The Education Foundation - BCSD

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The Education Foundation - BCSD

The Education Foundation is a 501 (c) 3, non-profit that invests in the students of Berea School District. www.EducationFoundationBerea.org

The Education Foundation offers support for events and projects not otherwise funded within the school district. This support can include backing for special programs, grants for staff and students, scholarships for students, and assistance with other unique opportunities that do not duplicate existing events or projects. These educational opportunities are financed by our various fundraisers and from generous donations made by individuals, organizations, and businesses.

05/01/2026

TRUSTEE SPOTLIGHT: Maggie Campbell is one of our newest Trustees and is a resident of Brook Park, parent of a BMHS graduate, parent of a current student, and member of the BCSD Board of Education. When asked, What would be at risk for our community if this Foundation didn’t exist? Maggie shared, "Sometimes scholarships are the only way to bridge the gap between federal grants and student loans in order for BCSD seniors to attend college" and that, "I really like the scholarships offered to future teachers- hopefully this will give an incentive for them to return to teach in our district."

04/28/2026

DEEPER LEARNING GRANT UPDATE: Dawn Sansone, Counselor at the Berea Midpark Middle School, was a recipient of a 2024 - 2025 Deeper Learning Grant for her "BMMS Titan Wellness Day” project. She shared, " Our Wellness Day was an engaging event inspired by the movie Inside Out 2, focusing on emotional awareness and mental wellness for middle school students. Throughout the day, students explored the complex world of emotions introduced in the film. Lesson plans and games like Emotions JENGA encouraged open conversations about feelings like anxiety, envy, and embarrassment. In addition to these meaningful discussions, students participated in a variety of wellness experiences designed to promote calm, focus, and self-care. These included yoga sessions, mindfulness activities in the planetarium, a discussion about nature and wellness, and a soothing sound bath. Together, these experiences helped students better understand their emotions, build coping strategies, and take time to care for their mental and emotional health in a supportive, creative environment.

Our Wellness Day survey received 293 student responses, providing valuable insight into the impact of the event. An overwhelming 263 students expressed a desire for more days like this, and 219 students reported enjoying their overall experience. The most popular activity was watching the movie Inside Out 2, followed by the themed Blooket game and the “Coloring for Coping” station. Additionally, 209 students shared that they were happy to have experienced the day, and 121 students noted that they learned new coping strategies to help manage life’s stresses. These results highlight the importance of creating safe, supportive spaces for students to explore wellness and emotional health.

During Wellness Day at our middle school, one of our seventh graders who had been struggling with some anxious moments at school, experienced an increase in confidence and engagement. Through activities like the sound bath, Feelings JENGA, and open discussions on mental health, she found a safe space to express her thoughts and connect with peers facing similar challenges. After participating, she shared that she felt supported by both adults and classmates and would like to learn more about stress management. In the weeks following the event, teachers noticed increased participation in class and a more positive attitude toward school. Wellness Day helped her realize she wasn’t alone, empowering her to seek support and begin developing healthy coping strategies."

04/23/2026

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT UPDATE: Elijah Nichols, Berea Midpark High School Class of 2025, was the recipient of the The Jessica Leigh Brown Scholarship. He shared, "I am attending the University of Cincinnati and majoring in Mechanical engineering. I hope to use this degree in the automotive industry and design vehicles for a major car company. As everyone knows, college is not cheap these days, so this scholarship will be a monumental help. This scholarship was not only a help financially but also a solid reminder that my photography skills are recognized."

04/05/2026

TRUSTEE SPOTLIGHT: Rachel Vaughn is one of the Education Foundation's newest Trustees. When asked about her motivation to become a Trustee, Rachel shared, "As a community member, BHS graduate, BCSD employee, and parent to two current BCSD students, I feel uniquely invested in and passionate about the success and growth of all of our students in our district. The Foundation provides so many opportunities to aid in this goal and I'm excited to help bring these opportunities to our students any way I can.

