Fund-A-Need
Please use the notes section to tell us which
fund you will be donating to.
(funds listed below)
We are delighted to welcome you to Fund A Need, the A+ Foundation’s platform for supporting teachers and students of West Aurora School District 129. Your generosity and commitment to education are greatly appreciated, and we are honored to have you as a part of our community.
Through Fund A Need, you have the opportunity to directly impact the lives of students in all of our classrooms. By supporting classroom projects, you are helping to provide vital resources, innovative tools, and transformative experiences that can make all the difference in a child's education.
We understand that there are many worthy causes that you could support, and we are grateful that you have chosen to invest in education. Your donation has the power to inspire students, empower teachers, and make a lasting difference in the communities that we serve.
Thank you for joining us in our mission to support public education. We look forward to keeping you updated on the impact of your generosity, and we hope that you will continue to support A+ Foundation and the students and teachers we serve.
Partial donations for grants are accepted if you are unable to Fund-A-Need in full. Your tax-deductible contribution will go far to enrich the education of students in West Aurora School District 129.
GUIDELINE GRANTS (For Staff Only)
See below for active FUND-A-NEED grants
PAYING BY CHECK?
Please make all checks payable to:
A+ Foundation for West Aurora Schools.
CHECKS SHOULD BE MAILED TO:
A+ Foundation for West Aurora Schools
c/o Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley
111 W. Downer Place, Suite 312 Aurora, IL 60506
PLEASE NOTE:
Through this website, the A+ Foundation does not sell products or services, which would be subject to a return policy. The A+ Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization, and all gifts and donations shall be used as monetary support for the organization and its grant recipients, in amounts designated by the donor and by its Board of Directors. Donations are considered non-refundable.
FUND-A-NEED CATEGORIES
SPRING 2024
- BLACKHAWK ACADEMY
- FEARN
- GOODWIN
- GREENMAN
- HALL
- HERGET
- HOPE D. WALL
- JEFFERSON
- JEWEL
- MCCLEERY
- NICHOLSON
- SCHNEIDER
- SMITH
- WASHINGTON
- WEST HIGH
BLACKHAWK ACADEMY
BLACKHAWK ACADEMY
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
Lego Social Skills GroupsWe are looking for funds to purchase Lego sets of famous places around the world. My middle school students love building with Legos. Earlier in the year, we were gifted two Lego architecture sets. In small groups, the students researched the famous place/building and then were required to tell the class about the place/building. Then they got to build their sets. Students had to work together to follow directions to create the set. At this point in the year, my middle schoolers need more practice working in small groups, and we would love to do this again. We made the Capital Building and the Harbor in Sydney, Australia. We would love to learn about, and make, more places. |
$500 |
Amy Townes |
Science ExperimentsThames & Kosmos Chem C1000 Chemistry Set | Science Kit with 125 Experiments | 80 Page Lab Manual | Student Laboratory Quality Instruments & Chemicals |
$150 |
Shannone Hernandez |
Brain BreaksWe would like to humbly request $500 to update our tools for student brain breaks. The structure of our day puts our middle and high school students in one classroom for their entire day. Our students are amazing but even they need breaks! We would like to restock some of their favorite tools for brain breaks, as well as add a few new favorites into the mix. |
$500 |
Bonnie Osborne |
FEARN
FEARN ELEMENTARY
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
Children's Author Inspires Fearn's Writer's Forum MembersWriter's Forum is 4th and 5th graders who meet after school once a week to write, collaborate, and share writing. This request is to have a visit (remote via Zoom) with an author named Dennis Mathew. |
$400 |
Julie Esparza |
GOODWIN
Goodwin Elementary
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
2nd Grade Math StoreI would love to create a store in my classroom to enhance students' learning about money, place value, addition, subtraction, time, cooperation, teamwork, and dialogue. The store would be based on our Investigations math curriculum in 2nd grade, which places a heavy emphasis on learning hundreds, tens, and ones through an imaginary store called Sticker Station. Students complete problems in their math books based on this store, but I would like to bring the store to life by creating it in our classroom! 2nd graders would take turns being customers and employees of the store, using play money and other materials to pretend shop, make change, etc. Thank you for considering this idea. |
$100 | Cari Neville |
GREENMAN
Greenman Elementary
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
