 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
press releases / events / articles / recent annual reports
Second-Graders from Costaño School to Receive a Personal Library at Literacy Event on June 3:
Each Student Will Get a Custom-Built Bookshelf and Selection of Books to Take Home
Jennifer Advani, Jewish Coalition for Literacy
650-940-1229, jadvani@jcrc.org
Meryl Ginsberg, Volunteer Project Communicator
650-416-4285, meryl123@yahoo.com
East Palo Alto, CA—May 28, 2008—Second grade students from the Costaño School, a public elementary school in East Palo Alto, will each receive a custom-built bookshelf and a selection of books to take home, as part of a literacy event taking place June 3, 2008, at 5pm. The event kicks off the Costaño School Book Project, a multi-faceted initiative to enhance literacy and reading skills at the Costaño School, which is being co-sponsored by Congregation Beth Am of Los Altos, the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation (EPAK), and the Jewish Coalition for Literacy.
“Volunteers have spent hundreds of hours over evenings and weekends building 50 bookshelves for the Costaño School second graders, as well as collecting books for distribution to the students and to improve the school’s library,” said Richard Stark, coordinator of the project for Congregation Beth Am. “We’re very excited about finally giving a bookshelf and books to each child to take home.”
The project has collected over 4,000 books through its book drives so far. Of these, 640 age-appropriate books were collected by third grade students at the Oak School in Los Altos when Mrs. Stephanie Tyson’s third-grade class adopted the Costaño School Book Project as their community service project for the year. The Oak School third graders also held a drive for recyclable cans and bottles, and as a result contributed $70.66 for the purchase of additional books. Book drives were also conducted at the Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School (Palo Alto), and at Santa Rita Elementary School (Los Altos).
The literacy event will be the first of many reading encouragement activities that are planned as part of the multi-year project.
According to Jennifer Advani, Peninsula Program Manager with the Jewish Coalition for Literacy, the evening is designed to introduce parents to the fundamentals of literacy acquisition. “Many parents of students at Costaño do not speak English, and many have only rudimentary literacy skills themselves,” she said. “Our reading specialist, Joan Green, will make a presentation in both Spanish and English, designed to teach parents how, in spite of their own literacy and language challenges, they can support their children as they learn to read.”
Babysitting services at the literacy event will be provided by volunteers from Congregation Beth Am. The schedule for the evening will be as follows:
5:00 - 5:30 Presentation of bookshelves
5:30 - 6:15 Spanish presentation
6:15 - 7:00 English presentation
About the Costaño School Book Project
The Costaño School Book Project is a multi-faceted initiative that will enhance literacy and reading skills at the Costaño School, a public elementary school in East Palo Alto. Co-sponsored by Congregation Beth Am of Los Altos, the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation (EPAK), and the Jewish Coalition for Literacy, the project encompasses library refurbishment and reading encouragement activities, including volunteer tutoring, literacy events, and organized family reading activities at the school. The project is scheduling book drives, fundraising efforts, and reading encouragement volunteer training duing the summer of 2008; interested people are encouraged to visit the project website at www.costanoschool.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Grant Awards 2007-08
October 2007
A list of the past year's awards are available for download.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Fall 2007 And Winter 2008 Grant Application Guidelines
August 2007
Guidelines for 2007-08 are available for download.
------------------------------------------------------------------
EPAK Hosts An Evening Of Chamber Music
June 2007
For more information, contact: Tasha Castañeda (650) 218-9914
EAST PALO ALTO - East Palo Alto Kids Foundation (EPAK), which provides a variety of grants for literacy, math, science, and the arts to teachers in the Ravenswood City School District, announced today that it will host an evening of chamber music at the Palo Alto Cultural Center on Saturday, June 30 at 7:30 pm. The concert is free and open to the public.
