It was wonderful to see so many of you at the NEF Showcase on June 8. Hosted at the brand-new Center for the Arts, the Showcase provided a "tour" of some of this year's exciting grant projects—and a celebration of reaching our halfway mark to $1 million in our Endowment Campaign.

This year's Showcase spotlighted NEF-funded projects from every Northampton school, encompassing STEM, dance, writing, mindfulness, theatre, environmental studies, classical music, combating racism, and much more. Throughout the evening, guests enjoyed an array of presentations by teachers, piano music by new NHS band director Paul Kinsman, and scenes from Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", performed by NHS students under the direction of Stephen Eldredge. We were delighted to welcome city leaders, including Mayor David Narkewicz, Jackson Street School Principal Gwen Agna, Ryan Road Principal Sarah Madden, and JFK Principal Lesley Wilson, who spoke about the impact NEF grants have on their schools. NEF Development Chair Martin Wohl shared the great news that our 25th Anniversary Endowment Campaign had just passed its halfway mark to $1 million, and how a bolstered Endowment will provide larger, multi-year grants to all Northampton schools.

The evening was a festive culmination of a very active spring for NEF. In just the past three months, NEF hosted the 18th Annual Adult Spelling Bee on March 21, a talk by author Rachel Simmons on April 4, the SOS Plant Sale on May 12, its bi-annual, city-wide meeting of all Northampton PTOs on May 23, and the Annual Showcase, awarded $26,230 in Small Grants to Teachers and $49,857 in Endowment Grants, and officially launched our 25th Anniversary Endowment Campaign.

Our goal is to raise $1 million for our Endowment, allowing us to make multi-year grants at each school level, in addition to our annual Small Grants to Teachers. With larger, multi-year grants, our city's educators will have more time to dream big and plan accordingly, to sustain proven projects, and to collaborate more effectively among schools.

We are excited to pass the halfway mark in this campaign, and appreciate the strong, community-wide support for this vital resource for Northampton public schools. Join us at www.northamptoneducationfoundation.org.