Adopt an AnimalCurrently my students are learning about animals and habitats in 2nd grade. I think "adopting" and animal from the WWF would be good motivation for them to work hard and pique interest in their learning while also donating to a good cause! |
$65 |
Celeste Bauer |
HALL
Hall Elementary
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
Hall Fall CrawlEvery October, Hall Elementary School hosts the Hall Fall Crawl. This volunteer event is open to the community and typically takes place on a Saturday. The Hall Fall Crawl offers a range of activities to engage families and become more connected to the school. There is music, dance, trunk or treat, book giveaways, pumpkin decorating, and a story wall. One of the main aspects of the Hall Fall Crawl is promoting literacy and reading at home. Every child that attends the Hall Fall Crawl is able to pick out a book of their choosing to read with families. In addition, the story wall allows families to read together in English and Spanish to participate in a literacy activity during the event. |
$1000 | Lauren Waters |
HERGET
Herget Middle School
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
Quality Fiction in the LMCDue to the ever-increasing price of books and processing materials, we have found that our annual budget dwindles rather quickly. Our LMC could benefit from having extra money to bund new quality fiction books. We have focused on graphic novels and books in Spanish in the past, and now our fiction section could use a boost. All Herget students come to the LMC once a week for book checkout so all of our students would benefit from this grant. (Thank you for considering us). We have seen an increasing number of Spanish newcomers in our system (over 230 students) this year along. We would like to expand our Spanish literacy collection. |
$2000 | Haley Dieken |
Gimkit subscription for Herget Social Studies TeachersThe 4 Social Studies teachers at Herget would like a year subscription for unlimited access to Gimkit (an interactive quiz game). Gimkit creates interactive and fun vocabulary practice for our classes. |
$239.52 | Anthony Stancati |
Herget Middle School Band Personal Tuning DevicesThis project is a request to begin building a set of tuners and pickups to be used in all 6th-8th grade band classes at Herget. Tuners show a musician where their pitch is in relation to a specific frequency. This is crucial information as our students develop. Tuners are an additional expense that our students cannot prioritize and a class set for students to use will give them opportunities for growth that would otherwise be unattainable. 6th grade will use it as a check that their embouchure setup is correct. 7th grade will work in pairs to identify pitch tendencies of different notes on their specific instruments. 8th grade will use them for the more extreme ranges of their instruments. |
$498 | Morgan Smith |
Edpuzzle Teaching Tool for the ClassroomCurrently, I have continued to incorporate Edpuzzle into my lessons for all levels of math that I teach. Edpuzzle is an interactive video platform where students can watch videos where questions are embedded within the video lesson. Students can retake the EdPuzzle based on the number of times the teacher allows. Students cannot fast forward through the videos. It is a great component to preview a lesson or review and practice content that is has been taught. Edpuzzle allows many extra features for the teachers. We can edit videos that are already shared on their platform or create our own videos and share with other teachers. |
$138 | Cathryn Krull |
Summer Music Lesson Scholarship ProgramMost students in our band and choir programs do not practice over the summer because they do not take private lessons. A single 30-minute lesson costs $25-35, pricing many of our students out of this valuable opportunity. The funds granted in this request will be used to create a scholarship program to subsidize the cost of summer private lessons for 12 of our students in middle school band. Last year, this program resulted in an increased number of our students being selected to ILMEA regional honor bands. Additionally, a few students discovered the joy in learning with their private teacher and have continued taking private lessons this school year. |
$1440 | Jonathan McLear |
HOPE D. WALL
Hope D. Wall
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
Rocket Store For AllOur Rocket Store is reopened this year. The store is used as part of our positive behavior incentives that our whole school population participates in, weekly. In the past, the store was not a front and center priority, but now the store is being used by everyone! Even classes that didn't use it in the past, are now on the schedule weekly. Students earn Rocket Rewards for a staff witnessing a positive interaction, or a student modeling a Rocket Rule. There are a large variety of items in the store, all priced differently to allow the students not only a fun reward but also a real-life shopping experience using money & checking out items and paying for them. |
$1000 | Melissa Yarbrough |
