The Greater Latrobe Partners in Education Foundation awards over $350,000 in grants to GLSD

The Greater Latrobe Partners in Education Foundation(GLPIEF) is pleased to announce $356,143 in program grants and student scholarships to support the Greater Latrobe School District (GLSD).  GLPIEF is able to provide these grants through the support of donations from GLSD staff, parents, alumni, community members, local foundations and businesses.   GLPIEF thanks their donors for investing in the future of students and ensuring that the tradition of excellence continues in GLSD.  

GLPIEF is pleased to share more information about the grants awarded for the 2022-23 school year. 

• The foundation has granted $16,000 toward the Education 2025 Initiative.  This grant aids the work GLSD is doing to create a student-centered, equity-focused and future-driven educational system.

• A grant of $20,000 for a LHTC Streaming Expansion and Media Partnership, www.wildcatsnet.com.  This grant will support additional high definition pan/tilt/zoom video cameras and promote internship opportunities for students interested in marketing, video and broadcasting careers. 

• Funding was provided for five new 3D Printers for the Library/Media Centers.

• A grant to fund  the purchase of Virtual Reality Goggles. These come with a constantly growing library of thousands of curriculum-aligned Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality content, for use across all subjects and age ranges.  This includes 260 degree photos, 360 degree videos, 3D models and explorable virtual scenes that can help teachers deliver fully immersive, exciting and engaging lessons.

• The Louis A. Smith Endowed Fund granted $10,500 to support the Fall Play and Spring Musicals and upgrades to the wireless microphones.  This fund was created with a planned gift by Dolores Burns to memorialize her son and Mrs. Burns’ transformational gift will be forever remembered as part of our planned giving program the 1881 Legacy Circle.

• The Special Education Department received $41,125 in funding which was largely made possible by the Annual Golf Outing and Paint N Sip hosted by Goal Magazine and their lead sponsor Second Half Coach Wealth Management.

• The GLPIEF continued their tradition of awarding over $10,000 in teacher classroom grants with special thanks the Ron & Karen LaPresti and the Dr. & Mrs. William D. Stavisky Funds for their support of these initiatives.

• The Foundation disbursed over $49,500 in donor sponsored scholarships to graduating seniors in the Class of 2022.  

• The GLPIEF has secured $50,000 for expanding Career Pathways programming, and a $2,500 grant supporting Dual Enrollment Scholarships.  

• Last fall friends and family of Steven LoCascio, created The Steven LoCascio Memorial Fund to support scholarships and provide a helping hand to students through our Wildcats Emergency Fund.  GLPIEF is honored to carry on Mr. LoCascio’s legacy at Greater Latrobe School District.  GLPIEF continues to receive contributions to this Fund and please visit https://glpief.org/programs/scholarships/#locascioscholarship to learn more about the Fund. 

• The Foundation granted $10,000 to support the upcoming launch of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library for children in the Greater Latrobe School District.  Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income. Several surrounding school districts have been offering this program and GLPIEF is thrilled to make this possible for future Wildcats. GLSD will be sharing more information when the program is officially launched. 

• The largest grant of $106,500 was directed toward the School Resource Officer Program Expansion.  This grant funding is supporting the purchase of three additional SRO vehicles. These additional vehicles will support the elementary schools each having a designated vehicle that can be driven by any SRO. There will now be an SRO vehicle at every GLSD school campus during the school day.  

GLPIEF is pleased to announce the 2022-2023 Annual Fund – Visioning Bright Futures for Over 10 Years giving campaign.  Gifts of any size make a difference and will positively impact the educational experience of GLSD students . To learn about how you can join our efforts this year so we can Vision Bright Futures together please visit https://glpief.org/programs/annual-fund/ or call Jessica Golden, Executive Director, at 724-539-4200 Ext. 23406 or email: [email protected].  

The volunteer board of directors for GLPIEF include Jason J. Brinker, Richard F. Boyle, Jr., Don Clair, Helene Conway-Long, Heidi Kozar, Karen LaPresti, F. Bradley Meyers, Michael R. Porembka, Brian Quinn, Dr. Dawn Santora, and Lisa L. Shearer.  The officers of the GLPIEF Board are Maria Graziano-Bickerstaff, president; Kayla A. Sutton, vice president; Kelly Bisignani, secretary; and Dan Watson, treasurer.  GLPIEF is a non-profit organization dedicated to funding, through philanthropy, innovative programs and projects that enhance and enrich the educational experiences of Greater Latrobe students to help prepare them for being future contributors within our community.