Penguin Party set February 7th to raise funds for Cape Public School Teachers & Students

Linda Robert @ Franklin during Brown Bag Book Club receiving Foundation Teaching Grant

Break out your favorite black and white party wear; the Cape Girardeau Public School Foundation is hosting its third annual drive gala February 7 at Cape Country Club, Country Club Drive in Cape. This year's gala, a "Penguin Party," invites individuals and businesses who care about Cape's public school students to attend an event created to raise funds for the Foundation's Great Idea Teaching Grants.

"Each year, the Foundation awards these teaching grants to Cape Girardeau public school teachers to help them turn innovative ideas and teaching strategies into realities," said CGPS Foundation president Amy McDonald. "In fact, in the last four years, the Foundation awarded over $72,000 in Great Idea Teaching Grants and impacted over 10,000 students." Without these grants, local teachers would not have had the means to provide Cape's public school students with programs such as Jefferson's 'Readers are Leaders; Summer at the Library' and 'Science in Literacy', Franklin's 'Brown Bag Book Club', and incorporating guitars into 'Music Appreciation' and Science Olympiad into the Science curriculum at Central Junior High School."

The Foundation's February 7 Penguin Party begins at 6 p.m. with a social hour, drinks, hors d'oeuvres and live jazz by Cape Central Jazz Band, followed by an elegant dinner at 7 p.m. and an auction by Sparks Auctioneering at 8 p.m. Guests can then dance the night away to music from the local band Mudpuppy.

"The Cape Public School Foundation funds directly to teachers' for innovative classroom teaching projects that enhance opportunities for all students enrolled in the Cape Girardeau Public School District," Tammy Samuel, executive director said, "but we can't do this without the help of Cape's community members. We're having the Penguin Party hoping to bring together community members who care about our public school students, want to help make a difference in the lives and education of our students, and like to have fun doing it!"

Reservations for the February 7th Penguin Party are $50 per person or reserve eight-person tables for $350 each. Donation dollars for grants and auction items for the party are still needed. For more information about the Penguin Party, sponsorship opportunities or the Cape Girardeau Public School Foundation, please contact Tammy Samuel at 651-0555, director@capeschools.org or visit www.capeschools.org.

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About Cape Girardeau Public School Foundation

The Cape Girardeau Public School Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that raises money, through private and business donations, for educational programs and activities which are not otherwise funded or are under-funded by the district's normal operating budget. Since the Foundation reorganized in 2005, they have awarded over $72,000 in Great Ideas Teaching Grants and have impacted over 10,000 students. The Foundation is run by volunteer directors and one paid part-time executive director.