by David Hill
Editor
The Thief River Falls Education Foundation celebrated 34 years of providing innovative educational opportunities to students. This year, it exceeded a milestone – donating over $4 million back to schools and students, and about $1 million in scholarships.
Its importance to the school district is not taken for granted by the district’s Board of Education. Monday, Nov. 12, Chairman Ryan Walseth said he couldn’t imagine what they would do without the organization.
Paul Ihle, president of the Thief River Falls Education Foundation, said he appreciated hearing that. Ihle related that when the organization began they thought they were on top of the world when they granted over $10,000 in one year. Grants top $300,000 a year now.
Ihle and Natasha Reierson, executive director of the Foundation, appeared before the Board of Education on Monday to provide an update on their activities and grants. The organization has two granting periods each year. In its most recent funding period, it granted over $100,000.
There are three parts to their success, said Ihle: Very generous donors and memorials; a teaching staff that does the research and comes up with innovative ways to enhance student education; and the Education Foundation staff. Ihle said Education Foundation staff put in many hours and they are very lucky to have such dedicated staff led by Reierson.
Ihle said that while they have a good financial reserve and many gracious donors, their purpose isn’t to raise money, but provide educational opportunities.
Ihle said the Thief River Falls Education Foundation is ranked third among public school educational foundations offering grants in the state of Minnesota.
Many of the grant applications funded by the Thief River Falls Education are not what anyone would expect the school district to fund or in a school’s budget.
Examples of what it has funded recently include: the Franklin Middle School House of Uncommon Initiative, Read 180 books, and math graphing calculators. A “math graphing calculator” is a handheld device used to plot graphs of mathematical equations, allowing users to visualize functions and solve complex problems by displaying the visual representation of the data.
Chris Melbye, director on the Board of Education, thanked the Foundation for helping kids.
Mike Spears, director on the Board of Education, praised the connections the Foundation nurtures in the community. It makes a difference and results in donations.
Misty Hempel, director on the Board of Education, asked if they had noticed a difference in the type of requests from staff because of budget cuts.
Ihle’s answer was yes and no. They received some requests for white boards and an Apple TV, staff seemed uncertain about the future.
Dr. Chris Mills, superintendent of schools, and who regularly provides feedback to the Foundation, said that since the approval of an operating levy, staff are now more excited about the future.
Ihle and Reierson noted during the discussion that grant requests are not automatically approved, the Board discusses each grant request and sometimes there is considerable discussion. They also seek feedback from administrators, and that feedback is extremely important.