Northwestern announced Tuesday that it has given a gift of $120,000 to Foundation 65, the educational foundation that supports Evanston/Skokie School District 65. The donation will be disbursed evenly over three years.
The foundation, started in 1994, is an independent organization run by a board of volunteers from the Evanston community that works to provide support and funding for new literacy and art programs within all of the District 65 schools, promoting and expanding active learning opportunities for students K-8. The donation will go towards general programming, operations and infrastructure, according to Executive Director Lise Jinno.
“One of the things we try to do is really work as a partner with the schools, and we fund programs that enhance the existing curriculum,” Jinno said.
Northwestern has previously donated monetarily to the foundation, to provide general support as well as hiring capabilities for the foundation’s first executive director.
The foundation is only recently starting to make a noticeable impact, according to Jinno. One popular program that it funds is the Family Author Experience, which brings popular children’s authors to the schools and prepares students from Kindergarten to 8th grade to read and explore their works.
Another of its biggest pilot programs, currently in its 3rd year, is Advancing Literacy for All, which targets students in grades 4-8 and is designed to help them tackle reading for content in textbooks and educational materials.
“At this stage students are no longer learning to read but reading to learn,” Jinno said.
In supporting the foundation, NU wants to ensure that the organization thrives and carries out its mission, said Lucile Krasnow, special assistant for Community Relations at NU.
“Northwestern and the two surrounding school districts are closely tied with the same purposes and goals in terms of education of kids in our community,” Krasnow said. “(Northwestern) wants this contribution to provide even better opportunities for our district kids.”
Overall, Jinno describes the initiatives of the foundation as a collaborative effort.
“We talk to parents, teachers and administators,” Jinno said, “and we do our part to listen to people in the community.
