LPS Education Foundation

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD

Purpose and Background

The Distinguished Alumni Award is an opportunity to highlight former Livonia Public Schools students for their post high school achievements. Nominees must meet the following criteria:

• Be a graduate of a Livonia Public High School – Bentley, Churchill, Franklin or Stevenson.
• At least 10 years have passed since the nominee graduated from a Livonia Public High School.
• The nominee has made noteworthy contributions and achievements in his or her careeron a local, regional, national, or international level.

The Distinguished Alumni Award was established in 2022 to honor the accomplishments of Livonia Public Schools graduates who have distinguished themselves as role models, individuals who excel in their professions, or who have made significant contributions to theircommunities. Distinguished Alumni Award recipients display the characteristics of commitment, effort, leadership, pride and respect. The recognition of graduates who have displayed these character traits will provide current students with positive role models.

Nomination Process

Nominations of candidates will take place beginning in May. Click link below to submit online. To print a copy for the form, see link below. Applications will be accepted through September 30th. The LPS Education Foundation Board of Directors will review the nominations and select the award recipient.

The recipient will be notified and honored at the Foundation’s Annual Luncheon in October or November. The recipient’s name will be permanently displayed on a plaque hanging in the Board of Education building and will receive an award to proudly display in his/her home.

Click here to nominate an alum online

1st Annual LPSEF Golf Outing

Sponsorship available. Click below for information and registration form

A district Champions Program was created to act as a liaison for the Foundation with each building and/or department. Each Champion shares information regarding the Foundation’s activities such as the Grant Program, the Competitive Edge Program, the Back-to-School activity, the Foundation’s Annual Luncheon, and more. The Champions Program continues to help generate and maintain financial support for the Grant Program.

Each year, the Foundation offers incentives to our Champions and we’d like to announce the winners of the $500 incentive for the 2022-23 year!

Congratulations to Grant Elementary School which had the greatest percentage of increase of contributors per capita from last year and Holmes Middle School which had the largest dollar amount of contributions per capita. These awards include one-time and per-paycheck contributions. We’d also like to recognize Coolidge Elementary School with a $100 award for having added so many more new contributors – 10!

Thank you to our Champions for their continued support of the Foundation! We couldn’t do it without them.

We’d love to have you join our team of wonderful volunteers! Please fill out this short form. https://bit.ly/LPSEFVolunteer

Are you looking for a unique way to thank a Livonia Public Schools staff member? A Star Award honors any LPS employee who has made a difference in a student’s, family’s or fellow staffer’s life. For a $25 donation to the Foundation, a personalized, color certificate will be presented to your honoree, and they will receive recognition on the Foundation’s website and social media platforms as well as the district’s social media platforms. The certificate will be personalized with your praise to show this LPS employee how much they mean to you!

Please click on the link below to send a Star Award to an awesome LPS staff member!

https://bit.ly/LPSEF-StarAward

Donations received will be used to help fund the Foundation’s Grant Program so all funds will be going back into the schools to provide programs and supplies for our students and staff.

Thank you for your support!

If you have any questions, please email lpsfoundation@livoniapublicschools.org

We lost a very special person on March 31. Melodie Provencher retired from full time teaching with Livonia Public Schools and then joined the LPS Education Foundation. In recent years, she stepped back into the role of music teacher when the need arose to fill that valuable position at Johnson Upper Elementary. With the Foundation, Melodie served on the executive board as the recording secretary, chair of the Grant Program, co-chair of the Champions Program and she served on numerous committees.

Melodie will be greatly missed. She was loved by so many! Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends.

The family has requested that memorial donations be made to the LPS Education Foundation. You may do that by clicking here.

Guest bartenders Dan West (Franklin High School) and Robb Drzewicki (Stevenson High School) joined Grand Tavern owner Mario Lucaj (Churchill High School) for an alumni tips battle benefitting the LPS Education Foundation. The generosity of donors and the mad skills of these three alums raised almost $2000 in just two hours!

The Competitive Edge registration for the 2021-22 kindergarteners is now closed but one of the services the Foundation provides is education on 529 plans. Please check out these free webinars.

https://www.brightstart.com/webinars/

https://www.savingforcollege.com/webinars

The LPS Education Foundation has implemented a unique program to attract families to the district and provide a great service to current residents by offering college planning and financial assistance for each new incoming kindergarten student. The goal is to provide district residents a competitive advantage over other communities by helping families begin college financial planning for their children early-on while providing seed money to begin saving for college.

The Foundation has provided the program now since 2008 for new classes of incoming students and have received a positive response. The Kalamazoo Promise program, recently implemented in that city, was used as a model for Livonia’s Competitive Edge program. Early results of the “Promise” show a variety of benefits for all areas of the community including increased enrollment, improved housing values, new retail development, and a renewed student commitment to completing their education.

How It Works

• The Foundation will provide an opportunity for the family of each new kindergarten student (including those in the Livonia Virtual program) to set up an IRS Section 529 college savings plan.
• The Foundation will hold education savings planning seminars for parents to learn about college savings, along with the tax and other advantages of a Section 529 Savings Plan.
• At these seminars, the Foundation will be prepared to set up a Section 529 savings plan for each student. The Foundation will be the account holder and the student will be the beneficiary.
• The Foundation will provide an initial contribution to a 529 savings account for the kindergarten student.
• Parents are encouraged to start a 529 savings plan and contribute towards it.
• To be eligible to utilize the Foundation’s 529 savings plan, a student must:
  • Sign up in kindergarten
  • Graduate from Livonia Public Schools
  • Attend an eligible post secondary school upon graduation
  • (There are no restrictions for accounts set up by families)
• The Competitive Edge will be offered annually for each new kindergarten student.
• The Foundation will use the State of Michigan’s MESP Section 529 Plan. There are over 100,000 current savings accounts with this well established program and parents may be eligible for a state matching contribution. For more information on the state’s program, visit www.MISAVES.com.

Why It’s Offered

• The LPS Education Foundation believes “Every child needs a foundation.” So we are committed to simplifying college savings planning for parents and to help get them started.
• The LPS Education Foundation Board sees a unique opportunity to significantly expand its influence and benefit to the LPS Community.
• This program will help attract families to the community which benefits everyone. Property values, funding for schools and municipalities, and business traffic are all enhanced by new families moving to our community.