Grants in Action

Last spring at Hilder Pearson Elementary, magic came through music—thanks to two North Kitsap Schools Foundation grants led by music teacher Tamera Rabura that opened the doors to orchestral experiences students will remember for a lifetime.

This year, three dedicated teachers - Camille Bothe, Mary Salazar, and Alissa Drowns turned their classrooms into living laboratories with a North Kitsap Schools Foundation grant that funded the Lettuce Grow Farmstand Project. These self-watering, self-fertilizing hydroponic towers transformed everyday lessons into hands-on experiments in science, sustainability, and gratitude.

This year, thanks to a North Kitsap Schools Foundation grant, Preschool Teacher Pat Muñiz brought a world of sensory discovery to her classroom. The grant funded a collection of tools designed to meet her students’ diverse sensory needs, including alternative seating, noise-canceling headphones, chew necklaces, fine-motor learning materials, and the star of the show—a brand-new funnel stand for the sensory table.

This fall, the North Kitsap Schools Foundation has awarded $103,776 in classroom grants to teachers across the district. That total represents more than just funding — it’s a reflection of what can happen when teachers, families, and community members work together to support learning.

This spring, learning at Vinland Elementary wasn’t confined to pages in a textbook; it came rolling right into the classroom. Thanks to a North Kitsap Schools Foundation grant, the Burkemobile and Burke Boxes transformed fourth and fifth-grade lessons into hands-on adventures filled with discovery, laughter, and plenty of wide-eyed wonder.

Imagine this: you’re in Bellingham, WA, surrounded by new faces. The catch? Every single conversation is happening in French. No English allowed. You need to introduce yourself, order your lunch, collaborate on a project, and maybe even sing a song or two — all en français. That was the challenge — and the joy — for six advanced French students from North Kitsap High School, who attended French Immersion Camp 2025 thanks to a grant from the North Kitsap Schools Foundation.

We enjoyed a simply magical evening at Vinland Elementary this last spring walking through the Many Hands, Many Lands diversity fair with members of Poulsbo Rotary’s Youth Services Committee. The second annual multicultural diversity fair at Vinland Elementary took place in May, bringing students and the community together around a wonderful educational opportunity and community support program. 

When first-grade teacher Heather Blue opened her classroom’s astronomy unit this year, she never imagined it would launch her students straight into the stars - literally. Thanks to a grant from the North Kitsap Schools Foundation, Blue brought the Bremerton Mobile Planetarium Outreach Program to Poulsbo Elementary. The inflatable dome transformed the school’s multipurpose room into a fully immersive space theater, where 65 first graders explored the solar system in vivid, br

At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, Rosanna Lampano, Kingston Middle School band teacher, inventoried over 100 music instruments in a state of disrepair, and unusable. NKSF stepped up with a grant award of $5,000 to begin the repair process. With the help of our local community partner foundations, the renewed instruments enhanced the band program experience all around.

This spring, third-grade classrooms across North Kitsap transformed into real-life hatcheries. With the help of a grant from the North Kitsap Schools Foundation, students at David Wolfle, Poulsbo, Suquamish, and Vinland Elementary Schools participated in the Salmon Seekers program. This powerful, hands-on learning experience brought the salmon life cycle out of the textbook and into the classroom, making it a truly engaging experience.

Because of the thoughtful and giving community around and among our schools, the awards granted during the 2023-2024 North Kitsap school year illuminates the possibilities of the future. This part of our work, seeing the grants in action and the impact on the classrooms that the teachers share, excites us as though they were streaks of light from meteors in the night sky.

During the 2023-2024 school year, Justin Johnson placed a request through NKSF to purchase some fine metal working, and jewelry craftsmanshi

The music room at Suquamish Elementary received a newcomer to help wrangle their collection of ukuleles, a beautiful new instrument storage

During the 2023-2024 school year, Lisa Gray-Fritz applied to NKSF for funding to support the Kingston High School Multicultural Assembly.

In the 2023-2024 school year, Lynn Atherton at Kingston Middle School, reached out to NKSF to upgrade the collection of Keva Planks.

Through an NKSF grant, North Kitsap High School students received an opportunity to learn from artists working in our local community during

The Burke Museum and its roving Burkemobile delivering Burkeboxes to schools provides exceptional value to Vinland’s kiddos.

NKSF is happy to provide the kids with a nice bus ride to Olympia, to learn how our government operates.

With grant funding from NKSF, Poulsbo Elementary’s K-2 students now have additional flexible seating options thanks to a 2023-2024 grant.

Poulsbo, Gordon, and Pearson Elementary schools all purchased new physical education equipment with NKSF grant funding.