Jessica Noguera, video production teacher at Moorestown High School, received a general grant from the Moorestown Education Foundation that she has used to give her students endless opportunities.
Noguera took two of her students to the 26th annual Moorestown Education Foundation golf outing on Oct. 4. They were able to interview players, and film of the event will go back to the foundation for its use.
The two students are in the outers level-four program for video production, and according to Noguera, have been able to benefit from the foundation during all four years of high school. When asked what she would like for her students to take away from the golf event, Noguera said she was excited to see them apply what they learn in the classroom to the outside world.
“The biggest takeaway for them is to move out of the school walls, out of our classroom, and to be able to take everything that we do in the school and be able to apply that to a real-world scenario,” Noguera noted.
The Laurel Creek Country Club hosted the highly anticipated golf fundraiser, which featured 80 players and included a tournament, outdoor dinner reception and awards ceremony. Community members and sponsors of the foundation came out to show support for Moorestown schools. According to the official website for the foundation, and its president and Board of Trustee Debtosh Chakrabarti, all funds from the golf outing are used for two types of grants, the Excellence in Education mini-grant, and a general grant.
According to Chakrabarti, mini grants are used for individual ideas developed from teachers that involve new teaching methods or new experiences in the classroom. General grants are used for larger projects such as creating innovation centers and, according to the foundation site, focus on funding educational opportunities for students.
“Our primary goal is to promote the teachers who are coming up with new ideas,” said Chakrabarti. “Most of them have these ideas that don’t necessarily fit within the budgetary guidelines for the school, therefore we want to provide the platform for them to express their ideas as well as implement them through our grants.”
John Comegno, founder and president of the Comegno Law Group P.C. in Moorestown has represented the school district for more than 20 years and encourages members of the community to give back to public education. He noted that the education foundation plays a crucial role in an era when state funding, federal funding and local-tax funding have declined even as educational needs, demands and standards increase.
“MEF is all hands-on deck,” Comegno said. “If there are individuals in the community that are looking for a wonderful way to give back, MEF is a great vehicle for folks to volunteer in whatever capacity.”
Caryn Shaw, board of trustee for the foundation and president of the Moorestown board of education, noted that the foundation has provided students with multiple programs, labs and state-of-the-art equipment that further advances their education. Shaw has been helping with the golf event for about five years.
“I know everyone is here to support the foundation, and I just want them to know that their support really helps the community and really helps the students in our schools so much,” she said.
