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Health & Fitness

What is a NEF?

Recently, we’ve been the recipients of some good publicity.  A couple of news articles have come out about the NEF’s new chairman and the work that we do (thanks Paul Singley for getting the ball rolling).  It’s been a very positive experience, but when I get stopped by people in public, the most common question I get asked is “I saw the article in the paper about the thing you do that raises money for that group- what is it again?”  So I couldn’t think of a better way to start our blog then by explaining a little bit more about that thing we do that raises money for that group.

 

The Naugatuck Education Foundation (NEF), is a not for profit organization, that in partnership with the community, encourages and supports excellence in education by providing funding for innovative and creative learning opportunities for students.  I believe everyone in our community would agree our children need a stronger, more complete educational experience to succeed in our very competitive world.  Unfortunately, the desire to do more for our kids often gets bogged down in politics and debates over taxes.  Our organization offers an alternative that we feel would motivate everyone- we empower our teachers to do more for our students by helping fund projects that improve the educational experience, without raising taxes.  Who can argue with that?

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We’ve provided grants to practically every school in the district, so if you have child in the Naugatuck  system, the chances are you’ve seen the work we’ve funded.  Some of the grants we’ve awarded recently have been for projects such as the green house and outdoor classroom being built at Andrew Ave. and the sound equipment for the Western theatre club.  The great thing about all the projects we support is the teachers involved are all volunteering their time.  We don’t give money for stipends, so the time our teachers put into the projects during their prep periods or after school are truly proverbial labors of love.

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The funding for projects rests entirely on our ability to raise money.  The grants we distribute are funded through events such as our Alums and Chums social held at Jessie Camille’s, the Old Corner Café St. Patrick’s Day 5k and private donations.  So far, the community has been extremely generous, which has allowed us to give out over $12,000 in grants the last 2 years, but we want more.  We want our teachers to dream bigger and we want to award bigger grants.  Monetary donations are always appreciated, but so are donations of time.  Our board members are all volunteers with their own families, jobs and busy schedules.  We can always use more sets of hands. 

 

I’ll be writing more about the work we do and the projects we support, but I encourage everyone to like us on Facebook, check out our webpage at www.naugatuckeducationfoundation.org and feel free to contact us through either if you’d like to help or would like more information.  We’ll also have a table at the Harvest Moon Festival this year, so feel free to stop by and say hi.  We’re all looking forward to a great school year and lots of great new ideas.
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