Beaverton Education Foundation announces Challenge gift from Walmart to upgrade Art Literacy Program

May 18, 2011 - PRLog -- The Beaverton Education Foundation (BEF), a public charity that supports strong public schools in the Beaverton, Ore., community by developing and maintaining strategic partnerships to fund programs that inspire and increase student achievement, is announcing today that it has received a $10,000 challenge gift from Walmart to help support the Art Literacy Program’s Digital Transition by the end of the spring 2011 semester.

“When my daughter was in first grade, she enjoyed an Art Lit lesson on Frank Lloyd Wright, and she came away totally enthralled with architecture,” said Myra, parent of a now 6th grade student. “As she got older, her desire to become an architect remained unwavering. When she began to complain about how hard her math was becoming, I explained to her how important math is to architecture. I never heard another complaint. She became even more determined to do well in math to help reach her goal."

For 30 years, the Beaverton Art Literacy Program has introduced and provided instruction in the fundamentals of art and art history and offered studio art experiences to thousands of primary school students each year. The program, taught by volunteers at nearly every elementary and middle school in Beaverton, must transition from slide projector systems to digital presentations as Kodak discontinued the manufacture of slide projectors in 2003 and will end parts support in 2011.  

This project will help support 40 schools, including 14 Title 1 locations, and has an estimated cost of $35,000. The total program, fully implemented at all 40 middle and elementary schools, has an estimated total cost of $67,000.  

All funds raised will be used to purchase multi-media projectors and laptops for the Beaverton schools participating in the program, helping to ensure equity for all of Beaverton’s students.  

“The Art Literacy program has been the primary and often only pathway for art instruction in Beaverton’s elementary schools for the past three decades,” said Kristine Baggett, executive director of the Beaverton Education Foundation. “The Art Literacy Program is a great treasure for our students that is delivered by a passionate and committed cadre of volunteers. Our community benefits from this program on so many levels.”

The update to the digital age will ensure that thousands of students continue to have access to the artistic process as well as the critical cross over skills that are developed and honed through a discipline-based art education.

“It is imperative to maintain equity and modernize across the Art Literacy programs of Beaverton by ensuring that all schools are able to make the digital transition,” said Baggett. “The Art Literacy program has worked diligently to convert all 122 topic boxes to PowerPoint presentations and is now in the final phase to upgrade the technology.”

To learn more about the Beaverton Education Foundation, visit http://www.beavertonedfoundation.org/.

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About Beaverton Education Foundation
The Beaverton Education Foundation serves more than 38,500 K-12 students in 51 schools. In the past decade the student population is one of the most diverse: ethnically, racially and socio-economically. BEF provides financial support for K-12 education programs and hands-on academic activities for students in the Beaverton School District that are not funded through public means. To learn more, visit http://www.beavertonedfoundation.org/.