IPEF Highlights

IPEF Receives $10,000 Naperville SECA Grant

The IPEF has received a $10,000 grant from the City of Naperville's Special Events and Cultural Amenities (SECA) in support of District 204's Fine Arts Festival. This annual event showcases the art, music, theater and dance talents - as well as the home economics and industrial technology projects - of District 204 students (all grade levels). In 2012, the Fine Arts Festival will take place 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.on Saturday, May 19, at the district's Waubonsie Valley, Neuqua Valley and Metea Valley High Schools.

Created in 1988, this year's Festival at Waubonsie Valley will include the artistic displays and performances of its own students, along with those of students from Fischer and Scullen Middle Schools, and six elementary schools - Fry, George-town, McCarty, Peterson, Steck and Welch. At Neuqua Valley, the Festival will feature the art and music of its own students, as well as the works of students from Crone and Gregory Middle Schools and six elementary schools - Builta, Clow, Graham, Kendall, Patterson, and Spring Brook.

During the Festival at Metea Valley, the displays and performances will include works by its students, as well as the works of students from Still, Granger and Hill Middle Schools, nine elementary schools - Brookdale, Brooks, Cowlishaw, Gombert, Longwood, Owen, Watts, White Eagle and Young.

More than 80 musical performances by bands, choirs, orchestras, and dancers will be featured throughout the high-school sites. And the hallways will be filled with more than 12,000 pieces of visual arts, 3-D works, ceramics, fashion, computer imagery, and more.



IPEF Board Welcomes Lynda Reilly

The Indian Prairie Educational Foundation recently welcomed a new member to its Board of Directors. She is Lynda Reilly, who is Regional Director of One Mortgage, Inc. (f/k/a Lynmar Lending Group, Inc.) in Naperville. With more than 35 years of experience in the financial industry (real estate and banking), she has strong sales and organizational skills, a thorough understanding of the purchase transaction, and a commitment to customer service.

Lynda, who recently merged her company with One Mortgage, Inc., has been a partner at Lynmar since it was established in 2005 to provide custom mortgage solutions to residential, commercial and new-construction borrowers. A charter member and former Treasurer of the Rotary Club of Naperville - Downtown and a contributing member of the Naperville Chamber of Commerce, she and her company sponsor the Jeanine Nicarico Memorial Fund for Literacy - Run for Reading Race, as well as the National Alliance on Mental Illness of DuPage County - Run for the Mind Race. Also, she has been involved in a wide variety of fund-raising efforts for community organizations such as CASA of DuPage, the American Cancer Society (Relay for Life), Helping Hands, the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, Little Friends, and St. Baldrick's, as well as Naperville's Joe Naper Days, Ribfest and Last Fling.

A resident of Naperville for 21 years, Lynda is president of the Manors of White Eagle Homeowner's Association and a member of the West Suburban Irish. In fact, Lynda, her husband, Mike (President of the Naperville Park Board), and their family were named West Suburban Irish Clan of the Year in 2008. The Reillys (married 43 years) have two daughters and four grandchildren, two of whom attend classes in District 204.



Beauty and the Beast Entertain Sell-Out Crowd

A sell-out crowd of more than 800 children and parents enjoyed AlphaBet Soup Production's lively rendition of "Beauty and the Beast," which was performed on March 10 at the Neuqua Valley High School auditorium. Sponsored by the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation, this children's play/musical was one of three presented during the 2011-12 school year by the talented actors and actresses from AlphaBet Soup. After each performance, members of the cast pose for photographs and sign autographs for their young and appreciative fans (see the photos on this home page and many more in our websit'e's Photo Gallery (link is at left). Also, more photos are posted on Facebook.



Kids Enjoy Jack and the Beanstalk & The Santa Claus Caper

During November and December, kids from the District 204 community were gleefully entertained by a talented cast from AlphaBet Soup Productions. Sponsored by the IPEF, Jack and the Beanstalk was presented on Nov. 19 at Waubonsie Valley H.S. and The Santa Claus Caper was performed on Dec. 17 at Metea Valley H.S. Also, at the conclusion of each children's play (musical), the cast members greeted their audience -- signing autographs and posing for photos -- as the families left the auditoriums at both schools.

