Matthews Foundation awards 2012 grants
By Canton CitizenThe Paul R. Matthews Foundation is pleased to award four grants to programs benefiting the entire town of Canton.
This year, the foundation received an outstanding number of applications for grants and was very selective in choosing recipients for funding. After carefully reviewing all entries, the foundation’s committee members decided on four programs that best exemplify the goals of the foundation: Canton High School’s TV production classes, the Canton Historical Society, the Canton Garden and Food Project, and the Canton High School Robotics Program.
The CHS television production classes are being awarded a grant to fund the school-wide lip dub video, an enjoyable school project where students lip-sync to a chosen song. The video highlights all of Canton High’s various clubs, teams, and programs, which help build school spirit and increase class bonding.
The lip dub is a fantastic way to involve the entire school community in a collaborative project while using 21st century technological skills. Working on creating the video allows the students involved to have a professional video experience with an advance crew from the school’s television production classes. The students can even look forward to having the finished product broadcast on local cable and shown to the visiting NEASC committee.
This communal video art project will undoubtedly be shared with friends and family for generations to come while embodying the enthusiastic and creative spirit of Canton High School.
The Canton Historical Society is receiving a grant to fund a photography conservation project. The society plans to scan, reprint, preserve, and compile 98 photographs of Canton High School graduating classes and athletic teams dating from 1869. The Canton Historical Society will reproduce these rare and fragile photographs so that they can be compiled and displayed in an album accessible to the general public with the intention to be showcased at the Historical Society and the Canton Public Library.
The Canton Garden and Food Project will also receive a grant to help create a community garden. The project involves educating families in the benefits of growing and eating healthy food through the use of a garden plot at Pequitside Farm. The garden will be designed and built to incorporate the use of the square-foot method, a growing technique that maximizes space, provides boundaries for children, and simplifies the growing process. The space will be community focused and engage all ages in the collaborative activity of gardening.
The project intends to offer various programs, such as a “Family Day of Service” to support the building of the garden, hands-on garden activities and healthy snacks for children, adult education for parents and others interested in learning how to grow food in a simple, productive way, and “Helping Harvests,” in which children participate in the harvest and donation of fresh vegetables to the Canton Food Pantry. This unique and creative project will educate and engage the entire Canton community.
Lastly, the CHS Robotics Program is being awarded a grant that will provide financial assistance to the FIRST Technical Challenge (FTC) robotics program at Canton High School. The FTC program is thoroughly enjoyed by its participants and promotes creativity, inventiveness, and ingenuity from CHS students.
In addition to the above grants, the foundation awarded scholarships to two graduating CHS seniors who exemplified a significant commitment to sportsmanship, scholastics and the community. This year’s recipients are Michelle McNeil and Christopher Murray.
The Paul R. Matthews Foundation, established in memory of Paul Matthews, a longtime member of the Canton School committee and advocate for the town’s children, raises funds through its annual Celebration of Community Spirit and private donations. The foundation plans to hold the next Community Spirit event in the fall of 2013 and moving forward, will host this fundraising event every other year. However, scholarships and grants will continue to be awarded on an annual basis.
For more information on the Paul Matthews Foundation, go to www.prmfoundation.com or call 781-828-0989.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=15517
Posted by Canton Citizen
on Aug 8 2012. Filed under News.
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