The Highland Park Educational Foundation (HPEF) invites the entire community to a pancake breakfast with an extra serving of entertainment on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, 9:30 a.m. to noon, at the Highland Park High School Cafeteria. All attendees will feast on a delicious breakfast, enjoy the camaraderie with their neighbors, while experiencing an educational program featuring animals from around the globe.
“Eyes of the Wild and Wallaby Tales Wildlife Rescue Facility” director Travis Gale will be discussing the animals’ habits, communication skills, survival techniques and the many unique behaviors that make these animals so amazing and such a privilege to have on our planet.
The cost to attend is $5 per person, $20 maximum per family. Proceeds support The Highland Park Educational Foundation, which decided to do this event as an affordable friend-and-fund-raising event. It is an opportunity to build community, while building up the HPEF. Please register at highlandparkef@gmail.com
The Highland Park Educational Foundation (HPEF) was founded in 1996 in order to help the Highland Park NJ public schools achieve high academic goals and build for the future. Concerned parents, community leaders and business leaders came together with the common goal of supporting and sustaining the educational excellence of the public schools. The dwindling state government funding of public school operations was the impetus for this initiative. The schools are greatly challenged to balance their budgets with these spending cuts and thus are putting education excellence in peril. Only through private philanthropy can the schools succeed.
The HPEF in the past two years has awarded more than $75,000 in grants for innovative programs, projects, and activities not covered by the annual school budget. The grants range from physical additions to the classroom, such as smart boards, to experiences, such as a trip to the theater to see a performance of a play the students have studied in class. Specifically, the foundation awards grants in five areas:
- Arts education
- Scholastic enhancement in the sciences
- The humanities and social studies
- The use of technology in education
- Cross-cultural enrichment
- Staff development