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EXPAND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

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Committed to Engaging Our Students in Meaningful Educational Experiences

The Canastota Central School District has launched a new partnership with the Central New York Community Foundation to develop a fund to support scholastic efforts outside of the district’s budget.

The Engage Canastota Educational Fund (ECEF) will help support creative “extras” that are outside the district’s budget – supplies for a unique classroom project or a student club competing in a national competition, for example. It will be held at and administered by the Community Foundation once it has received a minimum of $10,000 in donations.

A district educational fund is something community members have been talking about for more than seven years, Superintendent Shawn Bissetta said. It’s a strategy that has benefitted many schools in the CNY region by supporting school projects and student scholarships without using General Fund money.

“School districts all around the state find themselves operating in an environment of profound economic and budgetary uncertainty,” Bissetta said. “Given this reality, it makes sense for schools to explore supplemental sources of revenue that will allow for students to continue to participate in valuable educational and extra-curricular opportunities that are beyond the scope of a typical school budget.” 

The Board has met several times this spring to begin the process of making the fund fully operational. The board is drawing up guidelines and procedures for how they will raise money, review proposals, make awards and other logistics. They are also inviting community members to begin contributing to the fund. Raising seed money at the community level will help secure community buy-in for the fund itself and the projects it supports.

“In Canastota, our school community does not aspire to be average - we aspire to be extraordinary,” Bissetta said. “The launch of the Engage Canastota Educational Fund will serve as a tremendous vehicle in our pursuit of that goal.”

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With your gift to the Engage Canastota Education Foundation, you are providing an opportunity for our educators to expose our students to wonderful experiences and programs that span all academic and artistic disciplines and grade levels.  Every student will feel the ripple of your generosity.

Your support at any level is so appreciated. Every gift matters, no matter the size.

All donations to ECEF are tax deductible.

We are always looking for interested parents and community members to get involved in the Engage Canastota Education Foundation. We offer annual volunteer board positions, or have a number of committees you can participate in, from assisting in planning our annual event, to supporting communications, or helping us grow our outreach to Canastota Alumni. Please consider getting involved!

Established in 2020, Engage Canastota Education Foundation was formed by a committed group of community members, school leaders and instructional staff to support and enhance the educational programs for all schools within the Canastota district. We are an independent, not-for-profit organization that raises funds through donations, events and sponsorships from local businesses, individuals and alumni across the region, to award grants to teachers to provide innovative and purposeful learning programs across the district.

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