Fifth Third Bank supports OAE schools with mini-grants for exciting activities.
The Office of Academic Enhancement held an Options for Knowledge School Fair last October to highlight gifted and magnet schools and programs. This second annual fair was sponsored by Fifth Third Bank. Fifth Third offered a number of mini-grants to participating schools to support individual school programs and demonstrate the bank’s commitment to school choice options.
The fair was attended by more than 1,200 parents, who had the opportunity to learn about 67 different gifted, magnet, and magnet cluster elementary schools. Parents attended presentations by gifted education specialists on how to identify their children’s talents and take advantage of the district’s gifted programs. They learned about exciting new and long-established schools, talking with staff from schools across the city.
Parents attending the fair rated it highly in terms of providing them with useful information. More than two-thirds were parents of pre-school age children. Of the remaining third of those attending, the largest group was parents of sixth graders seeking information on the district’s excellent Academic Centers (grades 7 – 8).
Through a drawing held at the fair, eight participating schools won mini-grants to enhance their programs. In January they announced how they plan to use their grants:
Agassiz Elementary School ($1,060)
Fine and Performing
Wireless microphones for school performances
Whittier Elementary School ($1,060)
A graduation celebration for eighth graders and their families at the National Museum of Mexican Art
Carnegie Elementary School ($530)
Regional Gifted Center and
A banner or backdrop that can be hung to identify the school when school staff attends school fairs and socials, plus products such as bookmarks and pencils containing the school's identifying information
Franklin Fine Arts Center ($530)
Performing and Visual Arts Magnet School
Wireless microphones for school performances
Morgan Park High School ($530)
A trip to
Murphy Elementary School ($530)
Fine and Performing
A directory of families of children at the school
The Ogden International School of Chicago ($530)
International Gifted Program and International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme
Field trips for seventh and eighth graders to the
South Loop Elementary School ($530)
Regional Gifted Center and Fine and Performing
Projects of the after-school Conservation and Science Clubs
Fifth Third has provided support for schools in