Educational foundation calls event a big success
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

JACKSON - A Battle of the Bands event held Feb. 10 at Jackson Memorial High School has paid off with a net gain of almost $8,000 for the Jackson Educa-tion Foundation.

According to foundation officials, those funds will go back to Jackson's schools and students in the form of SMART boards in the classroom.

The SMART Board Interactive Whiteboard creates an interactive working, training and learning environment. Teachers can simply touch the SMART Board Interactive Whiteboard to highlight key points, access applications and Web sites and write notes in electronic ink. At each step, the work can be saved to a computer file that can be printed, e-mailed or posted to a Web site for students' use.

"The success of this event means the foundation was able to raise enough money to make a great contribution to Jackson students," said foundation President Martin Spielman. "We're pleased to announce that because of everyone's hard work over the past several months, we will be purchasing five SMART boards for Jackson's elementary schools. We can also begin a mini-grant program for teachers and a scholarship program for students."

The Jackson Educational Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to assist the Jackson School District in providing funds for a variety of programs, grants and scholarships that the Board of Education is unable to cover within its operating budget.

The foundation is comprised of a group of dedicated volunteers that includes parents, educators, administrators, business leaders, community leaders and former educators who have a common goal to give back to students and teachers, Spielman said.

More than 500 students and adults attended the Battle of the Bands, far exceeding expectations and making it a highly successful fundraiser, organizers said.

"We were bowled over by the positive response to this event," said fundraising chairman Michael Kafton. "I think everyone who attended had a lot of fun and already there's talk about doing a second Battle of the Bands. It's very gratifying to be able to host an entertaining event like this which raises money that goes back into our school system and helps Jackson's kids."

Eight youth-oriented bands from Lavallette, Toms River, Howell and Jackson performed in the competition and were judged on music ability, originality, showmanship, crowd reaction and vocal ability.

Prizes were awarded to Outside the Box, Learning Takes a Lifetime and The Executives. The first and second prizes were donated by The Jam Room of Howell and included recording time or rehearsal time. The third prize was a photo shoot for use in the band's press kit.

"On behalf of the entire foundation, we'd like to thank all the patrons and volunteers for making this such a successful event," Spielman said. "Our success means that our students and teachers can have important resources that can make the education process even more meaningful. That's something to be proud of."

Speaking at the Feb. 13 meeting of the Township Council, Councilman Scott Martin congratulated the foundation for the successful event.

Upcoming foundation events include a spring luncheon and fashion show, and an alumni picnic to be held in the summer. The foundation is also looking for volunteers. For more information about the foundation or to make a contribution, contact Martin Spielman by sending an e-mail to mspielman@optonline.net.

The foundation expects to launch a Web site at www.JacksonEducational

Foundation.org in the near future.