Violin soloist Yasuko Hattori was a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and a member of the San Francisco Symphony from 1982 to 2000. Her husband, Hidefumi Hattori, will accompany Ms.Hattori on string bass. The Hattoris are long-time Palo Alto residents. They live on Walter Hays Drive and their children, Ayano and Hideyo, attended Duveneck Elementary School. “I have always dreamed of holding a benefit concert right here in my own back yard at the Palo Alto Cultural Center,” stated Ms.Hattori.
The program includes Vivaldi’s “Spring” and “Summer” from The Four Seasons, Mozart’s Piano Trio in C Major K.548, and Schubert’s Piano Quintet “The Trout” Op.114. Rounding out the musical ensemble are Yukiko Kurakata on first violin, Hyeonju Kim on second violin, Andrew Berdahl on viola, Lucinda Breed Lenicheck on cello, and Makiko Ooka on piano.
An Evening of Chamber Music
Yasuko Hattori and Friends
Saturday, June 30, 7:30 pm
Palo Alto Cultural Center
1313 Newell Road
Palo Alto, CA 94303-2909
Concert is free and open to the public
For more information about the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation, please visit www.epak.org. For more information about this concert, please contact Tasha Castañeda at (650) 218-9914.
------------------------------------------------------------------
EPAK And Edison McNair Academy Host Library Reopening
February 28, 2007
EPAK Contact: Laura Roberts, Board Member (650) 941-8068
EAST PALO ALTO - East Palo Alto Kids Foundation (EPAK), which provides a variety of grants for literacy, math, science, and the arts to teachers in the Ravenswood City School District, and the Edison McNair Academy, an East Palo Alto middle school, today announced they will host a library re-opening celebration at the school on March 7, 2007. The celebration marks the completion of a nine-month long project to restore and improve the long-closed library at this grade five through eight middle school.
The Edison McNair library project was conceived by EPAK board members, along with McNair school principal Douglas Harrell, as a way to meet the urgent need to bring a functioning library to a school that lacked sufficient resources to do so on its own. Seed money and project management resources where provided by EPAK. A number of volunteers then stepped forward to drive the project to its successful conclusion. Karen Shannon, Jane Sanders, and Tanner Hanson collectively dedicated hundreds of hours while leveraging their experience and skills to make this day possible.
“It is very rewarding to help advance such an important project that brings immediate and lasting benefit to students and teachers at the McNair Academy”, stated Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., EPAK Board member, CEO of Cogentus Pharmaceuticals in Menlo Park, and a major donor with his family to expand the library book collection. “Karen, Jane, Tanner and key EPAK leaders like Laura Roberts have shown the enormous power of volunteering and its impact on the community. This collaboration among EPAK, school leaders, private donors and community volunteers is a model for how to get things done that really matter for our children.”
Both Shannon and Sanders organized and catalogued the existing
and new book collections and implemented systems so that teachers
and students can now checkout books and engage in online research.
Tanner Hanson, of Los Altos Boy Scout Troop 30, supervised the
Eagle Scout project to build bookcases to house the expanded collection.
The celebration will take place between 12:45pm and 1:30pm at 2033 Pulgas Avenue, East Palo Alto, in the school Quad area. The festivities will include a music and poetry program by McNair students, a mural dedication, and a ribbon cutting ceremony. The library will be open for all visitors and light refreshments will be served. Visitors are asked to check in at the front desk upon arrival.
For more information about EPAK, please visit www.epak.org. For those interested in attending the library celebration, or for those who have questions, please call Laura Roberts, EPAK Board Member, at (650) 714-4406.
------------------------------------------------------------------
EPAK Celebrates $1 Million in Grants to Ravenswood Teachers
October 13, 2006
For more information, contact: Tasha Castañeda (650) 218-9914
EAST PALO ALTO - East Palo Alto Kids Foundation (EPAK), which provides a variety of grants for literacy, math, science, and the arts in the Ravenswood City School District, will hold the first EPAK Day of the school year at the Edison-McNair middle school in East Palo Alto. Donors, supporters of education, parents, volunteers, and the press are all invited to attend. The activities start at 8:30 am at Edison-McNair Academy Library, 2033 Pulgas Ave., East Palo Alto. Learn how donated funds have helped teachers help their students achieve success, get an update about EPAK and its plans for the 2006-07 school year, and see learning in action during a tour of classrooms. We will be celebrating our accomplishments in this high-needs district.
