News

Focusing on Student Success

In communities across Charlevoix County, schools provide students with a nurturing place for learning and growing. In addition to engaging activities, challenging concepts, and valuable extra-curricular experiences, schools are increasingly providing food and clothing or support navigating post-secondary career paths. With dedicated school personnel as our partners, the Community Foundation can help donors just like you to remove barriers to learning as well as increase opportunities for students to achieve.

C3F Endowments for Student Success can be enriched or established to support students by providing engaging opportunities and encouraging students to become successful community citizens.

The Community Foundation partners with school leaders to offer strategic support to make a difference where tax support can't. Our staff is in regular contact with pre-K through 12 educators who understand issues families, students, and schools are facing today. By gathering superintendents together annually, Community Foundation staff can learn from these leaders and the leaders themselves can benefit from building peer relationships. Grant funds provided once per year must be used intentionally, and the Community Foundation requires accountability for use of those funds. School partners are also given the flexibility to put the dollars to best use as needs change over time.

For example, recent Student Success grants funded projects such as purchasing snowshoes for students to stay active, purchasing and installing new outdoor playground equipment suitable for preschool students, funding youth mentoring programs, upgrading library facilities and media centers, purchasing new equipment to support STEM programs, improved signage and security at school, and helping to fund both science and Spanish language field trips. These are programs that may not have happened without grants from C3F.

C3F established funds to support schools in Beaver Island, Boyne City, Boyne Falls, Charlevoix, and East Jordan. Gifts of all sizes can make a difference for local students by supporting any of these Endowments for Student Success. These are combined with Student Success Funds sponsored by our donors. For a minimum of $10,000, any donor can establish a named Endowment for Student Success that will provide resources annually to an area school district.
To find out more, or to make a donation, visit our Giving Hub.