Olympic Middle School Students Love Their Books!!
Published 12/12/2022
Letter sent to APSF from Rebekah Blosser, Librarian, Olympic Middle School:
“Thank you, thank you, thank you for the APSF grant you so kindly provided our middle schools last school year! We ordered the books late last school year (so that we could get the award-nominees 🙂), and our wonderful students are loving getting them this year!!! They are THRILLED!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, dear Auburn Public Schools Foundation!! We are so deeply grateful for your support and for the incredible difference you make!”
Mt. Rainier Institute — INTO THE WOODS
Published 11/9/2022
APSF awarded $10,000 for this project in 2022 and has funded this experience in the past. This is our largest grant to date. Thanks to Mr. Kinkead for his passion, vision, and energy for delivering THIS to Auburn Students!
Notes from Jesse Kinkead, Science Teacher (Cascade Middle School):
Mt. Rainier Institute is a for 4-day (3 night) trip for our 8th graders. We camp close to NW Trek, hike in clearcuts, and study new growth and old growth forests. We practice species identification on native plants and animals (where we can find them) and observe everything the WOODS have to offer. We talk about creating sustainable forests and learn how the forestry service grows and maintains the forests to help use every part of the tree for production of houses, paper, and even toothpaste. We board busses to Paradise and snowshoe for one day. We learn to check snow loads and snow density for avalanche potential in safe environments.
This is an experience that most adults will never have. I don't think the students grasp it entirely in the moment. However, their worldview is evolving. Possible career paths may become apparent and/or remain a direction they can pursue later. At the very least, our students actually "walk on" a Washington Landmark and observe people at work, in an environment outside of their own daily routine. A mom of one of my honor students came by to see me a few weeks after we returned from camp last year. She informed me that her daughter, previously thinking about becoming a doctor or a lawyer, now wanted to become a biologist and spend her days walking around in the woods! I apologized for the possible derailment, but Mom was ecstatic and there to thank me for making this experience possible.
Mount Rainier Institute prides themselves on taking inner-city kids and showing them another world. The operators of the camp go to great lengths to make sure students are comfortable and have the proper equipment. Snowshoes, sleeping bags, snow pants, hiking boots, a warmer hat, or whatever might come up in the moment.
Great things happen at this camp and students make connections across social lines and go to bed exhausted every night. My generation grew up playing in the dirt, these kids don't do that. My job is to continue to facilitate the joys of running through the woods, finding the "perfect stick" and feeling peace in the natural world, without computers.
Auburn Symphony Experience
Published 4/22/2022
A $5,000 grant from APSF provided transportation for 4th graders to practice and perform with the Auburn Symphony!
Cooking Supplies for the Kids!
Published 10/21/2022
“Thank you, Auburn Public Schools Foundation!!
We are so grateful for the grant funds we received to provide our SLC class with materials and supplies to teach our students healthy eating and cooking skills. Through the grant, we purchased cooking and cleaning supplies, basic food ingredients, visual recipe cards and dishes. Our students have been cooking using these items and learning all about reading nutritional labels and how to complete a recipe on their own. These important life skills are necessary for us all to take ownership and control of our own eating choices and understand the impact that food has on our bodies. In addition to learning these skills, my students have enjoyed the independence that they have developed in cooking for themselves. It’s one of their favorite activities to do in class!
One student proudly shared that food tastes better when you cook it yourself!!” ~
Megan Black, Special Education Teacher &
Special Education Dept. Head