The Summit Educational Foundation (SEF) holds a special place in the hearts of the staff at Jefferson School. For the 2010-2011 school year, SEF has generously provided approximately $60,000 in grant money to fund programs which provide opportunities for student success which, just a few years ago, had not been available. The Jefferson Extended Enrichment Program (J.E.E.P.) is one of those initiatives. The support program, which is currently in its second year at the elementary school, is led by Jefferson teachers Jackie Campagna and Stephanie Gleason. The unique enrichment opportunity …

People of a certain age remember the endless repetition of handwriting class, working on their posture and their cursive writing until it matched the textbook style until it flowed easily from our pens and pencils. And all these years later, we take it for granted when we sign our names or fill out forms. But we worry about a generation of students who do more of their work on the computer keyboard. But don't worry, the technique of writing isn't in danger of becoming a lost art, especially for kindergartners at the Wilson Primary Center, who are taking part in a new handwriting curriculum …

Are your eighth-graders hooked on Glee? Or Patch? They will now get to match their interests with more elective "cycle" courses, courtesy of the Summit Educational Foundation. Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School Principal Matthew Block said about three years ago it was decided that six, 30-day cycles did not provide enough time for instruction. "It was one of our goals as a district to develop more problem-based instruction," Block said, announcing that an $84,000 grant from the Summit Educational Foundation will now allow eighth-graders to choose from a new selection of elective courses. …

It's every journalist's dream: a state of the art media studio with professional grade (or sometimes even better) equipment, software and resources. But this isn't a dream. It's the Media Literacy Center at Summit High School. The center, which opened last spring thanks to a grant slightly more than $250,000 from the Summit Educational Foundation, is a new destination for students and staff looking to enhance the curriculum with multimedia projects and those in the media literacy program learning about the production and consumption of media. "One of the great things that we have are our …

Holding training sessions for the Summit High School Forensics Team isn't unusual. But bringing in the best-of-the-best for more intensive training is. Anne Poyner, the Forensics Team coach at Summit High School, brings in specialists each year to hold sessions with the kids in order to improve their speaking and debating abilities. But last week, with aid from a Summit Educational Foundation grant, students were able to undergo intensive training under the instruction of some of the country's best professionals without having to break the bank. "I thought it would motivate kids if they didn'…