LTEF awards $42,418 in fall grants; district celebrates Milken Award winner

The Lawrence Township Education Foundation awarded 23 grants totaling $42,418 in its fall cycle, the foundation’s executive director told the school board on Thursday.

"We are funding 23 grants for the total of $42,418 this cycle," said Bonnie Giglio, executive director of the Lawrence Township Education Foundation, who presented multi-school and single-school awards supporting environmental learning, makerspace tools, decodable literacy books, sensory supports and extracurricular activities across elementary, intermediate, middle and high schools.

Grants highlighted included Growing Green Thinkers (multi-school), Chomp into STEAM (cardboard chomp saws for elementary makerspaces, $1,500), Little Lions Literacy decodable books ($6,636), Ben Franklin Outdoor Explorers ($1,000), Movement Matters adaptive tricycles ($3,093), LIS sensory lending library ($1,500), and a range of classroom- and school-level projects at Lawrence Intermediate School and Lawrence High School including support for the Lawrenceian newspaper website and robotics team registration.

During the superintendent’s remarks, the board also recognized LMS teacher Jeanette Capritti as a recipient of the Milken Award and named three Lawrence Township educators as 2025 Exemplary Educators by the New Jersey Department of Education. Superintendent remarks described the Milken as a prestigious educator award and celebrated district teachers’ recent recognitions.

The board asked grant recipients to meet with district leaders and administrators for photos and a check presentation after the meeting. The foundation said it expects another round of grants in the spring.

What happens next: recipients will receive their grant checks and begin implementing projects; the foundation and district will coordinate photos and updates to be posted on the district website.