Foundation for Better Schools highlights recent grants in update to school board

The Foundation for Better Schools in Upshur County is still doing what it has done for more than 25 years: quietly filling in the gaps for local schools, one classroom request at a time.

Don Nestor, the Foundation’s president and a local CPA, appeared as a delegation at the Upshur County Board of Education’s June meeting to update members on the grants and projects the nonprofit has funded since its last report.

Established in 1997, the Foundation for Better Schools is a 501(c)(3) organization that accepts tax-deductible donations and channels them to needs the school system can’t always cover on its own. A teacher or administrator submits a request through the school principal, and the Foundation’s board reviews it before checking with the central office on how it fits the system’s plans.

“From our standpoint, we’re just trying to work any way we can with the school system,” Nestor told the board.

Among the recent projects, Nestor said the Foundation helped sponsor the academic awards banquet at the high school, honoring the top 10% of the senior class.

“We were very pleased to be able to help fund the cost of that, and really appreciate the initiative of the teachers and administrators to do something like that for the kids,” he said.

The Foundation also agreed to cover half the cost of classroom maps requested by a teacher at Union Elementary, with the school’s faculty senate picking up the rest. 

Another request would supply color-coded keyboards to help students who may be dyslexic. Nestor said the Foundation would start with five to see how they work, with the possibility of expanding to other schools next year.

Nestor said the Foundation has also been talking with high school band director BJ Hoffman about ways to support the band program.

Nestor praised outgoing Superintendent Christy Miller for three years of collaboration and said he looked forward to working with incoming Superintendent Tim Derico, who takes over July 1. He also pointed to ongoing discussions about a STEAM center in Buckhannon as an example of the Foundation working alongside the schools and community.

Nestor said the Foundation tries to step in where it’s useful and step back where it isn’t.

“If there’s no need for us to be there, we just stay out of the way,” he said.