I am honored to have been involved with the Northampton Education Foundation (NEF) for the last 20 years.

One of my roles has been to chair its Endowment Distribution Committee, which has been reviewing grant proposals to Northampton’s schools for 12 years. Our job is to create a request for proposals for funding, work with school staff and others to refine proposals and then make funding recommendations. It’s a great gift to be able to award money provided by Northampton residents to support fantastic and innovative projects for our schools.

I share my observations of Northampton teachers I have met while serving in this role. I could not be more impressed by the dedicated staff members who have applied for funding from the NEF endowment, as well as other NEF programs.

Year after year, we receive thoughtful and well-written proposals from teachers who go above and beyond in thinking about how to implement the most innovative and creative programs for their students. They are putting in their time and, in some cases, their own money to supplement any funding they may receive.

This year we reviewed four proposals, and 17 teachers came on their own time to present their proposals over the course of a few evenings. As happens each year, they were energetic and excited about transforming the school experience of their students and offered well thought out and researched proposals.

Proposals funded for this coming year include a social emotional learning program for JFK Middle School; climbing walls to support the adventure elementary curriculum at two elementary schools; funding to support exciting “maker spaces” (creative labs) at each elementary school; and support for the development of curriculum related to Sojourner Truth in Northampton.

Endowment grants in past years have supported multiple programs, from a revamping of the elementary science curricula, to expanding outdoor education and programs in the arts, sciences and school “culture.” All of our city schools have benefited from NEF endowment awards.

I am awed by the incredible effort and commitment on the part of so many of our school staff to ensure they are doing their very best to help each student succeed. In a little over a decade, more than $500,000 in grants has been awarded.

Recently, we have seen teacher strikes in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona and Kentucky. In these states teachers have sought not only increased pay, but adequate funding for schools and support for the work they are doing.

Teacher pay in Massachusetts, while higher than those states, is still not adequate to enable many to live in a city like Northampton with its high housing costs. Our schools have faced funding crisis after funding crisis due to cuts in federal aid and a state funding formula which disadvantages Northampton.

For several decades, our schools have faced challenges from federal policies promoting high-stakes testing and favoring charter school growth. Our current secretary of education seems to be doing everything in her power to undermine our public schools. In the face of all these challenges, I am proud to see so many of our teachers working so hard to strive for excellence. We need to do our best as a community and as a nation to support their efforts.

The NEF Endowment is now over $1 million. The investment returns from this fund allow us to award approximately 5 percent of the value of the endowment each year. Large and small contributions have been provided by hundreds of individuals and institutions in our community.

We are currently conducting a campaign to increase the value of the endowment by an additional $1 million. Several generous individuals have joined together to donate $250,000 for a matching fund. We have now met that match and are over halfway to our goal.

If you can help to build this investment in our children’s future, contact us at https://northamptoneducation.org/. Contributions to the NEF annual fund are also always welcome and will go to support smaller grants proposed by our teachers.

Stan Schapiro, of Northampton, a clinical social worker and behavioral health consultant, served on the Northampton Education Foundation board for 15 years and continues to volunteer for the organization.