FOUNDATION FOR ORANGE COUNTY

This year, 138 teachers received $220,000 in stem grants for equipment and materials that directly impact classroom learning. In total, approximately 5,730 students directly benefitted from these grants. In addition, a new partner, the phoenix foundation, provided $150,000 in the fall to performing arts programs at 16 schools for grants as large as $15,000 each and then provided an additional $75,000 for similar grants in the spring! We look forward to growing this relationship and program in 2024-25.

City year americorps members provided academic support, attendance monitoring and activities like assemblies and celebrations that improve the overall school environment at eight schools across the district: catalina and eccleston elementary schools; meadowbrook, memorial and walker middle schools; and evans, jones and oak ridge high schools. The foundation supports the program at walker. Throughout fy2024, city year tutored, mentored and coached 368 "focus list" students (17 attendance, 26 behavior, 128 literacy and 197 math) at walker middle school, providing more than 1,000 service hours directly to these students. In addition, the americorps members' positive morning greetings, before- and after-school initiatives, and academic, attendance and cultural celebration projects provided a positive school climate and culture for all 1,015 walker middle school students.in collaboration with ideas for us and support from volo foundation as well as matching funds from the school district education foundations matching gifts program, the foundation supported fleet farming projects at both jones and evans high schools for a third year. Fleet farming aims to shift the way people eat by converting underutilized residential lawns or school property into organic micro-farms ("farmlettes") while educating the community how to grow food for free through monthly events in the neighborhood. The two high school sites educate students about farming and teach them real-world skills on food handling, food safety, and organic farming. This project has three main objectives: (1) lead an on-campus food movement during and after school to support current horticultural classes; (2) engage students in job preparedness for agriculture-related fields and build student understanding of how the food cycle directly contributes to climate change; and (3) provide produce to on-campus food pantries and on-campus farmers' markets. The program directly engaged 200 students, and offered secondary benefits to more than 4,000 students.through single-year and multi-year grants, the foundation proudly supports eco club, an after-school program for millennia gardens elementary school and lake george elementary school. The program is led by dedicated teachers who empower students and staff, educate the community, and make stewardship of earth a priority through hands-on projects and outreach activities. Many of the students are experiencing poverty or homelessness, or live in hotels or other low-cost housing; most do not have a backyard to experience nature. In eco club, students see firsthand results of their work, which includes: growing hydroponic romaine lettuce and feeding it to the rescued manatees and sea turtles at seaworld; harvesting honey from on-campus apiaries that is shared with school families and used to help injured animals at seaworld; digging in the dirt to grow food that they turn into delicious dishes to proudly serve their parents; planting gardens to attract butterflies; caring for "flash", their adopted gopher tortoise (threatened status); and proudly leading recycling and composting initiatives. Educational trips to camping at everglades state park, seaworld edu trip, and wekiwa state park expanded their understanding of environmental issues in florida. Through the planning and execution of specific projects, eco club established a culture of conservation awareness and environmental stewardship within the school and community. Assessment data consistently indicate that eco club participation increases on-grade-level proficiency for math in all grade levels at higher rates than those for all other students in the state, county and school, with similarly strong results for ela proficiency as well.a part-time pediatric nurse practitioner housed at edgewater high school serves the students, staff and surrounding community providing school entry and sports physical examinations, diagnosis and treatment of the common conditions of childhood and adolescents including the writing of prescriptions when indicated. In addition to students at edgewater, those from seven other schools in edgewater's feeder pattern also receive services.the foundation's board of directors approved up to $30,000 in funding from its unrestricted reserves to continue supporting the successful video storytelling community engagement effort now known as "the slice and "mondays with maria." through the end of may, 130 segments (94 slice and 36 mondays with maria) were created and produced by jamie holmes, nancy alvarez and the media relations team. The effort has been successfully launched: in fy2025, addition financial will take over as the new sponsor.coach pennington scholarship: this endowed fund was established by evans high school alumni in honor of coach fred pennington for the positive impact he had on students both on and off the court during his tenure at maynard evans high school. It continues coach pennington's legacy of creating positive impact for graduating seniors as follows: six seniors from the graduating class of 2024 basketball players and cheerleaders from low-income families were awarded scholarships totaling $9,000 ($750 per semester, $1,500 total).above and beyond scholarship: this endowed fund was established by an oak ridge high school alumnus from the class of 1967 to provide scholarships to graduating seniors from oak ridge high school who seek a certificate or a two- or four-year postsecondary degree at a technical or vocational school, college or university. Scholarships are renewable on an academic year-by-year basis for a maximum of four years. Throughout fy2024, 34 students were awarded $1,500 each, for a total of $51,000.the fund for maitland public schools: this endowed fund was established by the city of maitland in fy2017 to support before- and after-school educational and enrichment activities for students at traditional public schools within the city limits of maitland, florida. Existing schools are dommerich and lake sybelia elementary schools, and maitland middle school. The fifth annual disbursement to schools was made in august 2023. The eligible schools received $8,000, distributed proportionally on a per-student basis.bobbie lytle outstanding teacher award and endowment: a lifelong educator, bobbie touched the lives of thousands of students at dommerich and brookshire elementary schools. Her infectious smile and love of learning encouraged children to extend their curiosity into all areas of knowledge. Whether it was storytelling, creating a cookbook for her second-grade parents at the holidays, or fabulous art projects, she made sure her students' abilities shone brightly. In 2022, her daughter and son-in-law established this endowment in her memory, which provides generous cash awards for a teacher at each school where bobbie spent her career. All members of the two schools' communities faculty, staff, parents, students and neighbors may nominate teachers for these awards. This year's award recipients were catherine howat (dommerich) and kristin cooper-otto (brookshire). As the fund grows, the family hopes to establish more awards to recognize teachers at additional schools.dave and stephany carmany excellence in debate scholarship: in april 2024, the foundation team worked with david and stephanie carmany to create a new scholarship award for students in debate at winter park high school. The $2,500 award was presented to its first recipient april 18 at winter park high school. The carmany family is creating a new $25,000 endowed fund with the foundation that will support the award in the coming years.the foundation has worked diligently to accurately distinguish between enterprise and custodial funds. Specifically, the team implemented full recoding in donorperfect and quickbooks; formalized reconciliation processes between bank statements, donorperfect and quickbooks; undertook a comprehensive review of historical records; and completed the integration between donorperfect and quickbooks. Custodial funds help schools build their capacity, and district programs to serve unmet needs. This year, the foundation managed 331 custodial funds (249 school, 34 district, and 48 memorial funds), which raised more than $943,200 this year. The three most active custodial school funds were edgewater 1952 club (raising $290,016), audubon park falcon fund (raising $132,329), and lake whitney elementary school (raising $99,729). The foundation is also able to utilize its online giving tools to help schools raise memorial and support funds for students, employees and others who experienced tragedies this year. While these contributions are not considered charitable gifts and no tax receipts were provided, the contributions gave great comfort to the families who received them.additional programing: ocps gives, teach-in, pick read & roll, alumni network, charity recycling services, additions volunteers, community outreach, etc