The Reading Educational Foundation wants city students to have educational experiences that inspire them to dream, believe and achieve, Dr. Melissa Jamula told City Council.
“The purpose of the foundation,” she said, “is to fund innovative experiences that encourage students to think deeply and boldly.”
Jamula is board president of the organization founded five years ago to support innovative educational programs, teacher grants and enrichment opportunities for Reading students
She and other representatives of the foundation made a recent presentation at a council committee of the whole meeting.
“You all know the kids of Reading,” Jamula, a retired Reading School District superintendent, told council. “They are smart, they are motivated, they’re curious. They are children of promise. All they need is opportunities.”
In its first five years, Jamula said, the foundation has impacted more than 15,000 students through nearly $300,000 in programming and opportunities, funded by private donations, grants and other fundraising.
Initiatives highlighted in the presentation included hydroponic gardens at all five middle schools and several elementary schools; science, technology, engineering and math workshops for every fourth grader in the district; summer camp opportunities through Alvernia University’s Total Experience Learning program; and support for the “Just a Kid From Reading” alumni storytelling project.
Jamula said students involved in one hydroponic garden program grew ingredients, made salsa and sold it to teachers at their school, learning entrepreneurship and sustainability along the way.
The foundation also funded a trip for Reading High School theater students to New York City to attend the Broadway musical “Hadestown.”
“For some of them, it was the first time they were outside of the city of Reading,” Jamula said. “Not only did they see the show, but they had a master class, which was taught by one of the actors in ‘Hadestown.’”
Stella I. Leonti, a retired district principal and foundation administrator, recalled what happened when students on that trip emerged from the Lincoln Tunnel and saw the Statue of Liberty.
“They applauded. They stood up. They hugged each other,” Leonti said. “They realized that they were part of a world that they had never, ever seen before.”
Gordon Hoodak, the foundation’s executive director and also a retired district principal, said the organization is focused on exposing students to experiences they may not otherwise encounter.
“This foundation works very, very hard to provide experiences and opportunities for kids, opportunities that the Reading School District cannot afford,” he said. “If they don’t know what opportunities are there, their chances and their opportunities are limited.”
Roberto Sanchez, the foundation’s treasurer and a Reading High graduate, said he became involved because he wanted Reading students to have the same opportunities available elsewhere.
“Why not give the same kids that look like me, act like me, talk like me, hear the same music that I do, an opportunity the same kids outside of the city already have?” Sanchez said.
Jamula said the work is deeply personal for the foundation’s leadership, many of whom are longtime Reading residents and graduates of Reading High School.
“The kids are our future,” she said. “And as go the kids, so goes our city, our government, our businesses, our county.”
Council members praised the foundation’s work and discussed ways the city could help connect the organization with funding opportunities and community support.
Vanessa Campos, a former Reading School District educator, called the foundation’s accomplishments impressive.
“You can never do enough for our school district,” Campos said. “Never do enough for the kids.”
For more on the foundation, visit www.readingedfoundation.org/.