Group celebrating 25 years of grantmaking
Seamus Carroll is convinced his daughter's journey from Haldane student to Apple iPhone designer began with Destination Imagination, the global problem-solving competition for K-12 students.
Haldane's program introduced her to skills such as soldering and wiring, he said, setting her on a path that led to studying electrical engineering as an undergraduate and computer science as a graduate student. In 2014, Haldane middle schoolers involved in Destination Imagination won a state championship before traveling to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville to compete in the global finals.
The students' success is owed in part to the Haldane School Foundation, a group of can-do parents who, since the organization's founding in 2000, have raised and donated over $1.5 million to support Destination Imagination and other enrichment programs spearheaded by the district's teachers. With a new logo and branding, the group will celebrate its 25th anniversary on Nov. 8 during its annual fall fundraiser at the Glynwood Center in Philipstown.
Carroll and other early board members say the nonprofit's founding occurred during a time of frugal school boards and tax-weary property owners. However, with families moving into Philipstown who sought extracurricular experiences for their children, a group of residents decided to raise private donations to supplement Haldane's budgeted programming.
Their efforts enabled 57 Haldane seniors to travel to New Orleans to help Habitat for Humanity rebuild in the area following Hurricane Katrina, brought in educators from a Colorado wolf sanctuary and underwrote a weeklong program for teachers who learn about the Hudson River and apply their knowledge to classroom activities.
"There's a bunch of people who had the means to go to a private school, and probably would have, if some of these things didn't materialize," said Joe Curto, an early board member.
When the foundation began, according to Curto, the Haldane board was "black and white" about the curriculum - "If it was good enough for me, it's good enough for you" - and the budget battles were brutal. In June 2000, the month the foundation incorporated, district voters rejected, by a 916-666 vote, a proposal to spend $24.4 million on a dedicated high school building. (Voters approved the facility in 2002.)
Claudio Marzollo, already "involved in too many things," remembers declining his wife's invitation to attend one of the first organizational meetings for the foundation. "I said, 'If I go, I'm going to get roped into doing something.' " His wife returned home as the vice president, and Marzollo eventually joined the board.
The group began holding fundraisers, such as a wine tasting at The Chalet and a Snow Ball. A Harvest Ball at Incredible Caterers on Route 9D was the first big event, said Curto, with live music and an open bar. "We raised a ton of money, and then it became an institution," he said.
Becoming legitimate in the eyes of Haldane's administration and faculty took some time, said Carroll, but they eventually welcomed the foundation "as a source of funds to do good stuff that they couldn't get in the budget." Grants, which are awarded in the spring and fall, focus on experiences rather than computers and software, which are less durable than a memory.
"It was trying to get the kids to do things that they wouldn't get to do without the funding," said Carroll. "There were a lot of field trips that wouldn't have happened if the foundation didn't pay for them."
Grants usually total around $60,000 annually, said Kristen Sherman, the current president. Along with field trips to destinations like Washington, D.C., and Frost Valley, recent awards include $3,500 to cover printing costs for The Haldane Outlook, a student-run newspaper, and $4,900 for a middle school robotics club. (Editor's note: The Highlands Current received five grants from the foundation between 2018 and 2024 to support its Student Jou...
