St. Croix Foundation’s Youth Advisory Council
Inaugural Youth Forum:
Turning Problems into Possibilities
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012
9am– 3pm
UVI Great Hall, St. Croix Campus
All educators, parents, youth and community stakeholders are all welcome!
Registration form available here:
Youth YAC forum registration form.
Adult YAC forum registration form.
Please fill it out and send back to scfyac2009@yahoo.com
Continental Breakfast and lunch provided
The St. Croix Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of its Sprint To Excellence Grant Initiative which will provide targeted grants to public and small private and parochial schools on the island of St. Croix.
As an extension of the Foundation’s Model Schools Initiative, the Sprint to Excellence Grant Program will award competitive grants up to $10,000 for high impact, academic-based projects that serve to enhance student achievement. Schools will have an opportunity to apply for grants in the following priority areas:
1) Innovative Instruction and Professional Development
2) Literacy Enrichment and Assessment
3) Classroom Management & Discipline
4) Mentoring and Personal Development
Eligible schools include all public schools on St. Croix and small private or parochial schools that meet established eligibility requirements. The Foundation has also developed strict reporting guidelines and phased grant award disbursements to ensure the highest degree of accountability and focus in meeting outlined goals and timelines.
While much of the Foundation’s educational programming has focused on supporting our Community’s public schools, it is acutely sensitive to the dire financial straits that many of our small private schools are also facing. As such, it is the Foundation’s hope that the flexible funding offered through this Grant Initiative will assist teachers and principals throughout the District in accomplishing some of their school improvement goals.
With a focus on innovation, the Foundation hopes that this Initiative will spur models of educational excellence which can be shared and replicated amongst our schools for the benefit of all our students. The ultimate goal of the Sprint To Excellence Initiative is to help students leapfrog over longstanding achievement gaps which far too many of our schools are contending with.
According to the Foundation’s Chief Operations Officer, Deanna James, “the Virgin Islands has a long road ahead of us to ensure that every student in the Territory has access to the highest quality of educational opportunities- whether they are in private or public schools.” “As a means to that end, the Foundation is committed to providing innovative grant opportunities and to supporting our education partners in thinking outside of the box to raise student achievement,” James continued.
In the future the Foundation hopes to expand the Sprint To Excellence Initiative to include all schools throughout the Territory. For now however, only St. Croix schools are eligible to apply.
The Foundation wishes to extend special thanks to the donors who have made this program possible including Tropico Management, LP, Mustafa Mehmet Corporation, and the Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Lead Trust. They also wish to encourage Corporate and Individual Donors to contribute to the Sprint To Excellence Fund so that local funds can be pooled to provide larger, more high impact granting opportunities. Donors who are interested in supporting the Sprint To Excellence Initiative can call the St. Croix Foundation for more information, at 340-773-9898.
The St. Croix Foundation extends a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to the 200 plus concerned citizens and community stakeholders who attended our May 27th movie presentation of the groundbreaking documentary film, Waiting For Superman. Hosted in partnership with the USVI Parent Teacher Student Association and the Boys and Girls Club of the Virgin Islands,the movie was followed by a lively and impassioned panel discussion about the state of our local public schools and the students they serve.
Released in the fall of 2010, Waiting for Superman has elevated the national discourse about the critical issue of America’s declining educational ranking in the world and the systemic failures, which are contributing to poor student performance. With the mission of trying to ignite personal involvement, and to inspire real social change, movie director and producer, Davis Guggenheim, has encouraged communities like ours to host public screenings of the movie to stimulate the conversation about public education reform.
With Education Reform as the Foundation’s major organizational focus, Waiting for Superman provided a perfect backdrop for a meaningful conversation about the state of our public education system.
Our short-term programmatic goal entails channeling some of the spirited debate generated during the panel discussion toward real solutions. Remaining acutely focused on solutions, the Foundation has begun to compile a list (below) of specific strategies that are proving successful in other school districts (and countries around the world). Our initial list of reform strategies includes the following:
In months ahead, the Foundation plans to host targeted informational forums and roundtables, utilizing hard data, and inviting experts to present the pros and Icons of specific reform strategies. Our ultimate goal is to build real consensus and, from that, to facilitate the implementation of policy-based reforms! We invite you to provide feedback and additional recommendations on this list and look forward to your ongoing participation in this process. Please post your questions, comments and/or dicussions about education reform, charter school initiatives and/or education in the Virgin Islands here (or email privately if you prefer to staff@stxfoundation.org).