We are particularly proud that since it was founded in 1993, EPAK has awarded more than a MILLION DOLLARS in education grants. EPAK awarded $130,455 in grants to Ravenswood educators during the 2005-06 school year. EPAK has made considerable progress on a Special Project by using EPAK volunteers and a large grant to overhaul the Edison-McNair middle school library.
With an all-volunteer Board of Directors, EPAK believes that all children should have an equal opportunity learn. Children from low-income families, where English is often a second language, face challenges that children in neighboring communities do not. We help bridge the serious educational funding gap between state/local funding and district needs through EPAK grants, giving these children greater opportunity to pursue their hopes and dreams.
For more information about EPAK, please visit www.epak.org. For those interested in attending EPAK Day or who have questions, please call Tasha Castaņeda, president of EPAK, at (650) 218-9914.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Fall 2006 And Winter 2007 Grant Application Guidelines
August 28, 2006
Guidelines for 2006-07 are available for download.
------------------------------------------------------------------
EPAK Announces Bonus Round Of Grants
Spring 2006
EPAK had a very successful fundraising campaign this fall and we are eager to pass the money along to the teachers and the students of Ravenswood as soon as possible. We are therefore delighted to announce a second, "BONUS" round of grants for the 2005-06 school year. We will be accepting applications up to February 10th, 2006.
- Go to www.epak.org download the directions and the application. Only totally complete applications will be considered, so read the directions carefully.
- All receipts from any previous grants must be on file with us.
- Do not send in receipts with your application. They must be in before applying. Do not send them in together.
- Only Ravenswood Teachers are eligible
- Applications must be postmarked by February 10, 2006.
Leave a message at 650 852 9398 with any questions and someone will get back to you. We are delighted to be able to do this and will be looking forward to seeing your application. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the children.
------------------------------------------------------------------
EPAK Streamlines Grant Application Process
July 18, 2005
This press release is now in use here.
------------------------------------------------------------------
EPAK Suspends Winter 2005 Grants Due To Lack Of Funds
December 13, 2004
For more information, contact: Tasha Castañeda (650) 218-9914
EAST PALO ALTO - Library books, after-school tutoring, field trips, and college prep classes were among the 70 projects the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation (EPAK) was unable to fund this fall. For the first time since EPAK was formed in 1993, the non-profit was forced to reject qualified teacher grant requests due to lack of funds and suspend its next grant cycle in January 2005.
"We hate to see the teachers expend time and effort to go through the grant request process if EPAK doesn't have enough money to fund at least a significant number of requests" explained Dianne Otterby, EPAK's Grant Committee Chair and retired Ravenswood teacher. She regrets that the EPAK Board felt it necessary to cut back from two grant cycles per year to just one. But feels confident that the Fall 2005 grant cycle will take place normally in September. Ms. Otterby had one comment to add. "Give generously to EPAK because East Palo Alto's kids, your neighbors, our future, deserve it!"
EPAK awarded 448 grants totaling $156,000 in the 2003-04 school
year, down from 506 grants totaling $178,000 in 2002-03. EPAK
grants are small - averaging $350. But they can have a big impact
in funding for projects and materials that educators in neighboring communities take for granted.
"Thank you for your amazing gift to our classroom. My students are benefitting so much from our new listening center and all our great books. Teaching is a wonderful job and we couldn't do it without people like you." Karly Maura, 4th grade teacher, Willow Oaks School Since its inception in 1993, EPAK, an all-volunteer organization, has funded over $750,000 in projects to benefit East Palo Alto children. The grants are distributed directly to educators. Current requests include field trips to local art museums, updated software for classroom computers, and materials for English Language Learners and reading/listening centers.
