Celebrating

Storywalk at Lachat Town Farm

The Rose in My Garden by Arnold Lobel is the star of WEF’s storywalk at Lachat Town Farm – a beautiful setting for a classic children’s book. Take a look while you enjoy the farm!


The Harlem Wizards return November 18 – save the date!

 

The Harlem Wizards are coming back to town to face our own teachers – Weston’s Brainy Bunch – on Saturday, November 18 @4pm in the high school gym. All net proceeds will be devoted to school-based grants. Don’t miss out! Last year’s event was a sellout.

Get your tickets at this link or scan the QR code below: https://pretix.eu/harlemwizards/westonct11-18-23-04-00pm/


Congratulations to Tara Rice, 2023 Founder’s Award winner!

The Weston Education Foundation (WEF) is pleased to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week by bestowing the 2023 Elizabeth W. Stokes Founder’s Award on WIS teacher Tara Rice.

The Founder’s Award recognizes each year one teacher from Weston Public Schools who has created an innovative and educational out-of-classroom experience impacting one or more students. Any current student and/or parent can nominate a teacher.

In reaching its decision, WEF examined a multitude of nominations from students and parents who shared their experiences of teachers they’ve had from Weston High School, Weston Middle School, and Weston Intermediate School. The nominations for Ms. Rice detailed her creativity in using outside the classroom activities and tools to inspire learning and to create meaningful relationships with her students and their families. We were especially impressed with the nominations that came directly from former students of hers (now 4th graders!).

Ms. Rice utilizes many teaching strategies such as moving the learning physically outside the classroom whenever she can, and leveraging the use of technology, via email and a free App. With these many strategies, she’s able to rally her students and their families around student learning, creating meaningful, long-lasting experiences. Please join us in congratulating Miss Rice!


Brainy Bunch fundraiser is a success!

We’re so thankful for everyone who made the 2nd Harlem Wizards v. Weston’s Brainy Bunch fundraising basketball game such a success! A near sellout crowd was treated to trick hoops and alley oops (and a little bit of Baby Shark and other favorites), along with performances by Weston Cheer, WHS band “Fever”, and the Westones, who sang the National Anthem.

Thank you to the Boosters Club for running the concession stand and to @westoncthoops@westonsoccerclubct@westonadultsoccer@westonlacrosseclubct, and our PTOs for helping us spread the word. And thank you to our sponsor @westonracquetclub for its support!

Special thanks to our WHS student co-chairs Noel and Gavin Villepigue and the rest of our WHS volunteers, our adult volunteers, the wonderful custodial and security staff, WHS Athletic Department, the Town of Weston, and – last but definitely not least – the teachers and staff who were brave enough to face @worldfamousharlemwizards on the court, the Brainy Bunch. All for the great cause of raising funds for WEF’s school-based grants – thank you all!


Harlem Wizards vs. Weston’s Brainy Bunch

Don’t miss the FUNdraiser!

Weston’s Brainy Bunch (aka, our wonderful K-12 teachers, staff and administrators) are taking on the Harlem Wizards on Saturday, November 19 at 4pm in a fast, fun-filled basketball game to raise money for school-based grants. The game will take place in the Weston High School gym.

The event will also feature performances by:

  • WHS Band “Fever”
  • the WHS Westones
  • Weston Cheer

Concessions will be provided by the Boosters Club.

Get your tickets here – don’t miss out! https://harlemwizards.thundertix.com/events/203355

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the event, please email president@westoneducationfoundation.org. Thank you!

 


WEF Board members tour Coley House

WEF Board members were delighted to tour the newly reopened Coley House last weekend. Weston Historical Society Executive Director Samantha Kulish-Fargione led the tour of the historic home, which now focuses on how the Coley family would have experienced life in the 1940s. Members also stopped by the wayfaring sign that was completed in 2020 with the help of a WEF community education grant from November 2018.


Community conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion

WEF is proud to co-sponsor this important community conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion in Weston. Please join into the discussion, led by KJR Consulting, on either Saturday, October 1 or Saturday, October 22. Register by following this link:

https://reg.learningstream.com/view/cal10a.aspx?ek=&ref=&aa=&sid1=&sid2=&as=49&wp=247&tz=&ms=&nav=&cc=&cat1=&cat2=&cat3=&aid=KJR&rf=&pn=

Thank you to all of the wonderful people who donated to our Racial Justice Education Fund and made this event possible!

 



Weston Walks 2022 kicks off today!

Donations will be gratefully accepted throughout July

Weston Walks 2022 is officially off and running (or walking)!

Please join us in honoring our school community by participating in our virtual walkathon to raise money for future school-based grants. Run, jog, hike, or walk indoors or out, according to your own schedule. You can join our fundraising team or start your own.

Scan the QR code above or text WESTONWALKS2022 to 44-321 to get started.

Our path is sometimes rough, sometimes steep … but Weston walks together!


WEF Presents 2022 David Trigaux Award to two WHS teachers

 

June 2022 –

WEF was honored to present our 2022 David Trigaux Innovation Award to two wonderful teachers at Weston High School – English teacher Ionna Opidee and Environmental Science teacher Michael Aitkenhead.

Ms. Opidee has had a far-ranging impact on both students and staff through her innovative approach to teaching and learning in English classes and the Writing Center. Among many other efforts, she created an Identity, Culture and Society unit for English 10 Honors, as well as an Environmental Literature and Justice unit using Mona Hanna-Attisha’s book “What the Eyes Don’t See” – a text originally provided through a WEF grant. She was also instrumental in bringing to WHS a national poetry competition called Poetry Out Loud in which WHS sophomore Billy Stammer became the 2022 CT State Champion. Running through all her professional efforts is a thoughtful and caring focus on helping students reach their true potential in the manner most accessible to them. In her words, “it is a way of approaching each aspect of my work with the intention to serve and support all students holistically — not just as learners of content standards, but as full, dynamic human beings on a journey toward understanding themselves, their world, and others so that they can shape themselves, and their world, more mindfully, more deliberately, and with more care.”

Mr. Aitkenhead – fondly known in the WHS community as “Michael Recycle” – is a treasure trove of environmental knowledge, care, and creativity for both Weston High School and the larger community. He has transformed the content and approach of the Environmental Science courses at WHS and has created a new class for 2022-23 called “Sustainable Solutions”, which will enable students to identify and tackle real-world environmental problems in the community. In his view, in this new class “students will develop the skills of problem solving by actually solving real problems, and in the process, they will completely transform our school.” Mr. Aitkenhead was aptly described by Science & Tech Curricular Instructional Leader Jamie Charles as “an incredibly passionate, engaging and motivating teacher who strives to bring his curriculum to life for his students in ways that inspire them to be agents of change in the world.” While Mr. Aitkenhead’s accomplishments are too numerous to mention in full, one connecting thread is always a deep commitment to the environment and a belief in our youth as the vectors of change.

WEF applauds 2022 David Trigaux Award winners Ms. Opidee and Mr. Aitkenhead, two shining examples of creativity and innovation in teaching!