A few of the photos taken during and after these performances can be viewed above and in our website's home-page slide show. But there are many more you can see by visiting the Photo Gallery (link is at left) and then clicking on Fund Raisers.

These photos can be found there because we do consider such AlphaBet Soup performances to be fund-raisers. Although the amount raised is small, as always we use the proceeds to support more educational enrichments for 204 students. For those of you who know a bargain when you see one, the tickets for these productions continue to be only $5 per person. So, in February 2012, be sure to look for the announcements about the next AlphaBet Soup performance, Beauty and the Beast, which will be presented at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 10, on the stage of the Neuqua Valley H.S. auditorium.

Since the Foundation was established in 1988, it has provided more than $2.7 million to fund educational extras for Dist. 204 students -- extras that otherwise wouldn't be funded by tax dollars, such as grants to staff members, the science and technology fairs, and student-achievement-recognition events. Another example of such educational enrichments is the Fine Arts Festival, which currently is being fully funded by the IPEF. Held at all three 204 high schools in May of each year, this outstanding event showcases the artwork, instrumental and choral music, dance, and home economics talents of our students, K through 12.





Dances from Around the World

When the IPEF awards an Artist-in-Residence or IPEF (mini) Grant, we always hope that a maximum number of students will benefit from the grant. Sometimes the number who benefit is small, but in other instances that number is very large. For example, we were very happy to learn that when we awarded an Artist-in-Residence Grant to Owen Elementary School's music teacher, Katie Handy, just about every student at Owen -- more than 500 -- were exposed (first-hand) to many forms of global dancing.

Working in tandem with PE teacher Jared Folley (who also has received grants from the IPEF in recent years) to enhance the school's dance unit, Handy used her grant money to bring to Owen two professional dancers from May I Have This Dance Inc., which is one of Chicagoland's leading providers of in-school and after-school dance programs. During an hour-long all-school assembly, the dancers demonstrated and taught the students several innovative, multicultural dances from every continent, as part of the professional dance educators' Dance Around the World program. During the assembly and then each class during the rest of the school day, Owen students learned by trying such social dances as the salsa (South America, Puerto Rica), tango (Argentina), cha cha (Cuba), tarantella (Italy), bollywood (India), swing (USA), and rumba (Brazil).

In addition, 10 other District 204 buildings sent representatives to see the excitement and learn from the professional dancers at Owen -- so that they can have similar Dance Days for the students at their schools. As a result, even more 204 students will benefit from the IPEF grant to Katie Handy. Awesome!!

"The excitement, engagement, and learning experienced by Owen students -- thanks to dance instructors Chris and Amanda -- was second to none" according to PE teacher Folley, who also should have credited himself and Katie for the day's successful events.





Great Gift Idea: Pewter Replicas of Dist. 204 Schools

In 1999, the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation (IPEF) tried something new to raise funds for the educational extras it provides. Pewter keepsakes - depicting the exteriors of each of District 204's schools - were created for the IPEF by Colorado metal sculptor Ben Cordsen.

For many District 204 families, certain school years are "milestone years." For example, your child may have just started kindergarten, or recently completed elementary school or middle school, or will be graduating from high school. In any case, the Foundation has created a way for families to remember the schools in their District 204 family history.

Each of the handcrafted pewter keepsakes takes about four weeks to make. And each is about four inches long and has the school's name etched on the front, with the artist's signature and the date created on the reverse side. They're a little heavy to hang on a Christmas tree (unless you place it on a sturdy branch); but they look nice in a small display case, like those you can buy at Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

At this time of year, the keepsakes make great holiday gifts and can easily be purchased by completing the "Timeless Mementoes of History" order form located on this website.

Each keepsake costs $12, plus $2 for shipping if sent directly to your home. If you order more than one, add another $1 for shipping each additional keepsake (e.g., shipping for two would be $3, for three it would be $4). Pewter Keepsakes order form.