The District 95 Education Foundation will be holding their annual Gala next week, with the goal of raising money to fund district initiatives.

The Vegas-themed Gala will take place on Saturday, March 2nd at Concorde Banquets.The Gala will include a live and silent auction, as well as  dinner and dancing. The Gala is open to any adult community member or supporter of District 95, Kim Ketcham, former foundation trustee said.

Last year, the Foundation began an online bidding process, which is continuing this year. The online bidding allowed people to bid for auction items online, Ketcham said.

“Every year we raise more and more funds for the foundation,”  Ketcham said, “last year we moved to an online bidding process that really helped, and this year, we opened it two weeks prior to the event so people were allowed to see what items were being offered and start the bidding process then.”

The District funds as many initiatives they can support every year. The money raised from silent auctions, live auctions, and the online bidding provides the funding for these district activities to take place, Ann Marie McConnel, the Foundation’s corporate secretary said.  

“The mission of the foundation is to support District 95 and District 95 students. We provide resources for innovative grants, for example  the greenhouse at Lake Zurich High School was an innovative grant. Also in the Elementary Schools, we are putting in sensory rooms so students that might need a break during the day can go to a sensory room for some downtime,” McConell said.

Teachers or students who want help to improve their learning experience can apply for a  grant, McConell said.

“We have teachers and students who come to us with ideas to help the learning experience or help their experience in the classroom or the district. They can apply for a grant and then we use our money to support their grants,” McConell said.

One of the major additions to the district from the Gala funds are the school’s enrichment activities.

“All the enrichment activities and the STEAM related programs that the district offers, like the STEAM summit, is something changed to the school by the Gala funds. I just think giving kids more exposure to those STEAM related and art fields is creating more awareness to young kids” Ketcham said.

Though students cannot attend the Gala, they can still be involved.

“Attending enrichment events and participating in school initiatives is a way students can support district funds,” Ketcham said, “because the student’s attendance runs the program, and if we don’t have people come it’s a waste of money. When students attend it, it creates more awareness and we can find more donors and people to support it.”   

“I would say the Gala is a great event for our parents and administration to support the district and that if students have ideas to innovate the school, then we have a way to support their ideas,” McConell said.