The Ashburnham Westminster Foundation for Academic Excellence is one of my favorite charities, and I’m proud to have been involved since day one, for 15+ years now. If you haven’t heard of the Foundation, you can visit our website, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to find out more. If you have kids in the district, there’s a 100% chance they have benefited from one or more of the grants we’ve funded, nearly $200,000 in to Ash-West classrooms since 2009.
A Night for Excellence is AWFAE’s annual fundraising event. This year it will be held on Friday, November 22, conveniently local at The Colonial Hotel at 625 Betty Spring Road in Gardner. Each year parents, faculty, staff, and the community gather for a evening of hors d’oeuvres, drinks, live music, and a buffet dinner. Live music is provided by Retro Stew with locals Kris Lucander, GS Picard, Jay Sharron and Donna Russo.
We have an amazing board of directors, with 20 people who have come together to promote academic excellence in the Ashburnham and Westminster schools. Pictured above is Peg Romano, Retired AWRSD Educator, Parent and Grandparent of AWRSD Alumni and longtime AWFAE Board Member.
I don’t think this is plagiarism, since that wouldn’t be academically excellent at all, but directly from our website because I think I wrote these things: The AWFAE grant program promotes educational excellence in the Ashburnham Westminster Regional School District. The Foundation provides private financial support for exemplary educational projects and programs that benefit public school educators and students in the two communities. Foundation grants, large or small, foster innovative programming that better prepares students for the future by strengthening academics, enhancing technology, and bolstering skilled instructional techniques. The Foundation is directed by a board of volunteers, primarily from Ashburnham and Westminster, who are committed to the pursuit of educational excellence throughout the school district. Here are some examples of grants we’ve awarded over the years, through 2020 (needs updated, but there are only so many hours in the day).
We hold three auctions during the event, all with amazing items kindly donated to us: Raffles, a Silent auction and a Live auction. Our entertaining Live auction sees members of the community vying for hot-ticket items like sporting event tickets, vacation home rentals, and other once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. All are invited to socialize while supporting academic excellence in our schools. Tickets are available now, $75 per person, or reserve a table for $750. If you would like to donate a prize to any of our auctions, email me and I’ll be happy to help coordinate that!
