Anoka-Hennepin Educational Foundation (AHEF)

Donors to AHEF recently funded $33,374 in the second round of grant funds for school projects and students for the 2024-25 school year. These funds are in addition to the $30,889 in Spring grant awards, and $24,000 in perennial grants that AHEF funds each year, for an anticipated total of over $88,000 in funds awarded for the current school year. Roosevelt Middle School was awarded a grant titled "Exposing students to authentic Indigenous voices." The goal is to introduce students, both Native and non-Native, to Indigenous language, and culture through local Indigenous authors as part of the Minnesota state standards. Anton Treuer, is an author and academic who teaches the Ojibwe language and American Indian Studies at Bemidji State University and is a member of the White Earth Ojibwe Nation. "Where Wolves Won't Die" is his most recent young adult novel. Thank you to our generous donors who make grants like this one possible!

Our gratitude to all of our donors, some of whom chose to remain anonymous, for your donations today during Minnesota's Give to the Max Day. Thank you for taking care of the kids! #GTMD24

SAVE THE DATE! The Northern Stars Celebration 2025 will be on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025 at Bunker Hills Event Center. Make your plans now to join this festive evening that benefits Anoka-Hennepin School District students!

Introducing another new AHEF Student Board Member, Liam Mack! Liam chose to serve on the board for a unique leadership opportunity and to represent his school. He is most proud of AHEF's outreach across the entire district and its impact across every school. His favorite grant is the money received from Advent Church for Lincoln Elementary School because this large sum of money will do so much good in improving students' experiences.

It was great to visit Anoka Middle School for this arts this week! AHEF Executive Director Tess (Manley) DeGeest chatted with Assistant Principal Lisa Gerth, shown here, right before the staff meeting today. It was fun to celebrate grant recipient Mikki Paul, who is building her classroom library with books that reflect the diversity of her multilingual students.

AHEF Executive Director Tess (Manley) DeGeest, visited Hamilton Elementary and is shown here with a student, principal Julie Bowman, and then Assistant Principal Kim Nelson. I was there talking about our grants, employee giving, and the different donors can make! We also celebrated the $6,000 donation from Office Depot last year.

Meet another AHEF Student Board Member, Kate Drummy. Kate is new to the board, but she has enjoyed meeting students from other schools. Kate says, "The focus on equity makes me proud to be involved, because everyone deserves to have the same chances." Thanks for being part of the board, Kate!

Welcome to our new AHEF Student Board Member, Emma Yu! Why Emma is serving, in her own words: "I chose to serve on the AHEF Board of Directors because I am deeply committed to fostering a strong, inclusive community where every student has the opportunity to thrive. My goal is to ensure that every student feels seen, respected, and encouraged to express themselves fully, both in their education and within the broader community. My favorite part of serving on the AHEF Board is engaging in thoughtful discussions with fellow board members and seeing the real-life impacts of the grants we provide. Whether it's seeing the joy on a child's face when they receive new books, VR headsets, or other educational tools made possible by these grants, or hearing how a project has made a difference in a classroom, the tangible results of our work are incredibly fulfilling."

AHEF Executive Director Tess (Manley) DeGeest visited Roosevelt Middle School last week to talk about the direct impact donors have on our students. This week's visit will be at Oak View Middle School. Getting into schools reminds me why I do this work!!

Meet our 2024-25 Educational Foundation Board of Directors! Members of the Anoka-Hennepin Educational Foundation are community leaders, teachers, staff, parents and students who volunteer their time to create and enrich educational opportunities for our students. L to R back row: Seno Okon, Deb Shepard, Jaime Renner, Liam Mack, Julia De Los Rios, Luca La Hoz Calassara, Julie Klund-Schubert, and Nathan Elliot. L to R Front Row: Kim Allen, Kate Drummy, Emma Yu, Maria La Hoz, Tess (Manley) DeGeest, Christina Odenthal, and Melissa Hayes. Missing were Joel VerDuin, DeMann Seals, and Jeff Simon.