CHEF celebrates year’s contribution to district schools
Cape Henlopen Educational Foundation, a nonprofit organization which raises funds to support educational programs for the Cape Henlopen School District, announced new officers for the 2019-20 academic year and reviewed the wide variety of grants made to Cape schools.
The CHEF board of directors recently held its annual retreat at Bluecoast Restaurant, and reviewed grants totaling over $35,000 to Cape District schools during the 2018-19 academic year. The grants funded faculty requests for classroom resources, STEM programs, field trips, arts activities, reading skills, diversity training and other development initiatives.
Lewes resident Rick Grier-Reynolds was re-elected president of the CHEF board. Grier-Reynolds and Gail Mack are founding members of CHEF, which began activities in 2006 and is one of only two public school educational foundations in Delaware.
Melissa Clampitt of Lewes, CEO of Your Lifestyle USA, is the newly elected vice president. Gavin Radka of Rehoboth Beach, assistant vice president at County Bank, was re-elected treasurer, and Alison Hughes of Milton was re-elected board secretary. Dr. Eileen Baker, former board vice president, and Cathy Hopkins Miller, allocations chair, are leaving the board, and were recognized for outstanding service by Cape Superintendent Bob Fulton. Michael Curry of Lewes, chair of the undergraduate teacher preparation program at Wilmington University, was recently elected to the board.
During the 2018-19 academic year, CHEF contributed more than $35,000 to Cape schools from kindergarten to 12th-grade levels for a wide variety of educational and personal development programs. CHEF provided support for H.O. Brittingham’s new robotics team to attend the Robotics World Championship; funding to help at-risk and limited-income students attend the play “To Kill A Mockingbird” on Broadway; STEM funding for Cape middle school girls to learn about careers in science and technology at Delaware Tech’s DigiGirlzDay; support for the Cape Chorale to represent the region at the National Christmas Tree event in Washington, D.C.; funding which helped Love Creek Elementary students visit a local wastewater recovery plant to learn about water filter design; and field trip funds which allowed a number of Cape schools to attend and win awards at Odyssey of the Mind team-building and problem-solving competitions.