I have always been drawn to pathways of service and being an Education Foundation Trustee is a chance to help make an impact on our local community. Our students are our future and I feel strongly about making sure ALL of our students have accessible opportunities to help them feel confident, empowered, and capable of achieving their goals."

04/02/2026

GRANT RECIPIENT UPDATE: Danielle Krivak, a teacher and Instructional Chair of the Special Education Department at Berea-Midpark High School, was the recipient of a 2024-2025 Deeper Learning Grant for her "Sophomores Surviving Shakespeare" project. Her "Our program helped students to conceptualize the themes of Julius Caesar by having them illustrate the metaphors of the play. By doing so, they were able to interpret and analyze not only themes but also the major plot elements as well. These are usually concepts that students struggle with and many end up never fully understanding. This program allowed students to make a kinesthetic, tactile, and visual connection to the play and thus fully experience its meaning."

Krivak also shared, "In all of our 10th grade English II classes, we have some students who struggle with reading fluency as well as reading comprehension of higher level literature. The development of this grant helped us to bring an understanding of Shakespeare to these students. Working as an Intervention Specialist in the general education classroom, it is important that these students have the same opportunities as the general education population. While incorporating pictures and discussion and the opportunity to have copies of the play to use and annotate, we were able to have ALL the students better understand literature but specifically Shakespeare. One student, “Tommy” has even expressed his feelings that while we draw the pictures and then use the words from Shakespeare, he is able to understand the plot and theme better. He went further to say that he feels more comfortable with the difficult text and has even begun to guess which metaphor the next picture may come from."

03/30/2026

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT UPDATE: Adriel Mendez, Berea-Midpark High School Class of 2025, was the recipient of the Rachel Laracuente Memorial Scholarship. Mendez shared, "I am attending Cleveland State University where I will further my education in Business. I want to major in Accounting and this scholarship will help me by paying for my books. My goal is to finish with a GPA of 3.0 or higher because I finished high school with a 3.8 GPA and I am very capable of continuing to excel academically if I keep working hard and staying focused."

03/25/2026

DEEPER LEARNING GRANT RECIPIENT UPDATE: Chuck Spittal from Berea Midpark Middle School, was a recipient of a 2024 - 2025 Deeper Learning Grant for his “Getting Inventive with Makey Makey” project. Students in his 5th and 6th grade technology classes will use Makey Makey boards to explore and create new and innovative ways of connecting to and controlling computer programs. Using their creativity and developing technology skills, students will use everyday objects to invent things like video game controllers, interactive artwork, musical instruments, and anything else they might imagine.

Spittal shared, "All students created at least one novel way of interacting with computer programs and, in doing so, they developed both innovative and critical thinking skills during the course of this project. By creating their interactive posters, 5th graders came up with creative ways to use technology to make artwork interactive and informative. Sixth graders engaged in engineering in order to create fun and innovative new game controllers. All students were highly engaged in critical thinking and problem-solving in order to design, refine, and troubleshoot their projects in order to get them to work as intended.

In my 6th grade classes this year, there were a few students that typically struggled with school that did especially well with this project. One student is often unengaged and struggles to control his behavior. He was very excited to work with Makey Makey every day and he was very engaged in the work of designing a guitar-shaped controller for a music game that he was extremely proud of. Another student, who often struggles academically, wanted to design a controller where you use your feet to control the game character. He struggled at first, but persevered and ended up creating a very popular design that other kids in the class enjoyed using. He was very proud of it."

03/22/2026

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT UPDATE: Matthew Vrzic, Berea-Midpark High School Class of 2025, was the recipient of the Fudale Family Scholarship. Vrzic shared, "I am studying at Duquesne University. My majors will be Business Analytics and Business Management. The scholarship I received will assist me with purchasing materials for this upcoming semester such as a laptop and study essentials."

Address

Cleveland, OH

Telephone

+12168988270

Website

http://www.EducationFoundationBerea.org/

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