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Last month, the Elk Rapids Education Fund awarded Mill Creek Elementary, Lakeland Elementary and Elk Rapids High School the money for various programs at each school.

Operating as an endowment fund under the umbrella of the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation, the fund awards between $4,000 and $5,000 a year to support educational opportunities for Elk Rapids area residents, Brenda Miller, a member of the Fund Advisory Committee, said.

While the money for 2007 went entirely to programs at Elk Rapids Schools, the fund has also awarded money to community organizations, including the Elk Rapids District Library and the Northwest Michigan Migrant Program.

"We try to work with the schools to support their goals," Miller said. She added that the number of students and residents impacted by the grant money plays a large role in the committee's decisions.

"We try and get the biggest bang for the funds available," she said.

The Elk Rapids Education Fund has awarded over $60,000 since its inception in 1994. The 2007 grant money was put to a variety of uses by Elk Rapids schools, including a technology update at both Lakeland and Mill Creek Elementary Schools.

One new piece of technology added at Mill Creek Elementary was an ELMO TT-02 document camera. Similar to an overhead projector, the TT-02 displays images on a wall. The difference is, the objects and images displayed do not have to be on transparency paper or even two dimensional.

"The ELMO allows a teacher to instantly project a book or student writing or piece of artwork or even a moving, living insect for a science experiment on the wall for all to see," Mill Creek Elementary Principal Maggie Antcliff said. "Having an ELMO greatly enhances how a teacher teaches and how students are able to view things."

Developing reading programs have been a tradition target of the Elk Rapids Education Fund. In 2006, the fund gave $1,500 to Lakeland Elementary for a Developing successful readers program and another $1,150 for a take home and classroom reading program for kindergartners and their families.

"Because early readers progress at varying rates, elementary schools find it useful when there are small collections of books at various reading levels so teachers can teach at appropriate levels," Lakeland Principal Terry Starr said.

As an endowment, relying on the income the fund generates, the fund has a multitude of goals in the coming years, Miller said.

"We would like to raise the exposure level in order to raise the endowment portion," she said.

The fund is primarily funded through donations, she said, but has done fundraisers in the past and is looking to do more in the future.

For more information on the Elk Rapids Education Fund, visit the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation Web site at www.4good4ever.org or call 231-935-4066.

Brian Keilen can be reached for question or comment at bkeilen@michigannewspapers.com or by calling 231-264-9711.