Educational Foundation plans 25th anniversary celebration

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The Glen Ridge Educational Foundation will be celebrating its 25th anniversary Saturday night, April 7, at the Glen Ridge Country Club with the festivities overlooking the NYC skyline. There will be a cocktail hour with music by the South Side Quartet followed by a three-course dinner and dancing to the group Clancy’s Ghost. GREF board of trustees Chairwoman Fran Wang said, in a telephone interview earlier this week, that she is familiar with the music of Clancy’s Ghost and it is very good. She felt the same way about dinner.

“It sounded really good and ends with chocolate,” she said. “So it has to be good.”
Contributions made by Glen Ridge home and school associations over the last 25 years will be recognized, but Wang said remarks will be kept short.

“We’ll note that both our organizations do a lot for the schools,” she said. “We compliment each other.”
There will also be an auction of several items. Wang did not want to tip her hand, but said they were experiences. Time is also set aside for donation moments.

“We’ll talk about the projects we fund and look for contributors,” she said. “And I’ll be talking about how pleased we are for having so many donors that made it possible to make $2 million in grants to teachers and schools. It all adds up.”
She will also point to three Glen Ridge High School success projects. The first was getting Chromebooks into the hands of all seventh- through 12th-grade students. The foundation partnered with the GR Board of Education on this.

The second success is the virtual high school where 11th- and 12th-grade students can take an array of advance placement courses online.

“Hundred of students have been doing this,” she said. “It’s our final year. We started with a trial year six years ago. To continue the program is being discussed, but it’s been hugely successful, though.”

The third success story is the GR Robotic Club; and CAD, or computer aid design, which is part of the engineering curriculum at the school.

“We’re a major funder of the robotics team,” Wang said. Robotics and CAD are interrelated.”
Wang said all the effort of the foundation is worth it.

“I believe strongly in education,” she said. “My kids had a great education here as have other generations. It takes a lot to keep it going. The tax base cannot afford it all without the generosity of the people of Glen Ridge.”