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IMPACT Newsletter - October 2024

President's Message from Cindy Morris

Check out the video from PPS Foundation President Cindy Morris!

Save The Date - PPS Foundation 365 Breakfast

It's hard to believe this is the 10th year of hosting the Annual PPS Foundation 365 Breakfast! It will be held on Thursday, January 9th at 7:30 AM in the Woodruff Career and Technical Center gymnasium. More information about the event will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Congratulations to the 2024-25 PPSF and CFCI Classroom Grant Recipients!

2024-25 Classroom Grant Project Summaries

We had a record number of classroom grant applications submitted this year. They were all high quality, making it tough for the classroom grant review committee to select the recipients. We want to thank everyone who took the time to pitch their wonderful projects to us. The grant application period for next year will open on July 1st, 2025 and close on September 1st, 2025. We will be presenting a classroom grant writing workshop on April 22, 2025 from 3:45-4:45 PM at PLC Room 1.

Little Free Pantry Food Drive at Starbucks

We would like to send a huge thank you to our community partner Starbucks on University and Glen. They are hosting a food drive throughout October to support Little Free Pantries across the district. If you would like to help, please bring non-perishable food items or personal hygiene items to their drop off basket. Grateful for the support of the Peoria community.

New Buzz Chats on Thursday, October 17th!

For the next episode of Buzz Chats, we will be talking with the Foundation's newest board member James Robertson. James is the Client Relations Director at Muir Omni Graphics. This episode can be viewed live on our Facebook page on Thursday, October 17th at 5:00 PM.

If you missed the Buzz Chats with PPSF Board Treasurer Alex Elger, you can watch a recording of it HERE on our Facebook page.

The Principal Experience

On the morning of September 24th, leaders from our community had a unique opportunity to spend a few hours shadowing a Peoria Public School principal to see their day-to-day school operations. This PPS Foundation organized experience allowed them to build relationships with principals and other administrators in our schools and experience first-hand what it’s like to be a PPS school principal.

Chanel Hargrave-Murray, Peoria Park District Supervisor of Community Connections and PPS Board of Education Member, shadowed the Knoxville Center for Student Success Principal, Eric Thomas.

Christina Rose, a special education teacher and PPS Board of Education member, was at R.A. Jamison School to shadow Principal Maureen Langhoff.

Thank you so much to these community leaders who spent their morning in our schools. We are excited to have another Principal Experience in May 2025!

View More Pictures Here!

Hy-Vee Fall Fest

A big thank you to Hy-Vee on Sheridan for including us in their Fall Fest event on September 19th. A percentage of the proceeds from the Fall Fest items went to the Foundation. We would also like to thank everyone who made a donation directly to the Foundation that day. Your support for Peoria Public Schools is always appreciated.

PPS Foundation Schoolhouse Open

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Schoolhouse Open on September 14th. We would also like to thank our amazing sponsors and The Putt Club for allowing us to host the event at their facility. We hope you had good time and we hope to see you again next year.

See More Pictures from the Event Here!

PPSF Career Tech Advocate, Rachel Mitchell

Thank you for taking the time to chat with us, Rachel! Before we get to the questions, could you tell everyone a little about yourself?

My name is Rachel Mitchell and I am so excited to be a part the PPS Foundation team this year. I am a Peoria native and a 2004 graduate of Richwoods High School. My husband Jesse and I, along with our two kids, currently reside in Peoria near Bradley University. Prior to joining the Foundation as a Horizons Career Tech Advocate, I was a school based Occupational Therapy Assistant for ten years and, most recently, worked for the Peoria Park District at Camp Wokanda.

For the first question, can you tell us your favorite thing about the Peoria area?

My favorite things about Peoria are the people and the beautiful parks and green spaces.

What do you like to do on the weekends?

On the weekends I love spending quality time with my family and friends. I really enjoy spending time outdoors, especially hiking and camping when I can. You will probably also find me grabbing a coffee at one of our many amazing coffee shops in town.

If you could only have three apps on your smartphone, which ones would you pick?

If I could only have 3 apps on my smart phone, I would definitely have to have Photos/Camera (I am counting those as one), Maps, and Safari.

If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be and why?

There are so many people that I would like to meet but I would have to say Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was a strong, brave and resilient woman and mother whose advocacy for equal rights helped open doors for so many.

And lastly, what’s something you saw recently that made you smile?

Something that made me smile recently was seeing The Wild Robot movie with my family. It is such a great story and movie and we all enjoyed it much!

Thank you again, Rachel, for chatting. We truly appreciate all you do for our community and the PPS Foundation!

WE TAKE ONLINE DONATIONS!

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All proceeds from the sign advertisement go directly to help Peoria Public Schools' campaign to improve the stadium property. Please reach out to Jen Adler at jennifer.adler@psd150.org for more information on pricing, artwork, or any other questions!