From science equipment for kindergarten students, to advanced robotics equipment, to therapeutic furniture and even glee club uniforms, schools across the Lester B. Pearson School Board have been gifted with grants from the Pearson Educational Foundation.

The grants, in excess of $40,000, were recently announced by the foundation which funds projects that are not covered under the Quebec Ministry of Education.

“The equipment we furnish and the programs we fund all contribute to the success and welfare of our students,” said PEF President Barbara Freeston. “Every year there are more requests than monies available but each year we are able to fulfill more and more of them – and this year is no exception."

The programs funded by PEF this year include advanced robotics equipment to help elementary schools that are sending teams to the city-wide and beyond E.A.S.T. Junior Robotics competition to be held at John Rennie High School in April, as well as a portable science centre and science equipment at the kindergarten and elementary levels.

PEF will also fund a variety of programs for special needs students from Cycle 1 Elementary to Adult, including aerobics and yoga in partnership with the West island YMCA, funding for the Light-a-dream program to expand from candle-making to include soap-making, and for the expansion of a cooking program at the Allancroft campus of the Place Cartier Adult Centre.

Elementary and high school students at Angrignon Alternative will soon benefit from PEF's contribution of six iPads for English and math instruction and students at the Dawson Alternative Centre will benefit again from a heart-opening poetry workshop.