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2021 Annual Report

A message from...

Our Mission

The Waukesha Education Foundation, Inc. utilizes community resources to provide grants for the educational enrichment of the students in the School District of Waukesha, fostering quality and innovative learning and ensuring a strong foundation for the future of our community.

Our Vision

Gene Shoemaker, President

When I returned to the WEF board after a three year absence, I was extremely pleased to witness how much the Foundation had accomplished in that time period. In just a few short years, the WEF has increased business sponsorships, grown events and increased the amount of scholarships and grants that were awarded. It is clear that WEF is well received in our community and also has increased community awareness and understanding of our impact.

This increased awareness provides increased funding to provide more grants for projects, programs or initiatives to enrich the educational experiences for students in the School District of Waukesha. With former President Melissa Baxter having to unexpectedly step down to take on a new role as the President of the Waukesha County Community Foundation, I was honored to once again step into the role of Board President for the remainder of her term. I am excited to be part of this amazing Foundation again!

Best Wishes,

Dr. Gene Shoemaker, President, Waukesha Education Foundation, Inc.

Lynnette Kalmadge, Executive Director

2021 was once again a year filled with unexpected obstacles and challenges. In spite of these challenges, the WEF has continued to increase our annual and event sponsorships, increase participation in our annual golf outing and Eve ing for Education events, and increase both our grant and scholarship awards to both educators and students. Thank you to our Board of Directors, our volunteers & all of our supporters,

To make the School District of Waukesha the center of educational excellence in Wisconsin through active community involvement. for their continued support. We are looking forward to another phenomenal year.

Sincerely,

Lynnette Kalmadge, Executive Director, Waukesha Education Founda tion, Inc.

Waukesha Education Foundation, Inc.

Who We Are

The Waukesha Education Foundation, Inc. saw continued growth in 2021, in spite of continued challenges.

Grant History: 2004 - 2021 BUSINESSES

STRONG STRONG STRONG SCHOOLS

COMMUNITIES

$35,061

$365,000

$170

Smallest grant awarded in 2021, for tools for independent center work for 4K students at Lowell Elementary.

$2,785

Wolverine Wardrobe was the largest grant awarded in 2021. A free clothing store run by special education students at West High School to teach job skills.

Grant dollars awarded by WEF in 2021.

The amount of grants the WEF has awarded since its inception.

1 Paid Staff Member

$19,010 Raised by the School District of Waukesha Staff through the Go Casual for a Cause Program.

Proceeds go DIRECTLY into our grant awards for 2022.

24 Grants awarded in 2021.

$249,225

The amount WEF has awarded in scholarships since we started.

3 NEW funds

Number of years WEF has been in existence:

$29,000 in scholarships awarded to 43 graduating seniors in 2021.

in 2021.

19 years

Year in Review - Events

2021

Move

Forward Wellness Event

The P.I.E. Sale Returns

Our 2021 Spring Event was an innovative month-long virtual program called MOVE FORWARD. This event highlighted many types of wellness and incorporated area businesses. Our goal was to encourage our community to MOVE FORWARD and provide support to businesses in our area that could benefit from some post-COVID-19 pandemic marketing support.

15th Annual Golf Outing

Once again, attendees at the Annual Golf Outing enjoyed perfect weather and a wonderful day on the course. The 2021 outing sold out in both sponsorships and golfer spots by early spring, with almost 100% of our event sponsors renewing their sponsorships and many of our past golfers rejoining us for another successful event, which raised over $18,000, including annual sponsorship revenue. The event has been so successful that the decision was made to move the event to a larger course for 2022. Mark your calendars for August 4, 2022 and join us at Ironwood Golf Course for our 16th Annual Golf Outing.

The WEF held another incredibly successful year end Elegant Farmer sale this year, celebrating our Partners In Education, our “P.I.E.”s! While this event was originally planned to be a one time fundraiser to offset canceled events in 2020, our community really loves to support WEF through this sale and so we decided to do it again. We sold over $6,500 worth of pies, baked goods & hams! Special thanks to South High School for once again hosting our drive thru pick up.

