The Lawrence Township Education Foundation has awarded $42,418 in grants to support 23 projects across all Lawrence Township Public Schools for its Fall 2025 cycle.
The grants will fund new books, flexible seating, STEM tools, technology equipment and other classroom resources designed to enhance learning and support creativity throughout the district.
All four elementary schools will receive new decodable literacy books, cardboard-safe cutting tools for STEM activities, and expanded “Climate Corner” learning areas featuring Green Thinker signage for kindergarten classrooms.
Ben Franklin Elementary School will add new bicycles for physical education classes, updated equipment for its long-running StreamKeeper environmental program, and additional materials for its outdoor learning space.
Lawrenceville Elementary School will receive new sensory support items, while Slackwood Elementary School will launch an innovative gardening program known as Slackwood SHINES.
Students at Lawrence Intermediate School will benefit from six grants, including flexible seating for English language learners, new items for the sensory lending library, a positivity project for all sixth graders, and funding for off-campus theatre events. The school will also receive audiobooks and e-books in multiple languages that are difficult to obtain in print.
At Lawrence Middle School, grants will provide a multi-purpose heat press for students to create spirit items and a curated collection of books about disabilities to support schoolwide awareness and inclusion.
Lawrence High School students will gain additional Advancer shelves for ceramics classes, continued support for the Lawrencian student newspaper and Tangents literary magazine, and a special assembly program marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. Funding will also assist the newly formed Robotics Club, continuing a student-initiated project.
The Lawrence Township Education Foundation raises private funds from individuals, businesses and community partners to support programs that promote innovation, achievement and educational excellence. Since 1992, the foundation has funded more than 1,140 programs totaling over $4.6 million.
Below is the full list of grants:
All elementary schools
Growing Green Thinkers, $2,500. Awarded to Kristin Burke & Lea Ryan. This grant will bring more environmental awareness to the youngest learners (PreK–3) through creative, age-appropriate signage to display near the climate change learning corners and refillable water stations around the building. By surrounding students with visual and interactive opportunities, it will foster early reading, curiosity, and responsibility for keeping our earth clean and beautiful.Chomp into STEAM! A safe tool for young makers! $1,500. Awarded to Jeanne Muzi, Julie Schmidt, Monica Pontari & Yulieth Le. This grant will provide funding to equip each of our 4 elementary schools and LIS with a ChompSaw, which is a safe, kid-friendly cardboard cutting tool designed to quickly and easily allow our imaginative LTPS kids to cut, build and engineer Makerspace materials into incredible creations.Little Lions Literacy Decodable Books, $6,636. Awarded to Amanda Prettyman. This grant will fund the purchase of decodable books through “Little Lions Literacy”. These books will be able to be used by classroom teachers during small group instruction in conjunction with the IMSE phonics program to provide supplemental support for striving readers through targeted phonics topics. This will provide class sets of Decodable Readers to classrooms throughout the four elementary schools.Ben Franklin Elementary SchoolBF Outdoor Explorers, $1,000. Awarded to Kim O’Boyle and Terri Krisak. This grant will provide materials to create an outdoor sensory area for all students at Ben Franklin that will infuse learning into sensory and gross motor play.Movement Matters, $3,093. Awarded to Carlee Cimorelli & Katie Jagodzinski. This grant will provide teen to adult sized tricycles for the adaptive PE classes at Ben Franklin Elementary School. This project will benefit these students in a myriad of ways including but not limited to their physical, social, and emotional well-being. Bike riding is skill that will impact these students well beyond their years at Ben Franklin.Expansion of Streamkeeper Project, $1,400. Awarded to Colleen Schantzer. The Ben Franklin Streamkeepers are citizen scientists and this grant will fund additional tools and clothing to help them learn more about the stream. The students at Ben Franklin School continue to be curious, enthusiastic, creative, and eager learners and they have been taking care of and observing the stream in their own backyard for over 15 years.Lawrence Elementary SchoolSensory Supports for Success, $1,170. Awarded to Kristin Burke. This grant will provide sensory tools, equipment, and structured supports for PreK–3 students at Lawrenceville Elementary School in order to help them regulate emotions, increase focus, and fully participate in classroom learning. By creating designated sensory opportunities and access points, students will have the tools they need to feel calm, ready, and confident in their school environment.Eldridge Park Elementary SchoolWindows and Mattering, $842. Awarded to Kimberly Menchu. This grant will provide time for all of the children at Eldridge Park School to explore/play with multicultural and multi-ability dolls in order to see themselves through play.Slackwood Elementary SchoolSlackwood SHINES (Sowing Hope in Nature Every Season). Awarded to Ebony Lattimer, Stacey Moore and Kristin Hopson. This grant will fund Slackwood SHINES, an innovative, hands-on gardening program designed to engage students in writing, math, and science through the natural cycle of planting, growing, and harvesting. Guided by a professional gardener in partnership with certified teaching staff, students in grades K-3, will participate in daily sessions, integrating New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) in