It is the mission of the Ravenna Community Educational Foundation to enhance the quality of education and educational opportunities and to generate and distribute financial and other resources for the benefit of the students and staff of the Ravenna Community Schools.

Welcome to RCEF

The Ravenna Community Educational Foundation (RCEF) was formed in 2006 as a non-profit organization created to strengthen the caliber of education in the schools within Ravenna. Foundation board members are community leaders and residents who have a vested interest in the success of all Ravenna children.

Ravenna residents and businesses have continually rallied around their schools. As governmental funding declines and the demands of education expand, it comes back to those who take pride in the community of Ravenna (current and past residents) to help maintain our school system's high standards by supporting our students and teachers.

RCEF provides funds for scholarships and educational enrichment beyond the base provided by the operating budget of the schools. The "little extras" provided in the classroom can potentially make the difference between a good school and a great school. Not only do the extras assist in attracting and inspiring quality students and retain first-rate teachers, they can improve school life and set Ravenna schools apart from others.
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Grant awards are available to applicants from Ravenna Public Schools as well as St. Catherine's School and reach every level of education from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Scholarships are based upon an application process and interview by a panel consisting of RCEF board members, educators and a representative from the Community Foundation for Muskegon County.

Austin Kantola Recipient of the 2009 RCEF Scholarship Award

Austin Kantola, son of Paul & Tammi Kantola, is the recipient of the 2009 RCEF Scholarship Award. The RCEF scholarship is $500 and is awarded annually to a Ravenna High School senior who exhibits extra-ordinary academic and personal achievement. Austin plans to pursue a degree in engineering at Alma College. An honor grad, his resume boasts more than just academics. He has been involved with Destination Imagination, Student Council, National Honor Society, 4-H, FFA, and his church, in addition to being a three-sport athlete for the Bulldogs. He has been awarded with multiple DI recognitions, including the prestigious da Vinci award, numerous scholar-athlete awards, and all-area recognition in football.

RCEF Awards 3 Teacher Grants for the Fall of 2009

Ravenna Community Educational Foundation (RCEF) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2009 Teacher Grant awards. One facet of the RCEF mission is to distribute financial and other resources to enhance or supplement educational opportunities for Ravenna students and residents. Many factors are considered in reviewing grant applications, but the RCEF Board of Trustees look for grants that impact a large number of learners, are creative and innovative in nature and include items that can be used more than one school year.
For the fall of 2009, RCEF received 8 outstanding grant applications, making it difficult to choose 3 when the foundation preferred to fund all applications should it have been possible. After much deliberation, the Ravenna Community Educational Foundation made the decision to award grants to the following 3 teachers:

Mrs. Connie Ide. Beechnau Elementary. $259 for the purchase of 65 books to provide the Step Into Reading beginning reader series for the first grade students This series are high interest quality books for a variety of reading levels that can be taken home to read with family members.

Mr. Clark Kantola. Ravenna Middle School. $225 to purchase a large collection of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. These rock samples will allow for hands-on learning experiences and will allow students reach grade level expectations in science. Mr. Dan Eisenhauer and Mr. Kantola will share the rock collection.

Ms. Bethany Daniels. Ravenna High School. $260 for metal poster frames that will display student pastel drawings and paintings. The frames will be used in the cafeteria area and will be updated with new art as students/classes come and go. This is also an excellent way to reward art students who have completed outstanding artwork.

RCEF Next Scheduled Meeting is 20 October 2009

RCEF's trustee board will meet next on Tuesday, 20 October 2009 as we move forward on the planning of the RCEF annual event. In addition, we will discuss the awarding of grants to teachers dependent on the number of requests received by the 25 September 2009 deadline.

RCEF Plans Annual Event

RCEF is in the initial stages of planning a wine tasting and art event that will become the annual "highlight" event of the year for RCEF should it be successful as we believe it will be. Some details are in the 15 September 2009 Minutes that are posted on this website. A committee is formed and we are looking at a fall event with the inaugural occasion being in October of 2010.

15 September 2009 is next meeting of RCEF

RCEF held a meeting on the 18th of August and the minutes are shown under Recent Archives. The next RCEF meeting is scheduled for the 15th of September at 7 p.m. at Swanson Pickle Company. We will discuss and plan our annual event and also discuss the recruitment of new trustees. Laura Wagner had to resign at the August meeting and her loss requires us to find another quality individual who has a passion for the education of Ravenna students.

Next RCEF meeting on 19 May 2009

RCEF will hold its next meeting in the Beechnau Library at 7 p.m. on 19 May 2009. The main focus will be brainstorming for an event that will allow RCEF to further its mission of enhancing the educational opportunities within the Ravenna schools.

Attached are the proposed minutes from the 21 April 2009 meeting, the agenda for the 19 May 2009 meeting, the donation list and our current fund status.

Same Place, New Look!

Welcome to our new website launch! Though the site is still undergoing some work both in content and the look/feel - the new site has been unwrapped and available for you to browse. Thanks for your patience as we finish our changes.

The old site and content will be available during this transition. For forms, news, and other information - please visit http://1.ravennafoundation.org/

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