By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
ALLENTOWN — After recently awarding $8,704 in grants for everything from iPads for first-grade classrooms to sound system upgrades for the high school band room, the school district’s education foundation is stepping up to the plate again with its major annual fundraiser: the “Sno-Ball” Softball Tournament.
The all-day event, in which pre-registered teams play softball games in the snow, will be held Feb. 12 at the Allentown High School playing fields. All proceeds from the tournament, organized by the nonprofit Upper Freehold Regional Education Foundation, benefit the district’s public schools.
At the fourth annual Sno-Ball Softball Tournament, teams of eight to 12 players will take the fields at 8 a.m. and play for five innings or 30 minutes in whatever conditions are present on the fields that day. No snow is removed from the fields and no salt is applied. The double-elimination tourney winds down around 6 p.m.
The Upper Freehold Regional Education Foundation (UFREF), a coalition of citizens, business and civic groups, raises funds to support educational initiatives that are not provided for in the district’s school budget. The 501(c) charity reviews grant requests twice a year and announced its latest round of grants on Jan. 6.
”The education foundation provides students with educational opportunities that they might not otherwise have,” said James Derasmo, the foundation president, when the grants were officially announced.
At the Jan. 5 school board meeting UFREF Vice President Sydney Guerrero said the foundation has awarded $114,000 in grants to the school district over the past four years. About $25,000 in donations have been raised since last year’s school budget crisis forced the district to make deep spending cuts to programs and activities, Mr. Guerrero said.
For the most recent round of grant applications, the foundation received requests totaling $17,920 and was able to make $8,704 in awards, Mr. Derasmo said on Jan. 6.
Approved projects for the Newell Elementary School include a SMART document camera that will enable teachers to enlarge selected text on the room’s interactive SMART board so that the entire class can see it; as well as four refurbished iPads designed to motivate beginning readers.
Schools Superintendent Richard Fitzpatrick told the school board Jan. 5 that iPads take the frustration out of reading for young children because a struggling reader only has to tap on a word to see its definition instead of putting the book aside to go look up the unfamiliar word in the dictionary. The district will use the grant to buy discounted refurbished iPads that come with the same warranty as new iPads and have special protective hard cases, he said.
The Stone Bridge Middle School received three grants for a fitness and activity program; anti-bully library resources including videos, books and other teaching material related to the school’s successful Stand United Against Bullying campaign; and a tree-planting project that will enable every student in the eighth grade to plant at least one tree around the new Stone Bridge school campus.
At Allentown High School, grants will provide for three SMART document cameras for chemistry and physics classes that will enable the teachers to display mathematical calculations and science experiments for all students to see; and funding for two visits from the Philadelphia Zoo on Wheels highlighting the role of organisms in the environment.
AHS also is getting grants to pay for software licenses for 10 Web 2.0 applications, programs, tools and quizzes in 300 categories; upgrades to the band room’s sound system; and funding to continue the district’s Business Academy Supporting Ethics and Entrepreneurship that allows students to explore careers in the business community and teaches them how to make ethical decisions.
The foundation received one of its largest donations to date at the Jan. 5 board meeting when Michael Catanzaro, trustee of George Link Jr. Charitable Trust, presented Mr. Guerrero with a $6,000 check to pay for a new scoreboard for the Allentown High School’s soccer and lacrosse field. Mr. Catanzaro’s daughter, Cheryl Bonham, of Millstone, who has children in the district’s schools, was credited with making a persuasive case for the project to her father.
For further information about the Sno-Ball Softball Tournament, or the Upper Freehold Regional Education Foundation, visit its website at www.ufref.org.

