A Look at the Milford Education Foundation’s 2015 Roadmap. Will You Be There?

Anyone who knows Milford knows that the city is one-of-a-kind. But its downtown green—home to summer fairs and farmer’s markets—and historical background are only surpassed by the city’s extraordinary people. Since launching last year, theMilford Education Foundation (MEF) has been working with this community of people to foster educational excellence, innovation and creativity in a number of ways.

Now in its second full year, the focus at MEF is simple: growth. “In 2015, we want to see more students participating in our events; more funding from sponsorships, grants and donors; more resources going out in the form of Teacher Mini Grants and programming opportunities; and, most importantly, more engagement with the wonderful people of Milford, both within the residential and business communities,” explained Augie Harrigan, President of MEF.

To achieve these goals, MEF has created a 2015 roadmap filled with new and returning opportunities in which the Milford community can participate. Here’s just a glimpse of what you can expect to see from MEF this year:

Minds in Motion: MEF will be expanding on those programs that have proved successful such as Minds in Motion, a half-day experiential learning and enrichment event for children grades K-8. This year’s event, held March 7th at Jonathan Law High School, involved 350 children and parents and featured over 30 workshops including everything from LEGO robotics to puzzles, codes and wordplay to clay sculpting.

 
 
Milford Invention Convention: This year MEF is also bringing back the Milford Invention Convention, a citywide event for grades K-8 designed to develop and enhance critical thinking skills through invention and innovation. Twenty-one students participated in last year’s event and four moved forward to the CT Invention Convention, an award-winning educational program that celebrates the best convention presentations from each participating city. MEF’s elementary workshop series, a partnership with the Milford Public Library, kicked off in January and was offered in the middle school. This year the invention process and creation was part of the curriculum for middle school 6th graders. The Milford Invention Convention takes place on Saturday, March 28th from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Jonathan Law High School. Come check it out!
 
 
Teacher Mini Grant Program: Recently, MEF achieved a great milestone by more than doubling grant funds for its 2014-2015 Teacher Mini Grant Program—from $5,000 to $12,000. This year the organization has already awarded 16 Milford Public School teachers $5,785 in funding through this program for the spring 2015 semester. A second round will fund programs in the fall 2015 semester, which will be awarded at the end of the current academic year.
 
Fundraising and charitable events: MEF will continue to host various fundraising and charitable events throughout 2015. Its inaugural year featured a sold out Fall Mini-Golf Classic, which was extremely exciting. Meanwhile, last summer, MEF co-hosted a“Chair-ity” auction along with the Milford Fine Arts Council and guest auctioneer Brian Smith. The event brought the Milford community together to enjoy food, music and entertainment and gave participants the option to bid on chairs designed by local student artist groups that had been previously displayed at local businesses citywide. MEF plans to host a second mini-golf tournament to kick off summer, as well as another family-oriented fundraising event in the fall that’s sure to be out of this world!

We hope you consider joining us for what’s sure to be a thrilling ride, and we can’t thank you enough for your support!

M
Submitted by Milford, CT

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