2021 Evening for Education

The 2021 Evening for Education was back and proved to be a spectacular evening! Over 250 guests and volunteers gathered at the Milwaukee Marriott West to “Give Back to the Future.” Guests were even able to check out a Back to the Future inspired DeLorean Time Machine! With a special message from Former Governor Tommy Thompson, we honored SIX award winners, three from 2020 and three from 2021. The spectacular event included a dinner, awards presentation, silent auction & raffle, student performances by the North HS Dance Team, the South HS Orchestra and the West HS Master Singers, and even live music from the local band Dirty Boogie at the end of the evening. The event raised over $35,000.

2021 Partners in Education Reception

In July, the WEF hosted our annual Partners in Education Reception on the patio at the Morningstar Golfer’s Club. We honored annual sponsors, special guests, 2021 scholarship recipients and their donors. Attendees celebrated by wearing clothing from their alma mater or favorite university, inspiring great personal connections.

We Are Grateful

Annual SponsorshipContinues to Grow

The Foundation’s annual sponsor program continued to grow to a record number of annual sponsors. The annual sponsorship program offers unique marketing opportunities as well as opportunities for participation and exposure in both Foundation and District programs. Annual sponsors that supported the WEF in 2021 are listed on the back of our annual report. We are so grateful for the support of our business community. We are equally grateful for all of the event sponsors that supported us this year. These organizations and donors help us offset the cost of our events and increase our event profits. They are an incredibly valuable resource and we appreciate their generosity. Our event sponsors are also listed in this year’s annual report. Thank you!

Casual for a Cause Creation of New Funds

Staff members in the School District of Waukesha are typically expected to dress professionally during the school day. However, Thursdays are the exception to the rule during the first semester, when staff members can pay $5 to wear jeans to work and that donation goes directly to the Foundation’s granting funds. 100% of the dollars raised from this initiative are added to our available grant dollars in the same school year. The staff during the 2021/22 school year raised $19,010. The Foundation continues to be most grateful for this gift and all those that continue to lead this initiative.

The WEF was honored to create and approve three new endowed scholarship funds this year. The WEF Chrys Racinowski Memorial Scholarship Fund was created by the Racinowski family in memory of their son, a Waukesha North Alum. The WEF Laurie Jean Weitzer Foundation for our Future Healthcare Scholarship Fund was created by the Weitzer family in memory of Laurie Jean Weitzer. The WEF Noah Mroz Memorial Scholarship Fund was established by the family of Noah Mroz (South HS Class of 2020) to memorialize and honor their son and brother Noah Mroz. Additional scholarships have also been added to our Current Scholarship Fund, which allows pass through scholarships to be easily established by community members.

Continued Support from Inpro Corp.

Inpro Corporation of Muskego continued its annual support of the Foundation by gifting the fifth and last $7,500 installment of its five year pledge. Phillip J. Ziegler, CEO of Inpro, was a former principal in the School District of Waukesha and his company’s generosity is a clear indication of the value he places on education. Inpro Corporation has donated $37,500 since 2017. We are grateful for this continued generous gift and encourage other companies to consider such a pledge. Thank you Inpro!

Looking Forward by Looking Back

In mid 2021, the WEF was thrilled to sit down and interview one of WEF’s founding members, Mrs. Jane Delzer. Mrs. Delzer shared how WEF was started back in 2002 and expressed great enthusiasm about the growth of the organization. You can learn more about those early days by watching the interview on our Vimeo channel. Thank you to Mrs. Jane Delzer for taking the time to share WEF’s story.

2021 Event Sponsors

• American Family Insurance

• Axley Attorneys

• Bill & Stephanie Moeller - Bank Five Nine

• Buelow Vetter

• Cable Com LLC

• Canned Water 4 Kids

• Capri Communities

• Carroll University

• CC&N

• Banting Builds Coders

• Celebrating Diversity Through Art

• Crucial Conversations

• Let’s Be MVP All-Stars!

• Tapping into the Bilingual Brain Through Partner Programming

• Butler Middle School & Good Friend Inc.

