The Lake Washington Schools Foundation’s fifth annual “Legacy for Learning” luncheon is on Wednesday, April 28 at Juanita High School, 10601 NE 132nd St., Kirkland.

Registration begins at 11:00 a.m. The lunch and program start at 11:30 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m. Lunch is complimentary, although there is a suggested donation of $150. To register, or for more information, e-mail luncheon@lwsf.org, visit www.lwsf.org or contact luncheon chair Carolyn Vache at dvache@verizon.net.

This luncheon is the foundation’s primary event to raise money for Lake Washington School District (LWSD) programs that are not funded by tax revenues and that enrich the education of 24,000 students in 49 schools throughout Redmond, Kirkland and Sammamish.

For example, earlier this year, the LWSF provided additional funding to purchase Vernier Lab Quest equipment for junior high schools, as a continuation of last year’s science enrichment grant which provided the science equipment to the high schools. The Lab Quest technology enables students to experience science hands-on, instead of only reading about scientific inquiry in books.  

“I’ve never had anyone come up to me and tell me how much they’ve enjoyed working from the textbook. Student interest and the scope of their learning has broadened dramatically,” said Marc Clauson of Eastlake High School.

Redmond Junior High teacher Arnie Leslie said that with these tools, “kids see graphical representation in real time of what they are observing.” 

The equipment allows students to complete more labs and shift their time to more complex analysis such as mathematical modeling. Without this equipment, much of the time-consuming lab work was spent on manual calculations and graphing, leaving less time for critical thinking and analysis. 

The Lake Washington Schools Foundation has awarded over $480,000 in grants since it was founded. In addition to Classroom and School Enrichment Grants, the foundation helps low-income students defray some of the costs of attending secondary school through the Access Fund; awards funds for secondary science education through the Science Enrichment Initiative; supports new teachers through the New Teacher Grants program; and funds LINKS, the volunteer and mentoring program of the Lake Washington School District.

At the luncheon, keynote speaker Dr. Chip Kimball, superintendent of the LWSD, will address the challenges and opportunities ahead for local schools and the community.

“Community support of our schools makes a difference for our students, now, more than ever, ” said Byron Shutz, co-president of the LWSF.