Math Manipulatives & Classroom CentersI am restructuring our classroom and trying to include much more hands on learning centers work to help our students practice working independently and cooperatively as well as provide more opportunities for genuine student-student interactions. Most of our materials for free choice time has been handed down from previous teachers over the years or found at garage sales. Our puzzles are either very old or too difficult. We have very few math manipulatives and science materials. |
$501.72 | Jennifer Mastalka |
Reading MaterialsI am hoping this request could be considered by the endowment group. I have already submitted a classroom request. Please disregard if this additional request is not allowed. Thank you for the consideration. |
$267 | Brad Hillesheim |
JEFFERSON
Jefferson Middle School
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
8th Grade DanceEnd of Year PTA sponsored 8th Grade Dance. |
$1000 |
Shelly Ramos |
Summer Music Lesson Scholarship ProgramMost students in our band and choir programs do not practice over the summer because they do not take private lessons. A single 30-minute lesson costs $25-35, pricing many of our students out of this valuable opportunity. The funds granted in this request will be used to create a scholarship program to subsidize the cost of summer private lessons for 12 of our students in middle school band. Last year, this program resulted in an increased number of our students being selected to ILMEA regional honor bands. Additionally, a few students discovered the joy in learning with their private teacher and have continued taking private lessons this school year. |
$1440 | Jonathan McLear |
JEWEL
JEWEL MIDDLE SCHOOL
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
District 129 Middle School Solo and EnsembleSolo and Ensemble Festival is an enrichment opportunity open to all 7th and 8th grade band students in the district. This festival provides a unique setting for students to perform in small group or as individuals. Students play for an audience of their peers as well as a professional clinician. They receive feedback regarding specific areas of improvement from the professional clinician. |
$1000 |
Tara McPhedran
|
Jaguar ShopJaguar Shop is a shop that we have set up here at Jewel. It is an incentive program where students can earn points for good behavior, for helping peers, for being a good citizen, for volunteering, for going above and beyond in or outside of the classroom, and many other reasons. After the students earn these points, they can shop at the Jaguar Shop. Items in the shop include school supplies, fidgets, candy, computer accessories, snacks, and sports gear. We have found that the students here at Jewel really look forward to not only receiving the points, but also purchasing items from the shop as well. We even have student volunteers come help pack the orders because they love the shop so much! |
$1000 |
Sarah Leonard |
RazKids/Raz-PlusThe main support of this is for reading at the students’ instructional level, both fiction and nonfiction, and answering questions based on the reading. It provides instant data for me to see improvement or not. I use this while I am working with students one on one, or my students are able to work on this platform independently with pre-assigned books and questions. This helps me progress monitor as well for IEP data. It is all tracked online, kids can access this at home as well. The stories are also printable and offer supplementary worksheets and lessons for comprehension and specific skill sets for reteaching opportunities. |
$241 |
Alexandria Dodson |
Summer Music Lesson Scholarship ProgramMost students in our band and choir programs do not practice over the summer because they do not take private lessons. A single 30-minute lesson costs $25-35, pricing many of our students out of this valuable opportunity. The funds granted in this request will be used to create a scholarship program to subsidize the cost of summer private lessons for 12 of our students in middle school band. Last year, this program resulted in an increased number of our students being selected to ILMEA regional honor bands. Additionally, a few students discovered the joy in learning with their private teacher and have continued taking private lessons this school year. |
$1440 | Jonathan McLear |
MCCLEERY
Mccleery elementary
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
6 Brick Lego projectIt is a project that already exists. Six Bricks is a hands-on tool for learning. Through fun and short activities with sets of LEGO® DUPLO® bricks in six bright colours, children can practice their memory, movement, creativity and more. You can adapt activities and of course make your own activities to match the children’s skills and interests. There is ad free activity book with over 25 different partner, groups of four, and bigger team challenges using the bricks Great for beginning of the year getting to know you activities, great to have for sub plan activities. It is for 500 plus students in my STEM classroom. |
