“In students’ time in East schools from kindergarten through graduation, the East Grand Rapids Foundation Board will contribute more than $6 million to their education,” Jay Forstner, the Communications Director of the East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation, said.  

The East Grand Rapids School Foundation funds education throughout East Grand Rapids. Students and teachers can give their input to the board through grants to fund extra educational programs. Without those funds, East Grand Rapids would be devoid of many co-curricular opportunities. 

“The foundation board is made up of 23 community members,” Amy Stuursma, the Executive Director of the East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation, said. “All of those community members represent students in all three elementary buildings as well as middle and high school. Those members are put on our board to be the fiduciaries of the funds that exist within the foundation, and that allows those people to support the Foundation and the mission of the foundation. They are the decision-makers in terms of what we fund.”

This year, the Foundation Board will be contributing more than $700,000 to the community. This money will be granted to a variety of co-curricular activities. 

“We’ve granted money to the Cooking Club, Robotics, and the We the People team. We funded March Book Madness at all three elementary schools, a trip to the Middle School Math Conference for all the middle school math teachers, and a trip for the Middle School Social Studies Department Travel to Washington DC and New York,” Audrey Krajewski ‘25, the class of 2025 student board representative, said.  

Alongside supporting extracurricular activities and trips, the Foundation Board funds niche expenses that many East families might not realize. 

“We fund every single tuba or drum that you’ve looked at in your whole high school career. We’ve funded all the way down to every kindergartner who’s played in a play kitchen. Anyone who gets reading support, any little book they pick up, we have funded all of those,” Stuursma said. 

A large part of the Foundation Board and the decisions they make come down to the two student representatives that East Grand Rapids students apply for during their sophomore year. These students help give perspective from an actual student’s eyes to other members of the board.

“As a student board representative, we give input on what we think of grants, what we think would be the best use of funding, and which grants would help the student body the most,” Tanyon Sanders ‘26, the class of 2026 student board representative, said. 

Current sophomores can apply up until April 15. The application process includes answering some questions, getting a letter of recommendation from a teacher, and an interview. 

“Sophomores should apply as it’s a great way to give back to your community, to get involved, and to provide more opportunities to the students at all levels of education in East Grand Rapids. It’s a super rewarding experience,” Krajewski said. 

Overall, the Foundation Board is key for giving East Grand Rapids methods to excel in learning, such as calculators in math classes, sponsoring extracurricular trips, and providing instruments to the high school. 

“If [students] are interested in volunteering at the foundation or with some of our events, we would really welcome them at any time,” Forstner said.