Looking Ahead at the New Year
Betsy Huebel, Board Chair

I am honored to begin my year as Foundation board chair. It is an exciting time for the board, as we begin working with our new President, Martha Vukelich-Austin, to chart the next stages of the Foundation's development.

Just like everyone in the district, September is a new beginning for the Foundation, a time for setting new goals. Last year was a great year that produced a lot of momentum for the Foundation's growth. We will use that momentum this year to concentrate on a few areas that increase the Foundation's impact on our schools.

One focus will be "Adopt a School." This new initiative facilitates establishment of a structured partnership between a school and a business or community organization. Many private sector partners have a wealth of resources to bring to our schools, from in-kind donations to school volunteers to financial support. We have many examples that are already working, and the Foundation will strive to increase these connections to benefit everyone involved.

A second focus will be evaluating our existing grantmaking program and exploring some new opportunities. The goal is to increase the available grant dollars and allocate those dollars to exciting, creative projects in our schools.

Last May we sponsored a luncheon to celebrate the Foundation's first five years. We honored all our grant winners and enjoyed a program filled with student entertainment and comments by recognized alumni, students, and guests. It was fun, inspirational, and we cannot forget to mention profitable. All those funds will be used to support our schools. We will repeat this very successful event in May 2007.

If you have questions, comments, great ideas, or just want to become involved, please contact Martha Vukelich-Austin at 232-7820 or mvaustin@mailbag.com. Thanks for your support and everything you do for the education of our children.

Foundation Welcomes Five New Board Members
Howard Landsman, Grants & Fund Developer

The Foundation for Madison's Public Schools welcomes five new board members who began serving three-year terms in September 2006.

Robert Gibson has an extensive entrepreneurial background, having started, financed and developed a number of businesses and nursed several distressed companies back to health. He is currently working on a new company with some exciting technology. Robert and his wife are parents of three: a 7th grader at Spring Harbor and a sophomore and recent graduate of Memorial.

Michael Heffernan is an attorney with Foley and Lardner, focusing on family law and appeals. A long-time Madison resident and product of the public schools, Mike was a member of the very first graduating class (1970) at Memorial. He is married with two teenage sons who attend West.

Edith Lawrence-Hilliard is a life-long Madisonian who worked at Alliant Energy for 30 years, retiring in 2001. An active community volunteer, Edith is President of Women In Focus, serves on the Olbrich Botanical Gardens board, and is one of Monona Terrace's original docents. She is a single parent of three and grandmother of eleven public school children.

Kevin O'Connor is an attorney at Godfrey & Kahn who spent over two decades in state service, as an Assistant Attorney General and as head of the Office of Consumer Protection and Antitrust. Over the past 20 years, he served on school-related committees and worked on school board and referenda campaigns. His three daughters attended Crestwood, Spring Harbor and Memorial.

Marveen Phelps retired from O'Keeffe Middle School in 1997 after teaching 6th grade for 13 years. The first in her family to complete high school, Marveen began teaching in a rural school at age 19, after attending Peru State Teachers College in NE. Marveen now lives in a family of teachers and she and her husband have two grandchildren at Leopold and Cherokee.