$200 |
Sarah Sarasin |
NICHOLSON
nicholson elementary
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
Nicholson K-5 Book ClubsStudents from Nicholson Elementary from grades Kindergarten through fifth grade will work with the reading specialist after school in a group of 10 to 15 students. We will read chapter books aloud, discuss what happened in the text and discuss literary elements of the text. The goal is to get students interested in reading more on their own, to get books in their hands, and to instill a love of reading into young minds! |
$1000 |
Lauren Williams |
Classroom Diverse Library and Reading CenterThe goal is to include a more diverse and grade level appropriate library in our classroom. I would love to incorporate more opportunities for students to make connections with the books in the classroom and have easy access to them. Furthermore, this would require some organization and proper storing/displaying for the class books. Space in the class is limited, however, there is still the possibility of acquiring a reading center for students to explore and find their love for reading. The reading center would enhance my students' curiosity and create a comfortable space for students to engage in a variety of interesting and culturally diverse books. |
$410 |
Valentina Rubio |
SCHNEIDER
Schneider Elementary
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
La Loteria Noche Familiar/ La Loteria Family NightFamilies are invited to participate in an evening of Hispanic culture with a traditional Mexican Bingo game, food, and prizes. La Loteria is one of several family engagement events at Schneider that is always well attended. |
$325 |
Maria Pronschinske |
SMITH
Smith elementary
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
Smith Superstar Peer Buddy ProgramSmith created a peer buddy program under the leadership of Ericka Campbell to promote positive peer interactions between students in the self-contained special education and general education classrooms. Students meet all year bi-monthly. The special education peers and their general education buddies work on team building and life skill activities. At the end of the year, the peer buddies go on a life-skill community trip partnered with their peer buddies to learn how to order from a menu and practice proper etiquette at the movie theater. Before the trip, the special education students prep with Ms. Isidoro, social worker, and co-facilitator, to learn appropriate manners and safety. |
$500 |
Ericka Campbell |
WASHINGTON
Washington middle
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
Chocolate Factory UniformsWashington Middle School's Drama Department is requesting funds to cover the cost of our cast and crew's musical t-shirts. Show shirts are an exciting tradition member of the cast and crew look forward to that foster community, recruit future members, advertise the show, and give the students a sense of pride towards their performance. This year, we are excited to have the opportunity to perform on Herget Middle School's stage; however, because we are not performing at our home school, we will need all the extra help advertising for our show. With the funds for our t-shirts covered, we will be able to dedicate our limited funds to set materials, props, and costumes. Thank you! |
$504 |
Meghan Hill |
Kahoots Study Game Premium SubscriptionKahoot Premium Subscriptions for the Social Studies department at Washington Middle School. |
$384 |
Tracy Duncan |
Additional technology in fitness roomOn behalf of the Washington Physical Education Department. We’d like to request additional funds for a 70 inch television and mount in our fitness room. The requested funds will be utilized to upgrade our existing technology equipment. The students can currently monitor their projected heart rates on a pull down screen. We would also like the option to display motivational programs/workouts to keep the students actively engaged. We are asking for $500 - $700 to purchase a 70 inch TV and mount. By investing in this added technology, our entire student body will benefit by staying motivated while they exercise. |
$600 |
Angela Corral |
Summer Music Lesson Scholarship ProgramMost students in our band and choir programs do not practice over the summer because they do not take private lessons. A single 30-minute lesson costs $25-35, pricing many of our students out of this valuable opportunity. The funds granted in this request will be used to create a scholarship program to subsidize the cost of summer private lessons for 12 of our students in middle school band. Last year, this program resulted in an increased number of our students being selected to ILMEA regional honor bands. Additionally, a few students discovered the joy in learning with their private teacher and have continued taking private lessons this school year. |
$1440 | Jonathan McLear |
WEST HIGH
West high
Program | Amount | Teacher |
---|---|---|
