring grant cycles. “Teachers can apply for grants, and it can be something fun, a wish list, whatever they deem that's important to their classroom to facilitate instruction, to meet children wherever they are at any point in time,” Seubert says. “To have a place where the teachers can go, or the administration can go, and say, ‘This is something we think is impactful and will either benefit a wide range of students or a small number of students in a really important way.” The second core way is the creation of innovative programs and larger projects to help shape the future for students, and the final thing - started during the COVID-19 pandemic - is that every student deserves equal access to education. “If there's a family in the district that's experiencing hardship or needs essential supplies, we have a Community Care program that they can reach out to, and we will support those families,” Seubert says. “It’s been primarily food and school supplies, but then we will try to get additional resources.”
The FPEF is always looking for additional volunteers and for donations. “We are fully funded through donations, and through donations to the foundation, you know exactly where your money is going. We are fully run through volunteers who choose to give their time to the education foundation,” Seubert says. “We have gratitude for whatever we receive, financial power or people power.”
If interested in sharing your time, talent, and expertise to the FPEF, please contact Seubert at [email protected]. To donate or learn more, visit www.fpefnj.org.
