Changing Children’s Lives Through Education

Author:  Kathleen Mulroy Sandpoint, ID –  “Your gift can change a child’s life… right here in our community.”  A good education offers a path to a better life for our children, and the nonprofit Panhandle Alliance for Education works side by side with the Lake Pend Oreille School District to improve students’ lives.  PAFE has […]

PAFE Names New Executive Committee – August 26, 2015

Sandpoint, ID – The recently elected Panhandle Alliance for Education Executive Committee is ready and eager to contribute to the nonprofit’s support of the Lake Pend Oreille School District. Board President and Executive Committee Chairperson Geraldine Lewis was elected to the LPOSD Board as well as to the post of president of PAFE in May […]

Lake Pend Oreille School District Adopts “Step Up to Writing”

Author:  Kathleen Mulroy Sandpoint, ID – At its recent annual Summer Sunset Fundraising Gala, the Panhandle Alliance for Education announced the funding of an exciting comprehensive writing instruction program, to be taught in all grade levels throughout the Lake Pend Oreille School District.  Called Step Up to Writing, the program was chosen by Superintendent Shawn […]

Inland Northwest Community Foundation Awards Major Grant to PAFE’s READY! Program

Author:  Kathleen Mulroy   The Inland Northwest Community Foundation has awarded a Community Strategies Grant of $11,000 to the Panhandle Alliance for Education’s early childhood literacy program, READY! for Kindergarten. This grant will help to pay for the “tool kits” given to parents and grandparents who attend the free READY! workshops during the 2015-2016 school […]

New Panhandle Alliance for Education Board Members Announced – May 2015

Author:  Kathleen Mulroy Sandpoint, ID – Several new members of the Panhandle Alliance for Education’s Board of Directors were welcomed during the nonprofit’s annual meeting in May. They bring to the nonprofit organization a variety of backgrounds and talents, and all are deeply committed to helping to continue to improve education in the Lake Pend […]

Washington Students Win First Lego League 1st place Award for Core Values

Author:  Kathleen Mulroy   Washington Elementary School’s First Lego League (FLL) team won a first place award for Core Values at the University of Idaho’s FLL Official Qualifier in December of 2014. But as happy as teacher and mentor Dinah Gaddie was for the students, she says their experience working as a team in preparation […]

Panhandle Alliance for Education Grant Helps Fund Sandpoint Middle School Science Program

Author:  Kathleen Mulroy Water quality is a subject that many north Idahoans feel passionate about. So when 250 Sandpoint Middle School seventh graders recently participated in the Outdoor and More science field trip to the University of Idaho’s Sandpoint center on Boyer Avenue, they were excited to don rubber waders and get involved in experiments […]

Parkwood Business Properties Sponsors Sandpoint READY! for Kindergarten Program

Author:  Kathleen Mulroy   The Panhandle Alliance for Education is pleased to announce that Parkwood Business Properties of Coeur d’Alene has made a generous donation to READY! for Kindergarten, Sandpoint’s early childhood literacy program. The Panhandle Alliance’s Board President, David Slaughter, says, “READY! for Kindergarten encourages parents’ involvement with their child’s learning, beginning at birth. […]

Panhandle Alliance for Education, Bonner General Health, and the Idaho Community Foundation partner to support “Books for Babies”

Author:  Kathleen Mulroy Marcia Wilson, Executive Director, Panhandle Alliance for Education; Kathleen Mulroy, READY! for Kindergarten Director, Panhandle Alliance for Education; Sheryl Rickard, Administrator/CEO, Bonner General Health; Terri Fortner, Community Development Director, Bonner General Hospital & Foundation “What better way to say welcome to our new families than the gift of community support and encouragement […]

Panhandle Alliance for Education Announces 2014-2015 Teacher Grant Awards

Authors:  Kathleen Mulroy and Marcia Wilson   Survival in the wild? Bristlebots? A collaborative penny pinching math effort to benefit the food bank? Flying machines? These are just four of the exciting educational projects that students in the Lake Pend Oreille School District will experience next year thanks to Classroom Grants from the Panhandle Alliance […]

PAFE, LPOSD Partner to Help Students, Staff

Author:  Kathleen Mulroy Since 2003, the Panhandle Alliance for Education, a non-profit organization made up of local businesspeople, educators and other citizens concerned about local education, has enabled our community to demonstrate its enthusiastic support of Lake Pend Oreille School District’s (LPOSD) teachers and schools. Through community members’ donations, the Panhandle Alliance – in partnership […]

The “Word Gap”

Author:  Kathleen Mulroy What is the “Word Gap” and why is it important to children’s education? The word gap was first studied in the U.S. in the early 1990s, when a team of researchers followed about 40 volunteer families – poor, middle class and wealthy – during the first three years of their children’s lives. […]

Grant Awarded to the Alliance’s READY! for Kindergarten Program

The Panhandle Alliance for Education’s READY! for Kindergarten program, which supports early childhood literacy in our region through free parent workshops, is pleased to announce the receipt of a grant from the S.L. Gimbel Foundation Fund – The Community Foundation Serving the Counties of Riverside and San Bernardino. Celia Cudiamat, the Community Foundation’s Executive Vice […]

The Alliance Announces a Corporate Sponsor for READY! for Kindergarten

Panhandle Alliance for Education is pleased to announce a charter corporate sponsor for the READY! for Kindergarten early childhood literacy program: BVG Incorporated, the developer of Seasons at Sandpoint. Brent Johnson, Vice President of BVG Incorporated, says, “As a third-time benefactor of the Panhandle Alliance, BVG is again honored to be able to participate in […]

Georgia Simmons Returns to the Alliance’s Board of Directors

“The Panhandle Alliance for Education is one of the few charities in our community that impacts nearly everyone,” says Georgia Simmons. “Beneficiaries of the Alliance’s programs include children, parents, grandparents, daycare providers, teachers, and school administrators – so many people in this community! That’s why I’m very proud to have re-joined the Alliance’s Board of […]

PAFE Announces New Board Members

The Panhandle Alliance for Education was very pleased to welcome two new Board members at the non-profit organization’s annual meeting on May 9: Geraldine Lewis and Megan Johnson. The Alliance’s Executive Director, Marcia Wilson, was also named a member of the Board. Geraldine Lewis, husband Jim, and their four children are long-time Sagle residents. After […]

PAFE Honors 2013 Grant Recipients

Forty-one teachers and staff members of the Lake Pend Oreille School District were honored Thursday evening for their above-and-beyond contributions to our public schools. The celebration was the first of its kind for the Panhandle Alliance for Education annual grant program. “It was time we publicly honored those who do so much for our students” […]

Kari Daarstad Saccomanno joins PAFE as Resource Development Director

Panhandle Alliance for Education is very excited to introduce Kari Daarstad Saccomanno as the new Resource Development Director. She brings more than 20 years of passionate leadership, development, and community experiences to PAFE. In her role as Resource Development Director, Kari will coordinate the planning and administration of donor development and fundraising activities. PAFE’s commitment […]