Grant Stories

Once the warmer weather returns, Winneconne middle school students will have the opportunity to learn in a non-traditional classroom – the outdoors. Thanks to funding from the Winneconne Area Education Fund, portable tables will be purchased to allow students to connect with the outdoors.

Studies have shown that students who learn outdoors develop a sense of self, independence, confidence, creativity, decision making and problem solving skills, empathy towards others, motor skills, self-discipline and initiative.

The portable picnic tables would allow the “classroom” to be set up in different areas of the school grounds allowing for more diversity in environments and flexibility of the topics being taught.

Along with the outdoor classroom, the following programs and projects received support in the amount of $4,000 from the Winneconne Area Education Fund through the Winneconne Area Community Foundation:

Winneconne Elementary:

• Book Room Non-Fiction Expansion Project – Funds to purchase 20 sets of non-fiction texts to help support the learning needs of the primary readers
• Math Literacy – Support to purchase math picture books/texts for each elementary school classroom as a supplement to the new math curriculum, Bridges. 
• No More Headaches & Glare – Support to purchase 32 light filters to create a calm, soothing and pleasant classroom environment by decreasing glare and harsh overhead fluorescent lights.

Winneconne Middle School:

• Modern Band – To incorporate modern band into the current curriculum by bridging the gap between what students experience in a traditional music program and music they experience in their community.

Winneconne High School:

• Weather Station – To purchase and install a weather station that provides up to date information on atmospheric conditions.
• Youth Frontiers Retreat Grade 12 – To fund a Youth Frontiers retreat for the class of 2019 focusing on the completion of high school and the relationships that have formed over the past 12 years.
• SkillsUSA Product Development – To purchase equipment for use to develop products to either sell or auction off to help fund and support the SkillsUSA student organization.

The Winneconne Area Community Foundation benefits charitable organizations in the Winneconne Community School District, which includes Larsen, Winchester, Poygan and Buttes des Morts. An affiliate of the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, donors enjoy maximum tax benefits.