For more information about EPAK or donating to EPAK:
Website: www.epak.org Email: epakidsfd@yahoo.com
Board Member Contact for Donations: Mary Noonan at (650) 364-3559
------------------------------------------------------------------
Dish Dash Raises $1,000 For EPAK
November 8, 2004
Sigma Phi Epsilon Contact: Kevin Natenstedt, Dish Dash Coordinator
kevnaten@gmail.com (714) 322-7953
EPAK Contact: Laura Roberts, Board Member
laurabob@pacbell.net (650) 941-8068
Over 80 runners/walkers turned out at the base of the 5K loop to Stanford University's famous landmark "The Dish" on November 7th. They took advantage of a sunny winter morning to get some exercise and raise money for the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation, a charity that aids school children in the Ravenswood District by providing grants directly to teachers.
Sponsored by Stanford's Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, the 5K race culminated with breakfast refreshments while Erem Boto and Kevin Natenstedt of Sigma Phi Epsilon awarded prizes to winners. The winner of the male category was Matt Craven with a race time of 19:59. The winner of the female category was Stephanie Abegg with a race time of 23:49. The winners received gift certificates to Runners High and Max's Opera Café. Other donations to the event were made from Whole Foods, the Associated Students of Stanford University, Hobee's Restaurants, House of Bagels, and East Florence Moore Hall.
For more about the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation, see www.epak.org or email epakidsfd@yahoo.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Dish Dash To Support East Palo Alto Kids
October 26, 2004
Sigma Phi Epsilon Contact: Kevin Natenstedt, Dish Dash Coordinator
kevnaten@gmail.com (714) 322-7953
EPAK Contact: Laura Roberts, Board Member
laurabob@pacbell.net (650) 941-8068
This event is a 5K run/walk up to and around the Dish at Stanford University. Proceeds will benefit the East Palo Alto Kids Foundation, a charity that aids school children in the Ravenswood District by providing funds for projects that support student's learning inside and outside the classroom. For more about EPAK, see www.epak.org. Prizes will be awarded to winners in each category, including gift certificates and a barbeque grill. Free food will be provided to the runners.
Register online: www.active.com (until November 6, 2004)
Women's 5K Run/Walk: $13.00
Men's 5K Run/Walk: $13.00
Day-of registration:
Women's 5K Run/Walk: $15.00
Men's 5K Run/Walk: $15.00
Location:
Stanford Dish (corner of Junipero Serra and Campus Drive)
------------------------------------------------------------------
EPAK Honors Citibank at Annual Event
April 25, 2004
For more information, contact: Tasha Castañeda (650) 218-9914
EAST PALO ALTO - The East Palo Alto Kids Foundation held its Annual Event on Sunday, April 25th, 2004. Featuring Polynesian dancers "Children of the Sunset" from Belle Haven School, the event was held at Bayshore Christian Ministries, 1001 Beech Street, in East Palo Alto. EPAK presented the Faye Brown award to Citibank in honor of their financial support.
Since its inception in 1993, EPAK has funded more than $750,000 in projects to benefit East Palo Alto children. The grants are distributed to educators in public and private schools, preschools, college prep and after-school programs to be used for books, science and technology equipment, art and music supplies, and field trips.
“Families and educators in East Palo Alto face unique challenges and it’s wonderful to be able to lend a helping hand to support them,” said EPAK Board President Tasha Castañeda, a former teacher in the Ravenswood District. “By giving direct cash grants to the teachers we make it easier for them to provide Ravenswood kids with the same opportunities that children in surrounding communities take for granted.”
Last year EPAK raised over $176,000 for 506 grants to teachers at 23
educational organizations. Eastside College Prep teacher, Nancy
Anderson was one of this year’s recipients. “We were sharing four
graphing calculators between 17 students,” said Anderson, “And
on bad days we actually ran calculators between the physics and
geometry classrooms because we didn’t have enough for both classes.
The EPAK grant helped us to buy enough calculators for every student.”
More information about EPAK is available at www.epak.org or by contacting Board President Tasha Castañeda at (650) 218- 9914.
------------------------------------------------------------------