Speeding into the "new" year with an eye on future events

It’s hard to imagine that we are already through the first quarter of 2011.  We continue to see many challenges facing our school leaders who have worked hard to put together a school budget.  It appears our outstanding interim superintendent has put together a budget that will maintain our excellent schools without over-burdening our taxpayers.  In these difficult times, the funding CEEF provides through its grant process is even more important.  We now have funded more than $830,000 in grants since CEEF’s inception.

We continue to reach out to alumni and founders as well as those families whose children are currently going through the school system.  It takes an entire community to support the goals and aspirations of our teachers and students.  Cape residents have, for generations, supported and helped build one of the finest school systems in New England.  I’m confident our administrators and school board will spend our tax dollars efficiently and keep our schools at the high levels to which we are accustomed.

We have some exciting things ahead of us this quarter, starting with the grant cycle coming up in May.  I’m sure we will be presented with some innovative and inspiring grant requests from our teachers, staff and administrators.  As a foundation we remind ourselves that our job is to raise the funds to provide for these grants.  These grants, in turn, pay for those important items and programs that are outside the school budget’s capacity.

In September we are holding our first biennial golf tournament at the Purpoodock Club.  We hope to encourage many members of the Cape Elizabeth community to support CEEF, and by extension our schools, with this new fundraiser.  We will be looking for sponsors, auction items and golfers to make this a big success.  Look for more details on the golf tournament on our website in the coming weeks.

Thank you for your continued support in making the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation one of the best in New England.

Tim Thompson, CEEF President 2011