authentic, real-world contexts. Through planting vegetables, herbs, and flowers, maintaining garden beds, and recording observations, students will strengthen academic skills while fostering environmental stewardship, collaboration, and healthy living habits.Lawrence Intermediate SchoolConnecting with the Stars Daily, $390. Awarded to Daniel Brennan, Janice Axenroth and Andrew Cenci. This grant will provide funding for Star Date, a daily program that will enrichment and engagement for 5th graders at LIS in order to inspire curiosity and wonder. Star Date provides knowledge, events and history of the universe and our solar system. Students learn interesting facts or even places to look in the sky for anomalies, the show will air on the Morning Hoot to the whole school.Seats for Success: Building Language Together, $2,662. Awarded to Katie Kochis. This grant will provide flexible and engaging seating for ELL students in grades 4th–6th at LIS in order to promote language development and collaboration skills.LIS Sensory Lending Library, $1,500. Awarded to Elizabeth Mayo, Karen Klieger and Tracy Druckenbrod. This grant will allow the LIS lending library to continue to operate by replacing various items like fidgets and kick bands to be open to all students at LIS. The LTEF originally funded the LIS sensory lending library in 2013 and replenished some items in 2018.LOTE4Kids, $1,000. Awarded to Gabrielle Casieri, Paula Houghton and Stacey Moore. This grant will provide audiobooks and e-books for all students. It will particularly assist ESL students, as many texts are available in languages that can be hard to obtain in print.Step up with Positivity at LIS, 755. Awarded to Sharin Rello and Tori Hart. This grant will fund the 6th Grade Stairway Project, which will engage all 260 sixth graders who will work collaboratively within their homerooms to design and select uplifting quotes and artwork for the central stairwell at LIS. Inspired by the character pillars of the LIS house system, students will create or choose meaningful messages to share with the school community.The Theater Effect: Enriching student lives! $2,000. Awarded to Bess Ploener. This grant will provide LIS students the opportunity to attend performances by local professionals. This will give them greater insight into the various performance opportunities they may wish to pursue throughout their lives, as well as expose them to theater and music making to elevate their understanding and appreciation for creating!Lawrence Middle SchoolMulti-Purpose Heat Press, $1,200. Awarded to Jon-Erik Stamatelos. This grant will provide valuable hands-on experience in design, printing, and product creation, fostering essential skills for career and college readiness for both 7th and 8th grade class at Lawrence Middle School in order to foster creativity and design, technical proficiency, problem solving, and collaboration.Books for Belonging, $500. Awarded to Shannon Lucarelli. This grant will give middle school students the chance to learn, reflect, and build empathy through a curated library collection on disabilities. During Disability Awareness week, these books will inspire school-wide projects that celebrate inclusion and understanding.Lawrence High SchoolLawrencian Wix Website subscription, $460. Awarded to Cameron Foster. This grant will provide funding for the Lawrencian Newspaper Wix website subscription, which will support the efforts and talents of student journalists in grades 9-12, allowing these students to maintain a digital portfolio of their articles as well as to spread awareness of the Lawrencian Newspaper to other LTPS schools and the community at large.Supplies & Registration for LHS robotics team, $499. Awarded to Shiloh Vetter and Dawit Tessema. This grant will fund the up-and-coming Robotics Team at Lawrence High School by funding additional supplies like sprockets, motors, and an optical sensor, along with payment of the registration fee for a VEX V5 Robotics Competition Team. The team will be able to compete in the V5RC 2025-2026 competitive season, giving LHS students the opportunity to foster engineering and programming skills, creativity, and teamwork in a competitive setting.Additional Advancer Shelves, $2,372. Awarded to Alexandra Holmok. This grant will provide six Advancer kiln shelves for pottery classes at LHS in order to enhance the quality and efficiency of kiln firings, improve durability and longevity, and support the growing number of students in the pottery program as well as teacher aids involved in kiln operations.Tangents Magazine Printing costs, $850. Awarded to Cameron Foster. This grant will provide funding for the printing and distribution of physical copies for the 2025-2026 Lawrence High School Tangents Literary & Creative Arts Magazine for the student writers and artists currently in grades 9-12. This project will allow these students to hold in their hands a portfolio of their creative pieces as well as to spread awareness of this organization to other LTPS schools and the community at large.LHS Quest Gardens, $2,000. Awarded to Anthony Salotti. This grant will provide for a garden the Quest program for grades 9-12+ at Lawrence High School. This program will provide students in the Quest program an opportunity to grow their own flowers, herbs, produce. It will also enable the students to learn hands-on STEM sustainability, as well as foster a love for nature and healthy living.Revolutionary Voices from the American Experiment, $3,650. Awarded to Priscilla Taylor, Jametta Clarke and Dan Wolfe. This grant will fund a collaborative project honoring the 250th anniversary of America and will provide four live performances for American and African American History students at Lawrence High and Middle Schools. The interactive performances will provide unique experiences for the students with professional re-enactors from Philadelphia’s esteemed American Historical Theatre who portray real participants living during the time of the American Revolution.
