ROCHELLE — The David Crawford Foundation will be having their Pancake Day on Saturday, March 11 from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Rochelle Middle School. Funds generated from this annual event help the Rochelle Elementary School District to acquire additional resources for teachers and students.

Foundation board member Pat Casey said they receive grant applications from district teachers, which includes a requested amount along with the intended purpose. The grants are disbursed, dependent on the total amount of the proceeds from the breakfast.

“They give us a list of things they would like,” Casey said. “With the generosity of the community attending this event we are able to purchase these items, which help the students.”

Earlier in the school year, the foundation was able to grant several requests to the district’s teachers.

Michelle Gates, Tilton School Kindergarten teacher, said the grant money has helped purchase teaching materials such as listening center materials, games, and math-related literature. Some of the materials purchased several years ago through the grant are still used in Gates’ curriculum, coinciding with what the students are learning during the reading program.

“My goal for these acquired materials was not only to reinforce the current Kindergarten curriculum but also teach it (the curriculum) in another way,” Gates said. “The kids love it when I pull something “new” from my closet to reinforce what is currently being taught. Thank you David Crawford Foundation for allowing us the opportunity to do this.”

Another teacher in the district, Lauren Hintzsche, said the grant money has helped to purchase incentives such as pencils, bracelets, and t-shirts for different achievements. Hintzsche, physical education teacher at Lincoln and Central Schools, implemented the 100 Mile Club as an addition to the physical activity that students participate in every day.

“It is daily physical activity in a nonthreatening, supportive, inclusive environment,” Hintzsche said. “This is a way to help prevent obesity in children by making fitness opportunities available in schools and empowering kids to achieve a healthy lifestyle they can maintain. It also creates goal-setting opportunities for students in which they are rewarded with various incentives.”

Erin Strouss, counselor at May and Lincoln Schools, said the grant money helped purchase games that engaged the students. Strouss described “Remote Control Impulse Control,” a game that gives the students real life scenarios.

“When the students ‘rewind’ they think back to a situation that may be similar that has happened to them and share what the end result was,” Strouss began. “If a student chooses ‘stop,’ they tell us what should happen (replacement behavior). The fast forward option provides the student an opportunity to tell what would happen if the scenario played out as written.”

Strouss said money from the David Crawford Foundation grant has afforded the opportunity to purchase a variety of therapeutic games that enhances the social-emotional learning curriculum.

About the foundation

The foundation was established in memory of David Crawford, Superintendent of Rochelle Elementary School District #231 from 1941 to 1972. Its purpose is to provide support for enhancing the quality of education consistent with the principles he espoused. These principles include:  A commitment to quality educational opportunity for all children, regardless of background or ability; respect for, and appreciation of the diversity of the school community; instilling the basic values of citizenship, cooperation, fairness, and service to school and community; ongoing improvement in teaching through creative innovation of methodologies and technologies.