With the help of private donors, the Education Foundation of Lake County has received $77,548.76 in matching funds from the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations.
This financial boost will support “Lake County, A Destination District,” a matching grant program in partnership with Duke Energy and The Able Trust.
Lake County Schools students and teachers will benefit in a variety of ways, including:
- Career and Technical Education programs that promote academic advancement, job training and employability skills.
- The Education Foundation’s mini-grant program, where teachers can apply for financial assistance to integrate innovative, hands-on learning experiences in the classroom.
- The district-wide robotics competition, which exposes students to math, coding and engineering in an exciting team environment.
- The High School High Tech program, which is designed to motivate students with all types of disabilities to graduate high school and pursue their interests in STEM-related careers.
“We are so grateful to the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations for this significant grant. Of course, we are fortunate to have such a generous community that supports the Education Foundation of Lake County that provided the seed money for the match,” said Carman Cullen, executive director of the Education Foundation of Lake County.
“Administrators and teachers are constantly seeking creative ways to engage students in relevant learning and improve student performance, however, financial limitations can often get in the way,” said Diane Kornegay, Superintendent of Lake County Schools. “The Education Foundation’s efforts as the direct support organization for Lake County Schools helps ensure that many of these innovative, student-focused programs make it into our classrooms. This matching grant is wonderful news for our school district.”
Through the collaborative effort of its members, the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations successfully advocated for the creation of legislative matching funds in 2000, which has provided a dollar-for-dollar incentive for local education foundations to raise private contributions for eligible projects. Since then, more than $114 million in combined private and state dollars has been employed for local projects that serve low-performing students and literacy initiatives, encourage STEM and career/technical education, improve teaching quality, and/or increase graduation rates.
