Eight Projects Receive Funding to Strengthen Student Culture, Building Security
WATERTOWN — The Safe Schools Endeavor, in partnership with the Northern New York Community Foundation, has awarded $11,232 in grant support to fund eight projects in eight Jefferson and Lewis County school districts for the 2025-2026 school year.
The Safe Schools Endeavor Steering Committee reviewed 10 applications for funding to support programs that empower students, parents, and faculty to maintain the safest schools possible in Jefferson and Lewis counties. This is the seventh year the fund has awarded grant support. Since its inception, the Safe Schools Endeavor has awarded $140,348 to support 79 school projects in Jefferson and Lewis counties.
“Each year, I reflect on all the work of the Safe Schools Endeavor, and I am reminded of how it’s only possible because our community is full of such generous businesses, groups, and individuals, with many of our donors giving annually since we began our mission in 2018,” said Erika Flint, steering committee chairwoman. “We sincerely appreciate our school partners who are deeply committed to the safety of our youth, which is evident in all they do each day and in these meaningful projects that embody our mission.”
The Community Foundation Board of Directors unanimously approved the following Safe Schools Endeavor grants:
- Copenhagen Central School District, $2,150 to add two cameras to its existing monitoring system to provide more complete security coverage. This addition will support a safer, more accountable environment for students.
- Lyme Central School District, $1,961 to install an LED display board at the school’s Welcome Center to minimize confusion during safety drills and emergencies. This new tool will enhance safety, support emergency response, and strengthen a culture of awareness and preparedness throughout the school community.
- Augustinian Academy, $1,680 to help secure a new playground area with a chain linked fence and gate. The playground is protected on three sides by the school building, but the fourth side presently opens to the street for bus and parent pickup.
- Beaver River Central School District, $1,600 to install three additional outdoor speakers to provide audio coverage around the K-12 building, supplementing the school’s existing exterior and interior speakers.
- Belleville Henderson Central School District, $1,000 to purchase an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to enhance student, staff, and community safety by ensuring rapid access to AEDs in the school and athletic fields. The school plans to train at least 80 percent of staff and volunteers in CPR/AED use to increase community awareness of AED availability.
- Sackets Harbor Central School District, $1,000 to purchase an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) for use at its athletic fields. The school district recently partnered with the American Red Cross to develop a comprehensive Cardiac Emergency Response Plan.
- South Jefferson Central School District, $1,000 to purchase an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) for use at Mannsville Elementary’s athletic fields and outside the building where students and community members utilize the playground and athletic fields.
- Jefferson-Lewis-Hamilton-Herkimer-Oneida BOCES, $840 to help develop an Emergency Evacuation Backpack Program, which will equip the Bohlen Technical Center with four fully stocked emergency backpacks and two emergency stop signs for staff to safely help students cross the street during evacuations. Backpacks will be strategically placed in accessible locations throughout the building, and staff will be trained on their locations and use, ensuring a rapid and coordinated response during emergencies.
Grants are made possible thanks to the generous gifts of many individuals and businesses in Jefferson and Lewis counties who support the Safe Schools Endeavor and its mission to help keep all children safe while they are at school.
The Safe Schools Endeavor stresses awareness, empowerment, and action within school communities. All grant proposals are evaluated based upon the degree to which they embody these desired outcomes. To stay informed about the Safe Schools Endeavor and its progress in Jefferson and Lewis county schools, like it on Facebook at Facebook.com/SafeSchoolsEndeavor and follow it on Instagram at Instagram.com/safeschoolsendeavor.
About the Safe Schools Endeavor
In the days that followed the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that left 14 students and three staff members dead, and 17 others wounded, a group of North Country residents were called to act in their own communities in Jefferson and Lewis counties.
While school safety leads many discussions across the country, the Safe Schools Endeavor was created to encourage change at a very local level. Its founding members believe our children are our most precious resource and should never worry for their safety at school.
With generous support from the Northern New York Community Foundation, a $20,000 matching grant for all gifts made in support of the initiative was announced and a focused effort to seek donations soon began. The movement struck a chord with many Northern New Yorkers who quickly gave to the effort and met the matching challenge, confirming a guiding philosophy that together “A Few Can Make a Difference.”
A 15-member, all-volunteer Steering Committee leads the Safe Schools Endeavor. Committee members are parents, school officials, nonprofit executives, and retirees. They include:
Erika Flint, executive director, Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization, and Safe Schools Endeavor Steering Committee chairwoman; Jessica Bowline, president, Indigo Inkwell; Sarah Colligan, chief human resources officer, Community Action Planning Council of Jefferson County; Andrianna Crawford, counselor, Lowville Academy and Central School; Brittney Fults, teacher, Carthage Central; Brigitte Gillette, counselor, Copenhagen Central; Maddox Hartle, General Brown Central School student, Marjorie LaVere, administrative assistant, Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office; Todd Lighthall, executive director, Camp Oswegatchie; Angela Matthews, LCSW, behavioral health consultant, Guthrie Ambulatory Health Clinic, Fort Drum; Rebecca Paté-Johnson, Head Start family advocate, Community Action Planning Council of Jefferson County; Officer Shane Ryan, Watertown City Schools school resource officer, Watertown City Police Department; Kylie Simpson, probation officer, Lewis County Probation Department; Skyler Tuttle, school safety officer, Lowville Academy and Central School; and Talitha Workman, preschool teacher and advancement director, Augustinian Academy.
About the Northern New York Community Foundation
Since 1929, the Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
Through partnerships with businesses and organizations, charitable foundations, and generous families and individual donors, the Community Foundation awards grants and scholarships from an endowment and collection of funds that benefit the region. Its commitment to donors helps individuals achieve their charitable objectives now and for generations to come by preserving and honoring legacies of community philanthropy while inspiring others.
The Community Foundation is a resource for local charitable organizations, donors, professional advisors and nonprofit organizations. It also works to bring people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live, work, and play.