We will continue to do ticket sales at two locations: Sunshine Mall (the Kmart West Plaza, downstairs) and Premier Beverage (just east of Christiansted). Ticket sales start at 10AM. See you there.
Tickets will be available online and through the St. Croix Foundation for these events.
SUNDAY, APRIL10
Cuisine on the Green
. Golf Tournament at Carambola with food and beverage on most tees. A great event to start out the weeklong ‘feastivities.’
TUESDAY, APRIL 12
Tutto Bene Gourmet Vintner Dinner
with Chef Tim Love. Join us at Tutto Bene for a dinner cooked by the legendary Tim Love and paired with wines presented by Rudy von Strasser of von Strasser Winery.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13
Wine Symposiums. Learn about wine from the experts. Taught by wine leaders, vintners and celebrated winemakers. More details to follow.
Iron Chef vs. Island Chef. A friendly competition between celebrity chefs who have appeared on television’s Iron Chef and island chefs from neighboring islands.
Wine Dinners. Local restaurants, great chefs and top vintners team together to create a memorable dining experience all around our island. More details to come.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14
A Taste of St. Croix
. A food and wine festival where restaurants are judged by celebrity chefs and special guests. Join us at Divi Carina Bay Resort to sample food from more than 50 local restaurants and wines from around the world. Tickets go on sale March 26th, but act fast because they sell out quickly.
Moet/Hennessey After Party. Complete with champagne and a disco ball, guests dance the evening away with a fabulous party after a Taste of St. Croix.
FRIDAY, APRIL 15
Cork & Fork Dinners. Intimate dinners prepared by celebrity chefs and paired with wines by visiting vintners in spectacular homes around the island.
Christiansted Dine Around. A sophisticated walking tour, restaurant-hop featuring gourmet samples of food and beverage pairing at Christiansted restaurants.
BBQ Bash. This casual event features Chefs Tim Love, Michael Ferraro, Roberto Trevino and Kevin Rathbun BBQing some tasty treats. More details to come.
SATURDAY, APRIL 16
Kids Cooking Classes. Three classes will be offered in a row, each created to expand the culinary horizons of our youth. Classes will be taught by some of our visiting celebs.
Wine in the Warehouse. A festive event and a great end to a fantastic week featuring live music, food and wine tastings at the Leeward Islands Warehouse.
Check out page 32 of January’s Food & Wine Magazine to see an advertisement about the St. Croix Food & Wine Experience. St. Croix is now a destination location for ‘foodies’ from around the globe.
Are you connected to our event series? Are you ready?
Have you visited our website lately? Are you a fan on Facebook? Do you follow us on Twitter? #STXFWE
All proceeds of the St. Croix Food & Wine Experience support the St. Croix Foundation and it’s programs. Together we can make a difference!
It’s not to late for you to be on this list. We want to see your logo here too.
Visit Website here: St. Croix Food and Wine Experience
The St. Croix Foundation celebrated our birthday at our new downtown location in Sunday Market Square with a Chamber Business After Hours celebration and party on September 23. Complete with Tamboo Bamboo steel pan band and the grand opening of Napoleans Pizza, the party was a great success. Visitors enjoyed a tour through our new offices and the old Alexander Theater. Hundreds of people joined in our celebration in Sunday Market Square that evening.
The Foundation is justifiably proud of our success inrevitalizing our historic downtown, supporting ournon profit organizations, and providing neededfiduciary services that range from ensuringcritically needed AIDS medicines are onpharmacy shelves for low income andunderinsured patients to sponsoring grants forsmall non profit organizations. Despite the currenteconomic and social challenges for ourcommunity and non-profits, the Foundation isproud of our legacy and equally optimistic about our future. We take this moment in our history to honor our Founders and all those who havesupported our vision and mission over the years.