Full STEAM Ahead Capital Campaign

The Ottawa Hills Schools Foundation has launched an “All Aboard” initiative to encourage wider participation in its Full STEAM Ahead Capital Campaign. The Foundation has recruited parent "conductors" at each grade level in the Elementary School (grades K through 6) to help the fundraising project – centered around gears – be successful.

Campaign supporters can buy a symbolic “gear” at different financial levels to honor a family, a favorite teacher, or their own time as a student in the district. Depending on the project supported, the donor’s name will be recognized either inside The Foundry and/or the Elementary School’s Library Media Center (LMC).

Informational sessions about the conductors and All Aboard campaign are:

Wednesday, March 16, 11:15 a.m., Ottawa Hills Library Media Center
Thursday, March 17, 8:15 a.m., The Foundry at the Junior/Senior High School
RSVP to both by March 14 to esilk@ohschools.org.

The money raised will help fund a complete LMC renovation as well as enhancements to the art room and 6th Grade science lab. In addition to the renovations and enhancements, the All Aboard campaign will lead to a new MakerPlace, Reading Corner, and robotics arena as well as installation of flexible seating, small-group innovation stations, and lab equipment.

“Through these major investments, we will advance the subjects of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math for our children and all K-6 students,” the outreach letter states. The All Aboard campaign in support of the Full STEAM Ahead Capital Campaign ends April 1.

All projects are expected to be completed by the fall of 2023.

Questions about the campaign? Contact Erica Silk, the district’s director of development and alumni relations, at esilk@ohschools.org or 419-214-4838.

Watch the campaign video

Donate online

The Projects of the Full STEAM Ahead Capital Campaign

The Foundry

The Foundry, a name suggested and voted for by students, will become the academic heart of the Junior/Senior High School serving students in grades 7-12. It will be a research, technology, and intervention center by transforming the current open courtyard and adjacent interior classrooms. The result: 6,800 feet of unified educational space open to students 13 hours a day during the school year. It will be the center for collaborative work and serve as a learning laboratory where innovation, experimentation, and learning strategies are developed and action research is employed.

The Gupta Family Science & Research Corridor

2021 - Gupta Family Science & Research Corridor

These tech-centric spaces elevate research and education in four distinct and increasingly interconnected disciplines: biological and physical sciences, technology, rhetoric and composition, and mathematics. The Gupta Family Science & Research Corridor offers a collaborative interdisciplinary research culture with renowned researchers and educators from the University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University. Serving as the hub connecting these academic locations is a new Research Lab just for students, equipped with the computer and science equipment they need to pursue their own inquiries.

The Sue and Jim White, Jr. Family Art Studio

Our Art Studio brings together interactive spaces designed to inspire students to experiment, play, and create as they explore the ideas, tools, and techniques of classical, modern, and contemporary art. It will transform the way our art classrooms interact with all disciplines of STEAM curriculum and connect students through exhibitions, studio art, and performance education.

The Wondry at the Elementary School

Located at the Elementary School, The Wondry will include a dedicated STEAM lab, enhanced Makerspace, upgrades to the library’s reading area and art classroom, and major upgrades to the 6th Grade science room. The goal: a seamless transition in these subjects between the elementary, junior high, and senior high curriculums built on similar instructional delivery platforms.

Campaign overview & update

The fundraising campaign to reinvent academic and support services across district buildings is officially under way following the kick-off of the Full STEAM Ahead Capital Campaign.

“We are thrilled by the level of participation so far,” said Dr. Anjali Gupta (’99), who is co-chairing the campaign with husband Anil. “As people hear the story behind the campaign and see the possibilities, they are enthusiastically joining the rush.”

A June 2 ceremonial groundbreaking brought the campaign and its goals into the public eye. In subsequent months as demolition and construction began, the planning committee worked behind the scenes to ensure the $2.2 million campaign succeeded. In the campaign’s “public” phase, more traditional donor outreach occurs. This is where fundraising focuses on gifts of any size as well as efforts by individuals working together as groups.

Past and future donations will make possible a range of enhancements, primarily at the Junior/Senior High School. Following the groundbreaking, the committee formally expanded the campaign’s scope to include the Elementary School. Projects there range from new equipment for the art room and 6th Grade science classroom to a new STEAM lab and expanded Makerspace.

“The Elementary School projects will create the perfect matching bookend to the Junior/Senior High School,” said Dr. Gupta. “We are creating a continuum that will enrich students in these subjects from Kindergarten through their senior year. That K-12 STEAM pathway will become a defining characteristic of what it means to receive an Ottawa Hills education.”

The STEAM in the campaign title refers to science, technology, engineering, art, and math. According to the Ohio Department of Education, STEAM education “is an integrated approach to learning where rigorous academic concepts are learned through real-world, project-based experiences.”

Students use those subjects to make authentic connections between school, community, and work experiences. That is certainly the case at Ottawa Hills Local Schools, which regularly receives statewide and national recognition for STEAM achievements by students, teachers,  and programs.

“Alumni are extremely proud of our school district, and are showing it through amazing gifts,” said Jackie (Hylant) Berenzweig (’93), president of the Ottawa Hills Schools Foundation. “Everyone understands the importance to this  Village of sustaining excellence and supporting tradition.”

The public campaign starts nearly one year after Villagers approved a $8.5 million bond levy. That levy made it possible to sell bonds to raise money to build The Foundry (originally known as the Learning Commons) and to make extensive upgrades to existing STEAM classrooms. Some of the bond money raised will be used to install heating, cooling, and ventilation systems throughout the Junior/Senior High School, sections of which opened in 1939.

In addition to the physical changes, there are other visual signs of progress. Earlier this summer, signs went up announcing the campaign: one on the construction fencing along Kenwood Avenue and another on one of the temporary classrooms in the building’s parking lot. And a group of 36 parents and other Villagers working together as The Foundry Design Team are exploring projects and programs for the new space.

Since mid-summer, many visitors to the Junior/Senior High School have been able to see firsthand the campaign’s progress. Walls are gone and new spaces created, including the shell for what will become The Foundry. In addition, The Gupta Family Science & Research Corridor is up and running.

Construction will pick up intensity around January 2022 and proceed quickly into summer. Assuming all deadlines are met, the plan is for an August ribbon-cutting for the completed project before the start of the 2022-2023 academic year.