The Winter grants cycle for the Radnor Educational Foundation netted 7 approved grants, for a total spend of $ 19,644. This second cycle of the 2025-2026 school year included a wide variety of requests, with students, parents, teachers, and community members focused on bringing innovation to all five public schools in the Radnor Township School District.
The grant details for this cycle are listed below.
Play Presentation of August Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”
$2,744 | Radnor High School | 55 students benefited
Students who are members of RHS’s inaugural AP African-American Studies classes, and the Viewpoints on Modern America & AP English Language courses plan to attend the revival of August Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” (JTCaG) on Broadway. A long-respected part of Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle” of plays, JTCaG surrounds African-American life in early 20th Century America and the Great Migration. In addition to the presentation, the AP AF-AM coursework involves a required research presentation from students as a part of their final AP test grade, and it is conceivable that the Great Migration, Wilson’s plays, or myriad other topics involved may cross over from class to stage, or vice versa.
Middle School Field Day Community & Belonging
$1,500 | Radnor Middle School | 860 students benefited
With our district’s “Belonging Initiative” in mind, Radnor Middle School will host a school-wide Field Day for the end of the school year. Through activities that students and staff will experience together, the Field Day will promote community, wellness, and belonging for everyone at Radnor Middle School. One of the community-building activities will be for RMS students to assist in the creation of DIY carnival games; working with Technology Education Teachers, they will plan and design games that can be used at field day this year and for years to come.
Multicultural Potluck Event
$2,000 | Radnor High School and Community | 300 community members benefited
Radnor High School holds an annual Multicultural Potluck event, which introduces students, families, and staff to different foods from different cultures, and provides a safe space for students to celebrate their unique culture. The potluck gives everyone the chance to bring in food from their specific culture, ranging from European to Central and South American foods, African, Middle Eastern, and Asian cuisines. This potluck gives students the opportunity to showcase their background, and participants can diversify their palates and learn more about food from around the world. Grant funds are utilized to supplement the costs of the event, including food stations, supplies, decorations, music, and a photo booth. Ultimately students are exposed to a number of cultures via food.
SOARS Program
$10,000 | Radnor High School | 10 students benefited
The Radnor High School Secondary Opportunities for Adult Readiness Skills (SOARS) Program services a population comprised of individuals who are impacted by significant developmental and/ or intellectual delays which make acquiring, transferring, and retaining new skills difficult. The population is generally well served through experience-based learning. The grant will fund an extended-stay type of apartment to foster independent living during school hours only, provide basic provisions for meal planning and preparation, and cover several “field trips” to support healthy leisure time activities — while offering enriching experiences related to the Independent Living domain of Transition Planning. This comprehensive approach to transition planning, implementation, and delivery of service will allow for cross-curricular PA state standards to be instructed using a natural setting.
Garden Tower to Table
$1,200 | Radnor High School | 75 students benefited
This project will involve students in planting, tending, and harvesting herbs, vegetables and fruits in the garden tower located in their classroom. The harvested produce will be delivered to the high school cafeteria to be used in many recipes, sauces, and side salads, and made available at breakfast and lunches for all students who participate in the National School Breakfast and Lunch Program. The high school nutritional services coordinator will oversee the elements of the grant program.
Outdoor Garden Space and Supplies *parent-requested grant
$1,200 | Ithan Elementary School | 512 students benefited
Students will have opportunities to engage in outdoor garden activities, such as: what to grow, where & how to plant, making garden maps, story sharing from family garden experiences & common knowledge of the plants, sprouting seeds, planting and labeling into big pots, caring for plants, (watering, weeding, trellising), documenting what we learn into student journals, learning the heritage of different seeds, and how plants work together in plant communities. Students will get to work with their hands, learn how a garden grows, and make meaningful connections to lessons in their Life-Sciences units, allowing additional synergy with the new STEELS standards in Pennsylvania.
Voter Registration with League of Women Voters *student-requested grant
$1,000 | Radnor High School | 320 students benefited
This voter registration project has become an annual tradition at Radnor High School. During practice for graduation, members of the League of Women Voters (LWV) student interns and former graduates address the approximately 320 members of the RHS Class of 2026 to encourage them to vote. Directions are provided on how to register and how to obtain and use a mail-in ballot. Timelines and potential pitfalls in the process are underscored. An envelope of voting and registration information is handed to each senior, which includes a voter registration form, a card with a QR code to register online, information about what will be on the ballot, and a link to Vote 411, the one-stop spot for voter and election information of the LWV. After receiving their envelopes, each student chooses an Insomnia cookie as a sweet reward for their efforts. Eligible students will be identified for registration, enabling them to vote in the spring primary.
With these 7 grants approved, the Foundation has awarded a total of 19 grants during the 2025-2026 school year. For the Winter grants alone, a total of 2,132 students and teachers benefited from the grants funding provided. The Spring cycle is expected to net about a dozen requests for consideration, continuing the Foundation’s tradition of delivering more than 30 years of innovative programs to the community.