• Sphero Robotics

• Math Magic

• The Beauty & Power of Unity

• Independent Center Work for 4K Students

• Gravity Maze Interactive Floor Display for Planetarium

• Enhancing Health VR Kits: Embodied Labs

• Real-World Entrepreneurship Experience

• Swift Programming in Action with Parrot Drones

• Enhancing Students’ Social Emotional Learning

• The Cricut - Enhancing Design and Inspiration in FACE

• Esports Start Up

• Blackshirt Players Theatre for a Modern World

• Guided Reading Books

• STEM Serves

• Innovation Hall

• Diving Into Decodables

• Wolverine Wardrobe

• Ebony and Ivory in the Music Classroom

2021 Grant Projects WEF

Recognition Awards

Corporate Partner Award Winners

• Meijer-Waukesha (2020)

• Delzer Lithograph (2021)

Community Partner Award Winners

• Eras Senior Network (2020)

• St. Luke’s Lutheran Church Child Life Ministries (2021)

Sally Jo Michalko Lifetime Excellence in Education Award Winners

• Chestnut Hill Farm

• Children’s Wisconsin Sports Medicine

• Citizens Bank

• Credit Management Group

• Delta Dental

• Delzer Lithograph Co.

• Delzer/Finkel Family

• Divergent Family Law, a division of Grieve Law, LLC

• Drs. Shoemaker & Gilson

• Edward Jones-Chip & Kim Tinder

• Edward Jones-Jay & Tina Strucel

• Edward Jones-Mark & Pat Mattiacci

• Edward Jones-Mike & Kelly Savelkoul

• Edward Jones-Susy Suarez-Lemcke & Ron Lemcke

• Enterprise Lighting & Control

• Frame Family

• GE Healthcare

• Heartland Business Systems

• HRB Law

• Kalmadge Family

• Ken Cook Co.

• Kimberly Dove Real Estate

• Lee Recreation

• Meijer-Waukesha

• Metro MLS

• Midwest HTV

• Mike & Melissa Baxter

• Minuteman Press-Brookfield

• Municipal Law & Litigation Group

• Nev’s Ink

• Peerless Visions

• Realty Executives Southeast

• Sebert Family (Dr. Jim & Amy)

• Shorewest Realtors

• The Equitable Bank

• The Practice Station

• TNB Designs

• UnitedHealthcare

• VantagePointe Financial Group

• Voit Family (Dennis & Diane)

• von Briesen & Roper, s.c.

• Waukesha Innio

• Waukesha South HS/Waukesha South Booster Club

• Waukesha STEM Academy Governance Board

• Waukesha YMCA

• Wisconsin Youth

• Wisconsin Indoor Golf Center

• Xcite Entertainment

We are so grateful to the many businesses and community members who have supported us as Event Sponsors at one or more of our annual events in 2021.

Thank you!

Waukesha Education Foundation, Inc.

Financials - Year Ended December 31, 2021 Fund

Type Through December 31, 2021

The Waukesha Education Foundation, Inc. has invested its 43 scholarship and grant funds with the Waukesha County Community Foundation, helping to ensure these funds will be available to provide for future generations. Statement of Activities

Unrestricted

• WEF: Unrestricted Fund

Scholarship Funds

• WEF: Bonnie Schlais Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Clyde Shields Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Col. H. Mueller Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Chrys Racinowski Memorial Scholarship

• WEF: Current Scholarship Fund

• WEF: D. R. Fuller Scholarship Award Fund

• WEF: Diane Voit Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Dianich Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Dr. David Hoeppner Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Dr. Jim Marty Memorial Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Emery E. Reuss Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Frederick C. Christensen Memorial Fund

• WEF: Frisch Scholarship Fund

• WEF: General Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Jay Whitney Memorial Scholarship Fund

• WEF: J.E. Worthington Technology Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Jim Tyler Player’s Choice Award Fund

• WEF: Ken Hollub Scholarship Fund

Statement of Financial Position

The Waukesha Education Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization and files a Form 990 annually with the IRS. The Form 990 is available for public inspection at our office.

• WEF: Laurie Jean Weitzer Foundation for our Future Healthcare Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Mabel Amundson Memorial Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Noah Mroz Memorial Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Norm Seeling Scholar Athlete Award Fund

• WEF: Pat Tyler’s Volleyball Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Roland Schrupp Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Simon Family Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Smirl Family Scholarship Fund

• WEF: Tech Auntie Award Fund

• WEF: Waukesha Women’s Club Scholarship Fund

Granting Funds

• WEF: Bob Duckett Memorial Fund