Mental Health Awareness Fest - 2024Hosting our 2nd annual Wellness Fair event on May 1, 2024 with activities available throughout lunch periods to promote student well-being. Last year over 1000 students participated - cost last year exceeded $1600. We'd love to continue this opportunity for students to explore various coping activities while celebrating National Mental Health Awareness Day. |
$800 |
Michelle Voris |
Young Hearts for LifeYH4L, the largest ECG screening program in the United States, will provide a FREE heart screening called an electrocardiogram (ECG) to identify high school students at risk for Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD). More than 60 young adults die each week in the United States from SCD. Since 2006, YH4L has screened over 300,000 students and has identified more than 3,100 with previously undiagnosed heart conditions. A simple, painless, and non-invasive ECG can detect approximately 70% of the heart conditions that are associated with SCD, while a pre-participation physical can only detect 4% of these conditions. The false positive rate for our program is less than 2%. |
$500 |
Meghan Hill |
StellarXplorersStellarXplorers is a National Aerospace Engineering competition that is run by the U.S. Airforce Association from Oct- April. Both West Aurora PLTW Engineering students and AFJROTC students have participated in this competition for the last 7 years. We have qualified as a top 10 team in the country 3 times in the first 6 years and hope to do it again this year! Our students compete against students from across the country and there are also teams from the Air Force bases in Guam and Germany. We would be proud to once again represent West Aurora High School in this competition and thank you for your support. |
$1000 |
Stephen Freitag |
Red Jacket for YOUR DreamsPurchasing the signature SkillsUSA blazers for members to wear at the State Conference in April and National conference in June in Atlanta, GA. We currently have 96 WAHS students registered for their qualifying events, but less than 30 jackets. We hope to get one step closer to having a jacket for every member to wear and feel confident in while they compete, as well as on the awards podium. |
$1006 | Katie Phillips |
Fox River and Waubonsee Creek Water MonitoringThe Advanced Topics class is requesting this grant in conjunction with AP Environmental Science. Annually we do field research on water quality. We have collaborated with Aurora University, Fox Metro, and Friends of the Fox. The field trip involves testing the biological, physical, and chemical aspects of water. Students get into the water to conduct this research, hence our need for chest waders. We have used waders from Aurora University, but they will not be stocking these, due to the end of grant funding. We would like to create our own supply of resources. This experience has a profound impact on our students; who often lack opportunities to engage with nature in these ways. |
$500 |
Sandy Scott/ Bob Lundquist |
Membership Dues for Illinois Junior Academy of ScienceTo enable the student members of the Science Research Club to actively participate in science fairs at both regional and state levels in Illinois, West Aurora High School must register to become a member of the Illinois Junior Academy of Science (IJAS). The yearly membership fee due in September is $100 for the 2024-2025 school year. This affiliation will allow our students to access valuable resources and opportunities. By joining IJAS students will have another arena in which to showcase their innovative research and to collaborate with peers. |
$100 | Sandy Scott |
Black History Month CelebrationThis is one small way to acknowledge and celebrate our African American students and families. We will have a Quilter who will share the history and significance to Black History, a storyteller, an African Drummer who will be giving African Drum lessons, and close the night with a drum/storytelling session, the Talented Tenth (which is based around W.E.B. DuBois philosophy) will facilitate sessions throughout the night and highlight published books of students, there will be a book area for students to relax and read books by Black authors, the first 100 families will receive a free book. Books will be for sale by Afriware Books. The Jazz Band, Gospel trio, and Step Team will perform. |
$1000 | Valerie McCall |
Summer Music Lesson Scholarship Program: West High ChoirMost students in our choir program do not practice over the summer because they do not take private lessons. A single 30-minute lesson costs $25-35, pricing many of our students out of this valuable opportunity. The funds granted in this request will be used to create a scholarship program to subsidize the cost of summer private lessons for four of our West High choir students. Both choir students who were granted scholarships through this program last summer auditioned into the ILMEA All-State Honors Choir this year. We are excited at the possibility of expanding this program to four choir students this year with the support of the A+ Foundation. |
$480 | Jonathan McLear |