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Summer meal program
CPSF donated $25,000 to Columbia Public Schools (CPS) to support the district’s efforts to continue to provide meals to students throughout the summer during the COVID-19 pandemic. The donation provided funding for breakfast and lunch in daily meal kits, and helped with the bus transportation for meal delivery and also offset any unreimbursed food costs. The Foundation’s donation was part of a partnership with the CoMoHELPS COVID-19 Fund, which is a collaborative effort of Boone County, the Community Foundation of Central Missouri, the City of Columbia, the Heart of Missouri United Way, and the Veterans United Foundation. In total, $120,000 was donated to CPS for the summer meal program, which included $25,000 from CPSF, $75,000 from the Heart of Missouri United Way, $15,000 from the other organizations in the CoMoHELPS fund, and $5,000 from the Anderson Family Charitable Foundation.
Grant Funds Requested: $25,000
Online summer school for high school students during COVID-19 pandemic
Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Foundation, an additional 325 CPS high school students participated in online summer school courses beginning in May 2020, which was an extra session a month earlier than usual. The donation allowed the district to provide the online courses while the school year was still considered in session by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Students could take courses in personal finance, health and physical education. The Foundation provided the funds to CPS to help during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Grant Funds Requested: $25,000
Black History 101 Mobile Museum
The 
Black History 101 Mobile Museum visited each CPS middle and high school for a day throughout a two week period. Founded by Dr. Khalid el-Hakim, the Black History 101 Mobile Museum is an award-winning collection of over 7,000 original artifacts of Black memorabilia dating from the trans-Atlantic slave trade era to hip-hop culture. The grant allows students to examine primary sources firsthand and includes teacher training on how to utilize and teach about these resources. The grant will culminate in a CPS 7th grade trip to the African American Heritage Trail and educational experience.
Grant Funds Requested: $17,700
E-Gaming Club
The $8,500 grant from the Foundation provided computer equipment necessary to establish the E-Gaming Club room at Hickman. E-gaming is growing across the country. Hickman currently has two clubs, with two teams for each game, League of Legends and Overwatch.
Grant Funds Requested: $8,500
Authors in Schools
Students from all six CPS middle schools were bused to the Missouri Theater to hear Jacqueline Woodson speak on April 19, 2019, as part of the Unbound Book Festival. The grant provided Woodson’s books for all the middle schools as well as transportation for students to the festival.
Grant Funds Requested: $5,000
Close Up
11th-grade students from Battle and Rock Bridge traveled to Washington, D.C., over their spring break to use the nation’s capital as a living classroom and learn about being engaged citizens.
Grant Funds Requested: $8,000
Making Algebra & Geometry Real
This grant purchases equipment for the Geometry in Construction (GIC) and Algebra in Manufacturing Processes Entrepreneurship and Design (AMPED) classes at Battle High School. Students in the GIC course build a tiny house for a family in the community. Students in AMPED operate a business running a lab customing textile products and other items.
Grant Funds Requested: $52,384
Big Sonia Screening Rights & Speaking Engagement
The grant provides screening rights for each CPS middle and high school campus for the film Big Sonia, a documentary about then 91-year old Sonia Warshawski, one of the last remaining Holocaust survivors who resides in Kansas City. Students held a Q&A with director Leah Warshawski after viewing the film. The grant also included a free community screening of the film, as well as a speaking engagement and Meet & Greet with Sonia herself. The grant also included purchasing copies of the DVD for the Columbia Public Library.
Grant Funds Requested: $8,000
Student Trip to China
As part of CPS’s Chinese program, students can take a two‐week trip to Shanghai and Beijing for language and culture learning. This was the fourth year of the trip, covered by the Chinese Ministry of Education. Once the students are in China, they are hosted by Shanghai Normal University, the leading teacher college in Shanghai. This year 18 students, from freshmen to seniors, traveled to China from July 3-16. CPSF grant funds covered the airfare, along with Veterans United and the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Grant Funds Requested: $7,000
Family Welcome Center
Families new to Columbia have a welcoming space to gather and seek services, thanks to a 2017 grant for the Family Welcome Center, located inside the CPS Aslin Administration Building at 1818 W. Worley in Columbia. Grant funds went to renovating the area and providing new furniture to create a more welcome space for families of English Language Learner (ELL) students who are being evaluated.
Grant Funds Requested: $22,793