Ephrata schools accept grants, donations
R. HANS MILLER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 months, 3 weeks AGO
Rachel Boruff, left, and Julie Jenne, Parkway Pizzaz Lego Robotics Team Advisors, ask the Ephrata School Board for approval to take their team to national competition in New Jersey during Monday's Ephrata School Board meeting. Technology was a focus for multiple grants and donations to the district this week.
COURTESY PHOTO/EPHRATA SCHOOL DISTRICT/SARAH MORFORD
Managing Editor Rob Miller is a 4-year U.S. Army veteran who grew up in Western Montana in a community about the size of Soap Lake. An honors graduate of Texas State University, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Brandee, and their three dogs, Draco, Pepper and Cinnamon. He has one son, William. During his free time, he enjoys photography, video games, reading and working on the house he and his wife bought in Ephrata. He is passionate about the First Amendment and educating communities. | February 27, 2025 2:40 AM
EPHRATA – The Ephrata School Board met Monday and tackled a variety of issues and heard updates from various campuses and district staff.
Financial items of note included the investment of about $2.9 million in addition to funding received from the state to ensure staffing needs are met in the district. A statement from the district said the funding is necessary to provide competitive salaries to educators and other essential student support staff.
The board approved the acceptance of two grants totaling $50,000. The first is a $30,000 Perkins Reserve Grant to support career and technical student organizations. Funding from that grant will help programs like the Future Business Leaders of America, Future Health Science Professionals, Family Career and Community Leaders of America, Future Farmers of America, the Technology Student Association and SkillsUSA to extend their learning programs outside of traditional classrooms. That includes travel expenses for students competing at state and national conferences this year.
The second grant comes in at $20,000 from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to put toward career and technical education programs. The district intends to use the money to upgrade the Ephrata High School Business Lab. Funding will also go to support Computer Science courses. Starting next year, students will also be able to enroll in Engineering and AI essentials for high-growth careers in IT and tech.
Other funding accepted included a $954 donation from BSN Sports in the form of dumbbells for the EHS weight room, about $5,300 from Weinstein Beverage for a new scoreboard for the EHS junior varsity baseball field, and $2,400 to help purchase new backstop padding for the EGS baseball and softball fields from the Tiger Boosters.
The total project cost for the backstop maintenance is about $5,145 and will be covered by the EHS Extracurricular budget.
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: In appreciation of educators ...
An experience I recently had with a school district, quite honestly, has left me gob-smacked a bit. I am in awe of the teachers and administrators at school districts throughout the region and what they have to deal with. Let me get back to the beginning, though. Journalists often cover a wide variety of topics and are constantly looking for ideas for stories that will matter to readers. As such, when we hear of events of interest, we sometimes ask to attend so we can either cover it, or, as in this case, learn how to cover a topic better.