$100,000 gift jump-starts education endowment fund
Written by Kate Czaplinski, Herald Editor
Thursday, 26 January 2012 15:15
A generous gift to Shelton High School from the estate of a 1936 alumnus is serving as the foundation of the new Shelton Education Endowment Fund, unveiled Monday night.
The Valley Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, will be managing the endowment fund, collecting tax-deductible donations and having a board in place to oversee how the funds are distributed for things like special equipment, projects and student awards. The creation of the endowment fund, including the first donations made by the estate of Herbert M. Clark Ph.D. and from Shelton supertintendents, past and present, was announced at Shelton Intermediate School Tuesday night in an endowment fund kickoff.
District staff, Board of Education members and city officials like Mayor Mark Lauretti and Board of Aldermen members were present for the kick-off.
“This is not to replace budgetary dollars — I want to stress that,” Carla Sullivan, director of donor service and grant-making at the Valley Community Foundation, said. “This will fund future iniatives and special projects and help Shelton education go from good to great.”
Herbert Clark, a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for 38 years, was the Shelton High Class of 1936 salutatorian and was voted “most likely to suceed” and “most intelligent.” Clark discovered atomic fallout in the city of Troy 36 hours after an atomic bomb test in Nevada had sent up a huge radioactive cloud. He wrote about the incident for Science magazine in 1954.
Clark left Shelton High School an endowment of more than $100,400, to be used to support the science department, buying equipment and technology.
Headmaster Beth Smith said the endowment will help purchase items like up-to-date microscopes to enhance the teaching of science at Shelton High School.
“We hope it helps inspire students to enter a career in the sciences,” Smith said.
Fund
The idea of establishing an endowment fund for Shelton education has been in the works for years, according to Superintendent Freeman Burr.
“This was former Superintendent Leon Slyvester’s idea and then worked on by Superintendent Robin Willink,” Burr said. “The groundwork for this happened before I was here.”
Burr said there are more than 100 education funds in the state, including three that benefit Bridgeport schools.
“This is a pretty special event for Shelton Public Schools,” Burr said.
Clark’s endowment wasn’t the only donation announced. A $5,000 Superintendents’ Award to the endowment fund was donated by Burr, Slyvester and Willink.
The $5,000 will go to support innovative teaching and learning grants.
Slyvester, who serves on the board of directors of the Valley Community Foundation, said the staff of Shelton Public Schools does great work, and he saw that as a superintendent and now a grandfather of children in the school system.
“These dollars will make it a better place and afford the children of this city the opportunity to go farther,” Slyvester said of the fund. “It will allow staff to reach out and do things they couldn’t do within the normal budget.”
The endowment fund has “four pillars of investment,” and donors may decide which pillar they want their contribution to support. Donations and contributions may go to student awards and scholarships, teacher creativity and innovation, career and college exploration, and parent and community engagement.
Valerie Knight DiGangi, a grants coordinator with Shelton Public Schools, said a fund-raiser for the endowment fun is in the works for May. Information on the fund will also be up in the next few weeks on SheltonPublicSchools.org and ValleyFoundation.org.
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