The Woodside Foundation continues its efforts to raise money to support student activities here at Woodside.
The Woodside Foundation is a volunteer-run non-profit organization that supports and funds Woodside. Their mission statement is to raise funds to close the gap between public funding and the cost of a high-quality education. Specifically, they raise money to support academic programming that the school identifies as its highest priority. They have a board of around 35 people that meet once a month.
“We [are] really trying to communicate to the school community, and by that, I mean parents, alumni and even just members of the larger Woodside community to let them know all the amazing things happening at Woodside High School,” co-president Marlene Sloger said.
In 2020, Woodside’s former principal Diane Burbank retired. In 2021, Karen van Putten, Woodside’s current principal, took over. With her takeover of Woodside, she was also handed off the partnership of working with the Foundation.
“I’m familiar with working with different school foundations, but it’s been really a positive experience,” van Putten said. “[This foundation is] really one of the most important school and community partnerships we have because the Foundation does so much for all of our students and staff.”
With this new partnership, van Putten has been working alongside them to ensure funds go into activities that need it.
“Woodside High School Foundation really the spirit and the charter of their work is to learn from the school administration what are the primary needs that are going to impact student learning and the culture of the school,” van Putten said. “[Another goal of the Foundation is] how they can provide funds to directly positively impact stuff like classroom needs, staffing needs and if we wanted to offer more opportunities for students.”
Along with van Putten’s relatively new connections with the Foundation, a new teacher representative, Maggie Thomsen, an English Language Development and Spanish teacher, joined the Foundation.
“The Foundation had an opening, and the principal reached out to me,” Thomsen said. “I was excited about it. It seemed like a leadership role that fit naturally. I like to communicate with people, such as getting to know parents, and it’s a perspective that I don’t get on a daily basis.”
The Woodside Foundation has a goal to raise $1,100,00. But where does all this raised money come from?
“One of the things about Woodside that I think is really amazing is that the school has a really diverse community,” Sloger said. “We have families that can make big gifts, and we also have families that happily make small gifts, and all of those are important to the school.”
Throughout the school year, the Foundation holds many events that raise money.
“We have our annual campaign, which raises a big chunk of the money that we give to the school and our strategic grant,” Sloger said. “Some people also work on our auction, which as well raises money that we give to this grant.”
Through this money the Woodside Foundation receives, they put it back into the school. But how do they choose what money goes where?
“About 75% of their annual funding is funding additional staffing sections so that the kids can have the option of having multiple electives or any other extracurriculars. They also help fund things like Advanced Placement (AP) exam coordination,” Sloger said.
Through these funds and the programs this money helps, every student is affected and benefited. Without these funds, students wouldn’t have the option to take seven classes and all the electives they may be interested in taking.
“I think the most rewarding part is hearing directly from students and from teachers about the difference that the foundation makes in their life,” Sloger said. “This is a really amazing organization and benefits all students every day.”
