Welcome to the Spanish Education Fund
The Spanish Education Fund (SEF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in 2009. Our purpose is to raise money and recruit parent volunteers to support the International Teaching Intern Program at Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion School (K-6), Central Middle School (7-8) and Eden Prairie High School (9-12).
Interns from Spanish speaking countries from around the world assist teachers and students in classrooms at these schools, providing a unique educational resource that has been proven extremely valuable to language acquisition, by bring their language and cultures to life. As a result, students become more confident in their ability to communicate in Spanish and create connections to people and places outside of their own world.
In addition to fundraising, we work with school staff to review and select intern candidates, recruit host and buddy families for the interns from our parent community for the duration of their stay, collect donations of winter clothing, organize parent volunteers to provide transportation for interns, and many other things to ensure interns have a positive experience while in the U.S. gaining valuable experience in the field of education.
Our Mission
Support the Eden Prairie Spanish immersion program, through sustainable funding, to host the best volunteer international Spanish speaking interns and provide other educational and cultural resources.
2018-19 Intern Video
As we wrap up the 2018-19 school year, we will be saying goodbye to our amazing interns as they get ready to head back home and continue their education journey. Check out this year’s intern video HERE!
Host & Buddy Families Needed for Next Year!
We are still looking for several more Host Families for next school year. If you are interested in hosting, please fill out the Host Family Application and return it to Cammy Bahner at cammy.bahner@gmail.com or send it to school in your child’s backpack and have them turn it into the office. Contact Cammy with any questions about hosting as well!
We also need Buddy Families for next school year. Buddy Families support the Host Families by helping with intern transportation, taking interns to dinner or events with their families, and offer an additional support system for the interns. It is a great way to get involved with the interns if you are unable to host an intern.
If you are interested in being a Buddy Family, please fill out the Buddy Family Application and return it to Kim Pederson at sefbuddyfamily@gmail.com or send it to school in your child’ backpack. Contact Kim and Holly with questions about being a buddy family.
Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Wrap Up
Thank you!
We wanted to take a moment to thank our committed parents for attending the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta and for your support throughout the year!
Without the support of parents and guardians like yourselves, we could not continue to provide the intern program and all that it entails each year.
Overall the 2019 Cinco Fiesta raised $22,544. This amount will pay for 3.5 interns for the upcoming school year!
Save the date for next year’s Fiesta on May 1, 2020 at the Minnesota Valley Country Club in Bloomington to celebrate amazing interns and another successful school year.
If you are interested in the various roles to help make Cinco a success, please contact the Cinco Chair, Esra Riggs at esra_riggs@yahoo.com.
Social Media Update
EHSI is on Twitter!
Get sneak peeks into your student’s art, gym and music classes. Enjoy seeing the exciting educational activities going on in classrooms all over Eagle Heights, intern professional development, information on school sponsored events and celebrations as well as catching the interns in action in the classroom.
Follow @EPEaglesEHSI to get up-to-date information about all things Spanish Immersion!
This Month’s Newsletter
CLICK HERE to view the current SEF newsletter and stay up-to-date on everything about the intern program and SEF.
Looking for a past issue of our newsletter? You can find them on our Resources page under Newsletters.
Volunteering
Intern Transportation Drivers
A great way to meet your child’s intern is to volunteer for a transportation shift. Driving the interns to or from a meeting or activity just once a quarter (or month!) is a wonderful way to hear about your child’s classroom and all they are learning.
Sign up on the Intern Transportation Website for a shift on the Monthly Driving Schedule or contact the Intern Transportation Coordinator, Sarah Bailey, at sarahb11278@gmail.com.
To learn more about other SEF volunteer opportunities, check out our Volunteer page.
FUNDRAISING
The International Teaching Intern Program is 100% funded by parent contributions to our Annual Contributions Campaign and employer matching programs. We receive no financial support from the school district or schools.
Our goal is for families to make their contribution at Open House in August each year or online in August or September. The suggested contribution is $150 per student or whatever amount works in your family’s budget. It’s the easiest way to support the intern program… write one check at the beginning of the school year, and you are done!
The most important aspect is that EVERY immersion family contributes some amount to the program to help share the financial burden of the program as all of our children benefit from this unique educational resource in some way.
Make Your Annual Contribution
Annual Contribution
Did you know… 100% of your Annual Contribution goes to the SEF and is the primary source of funding for the International Teaching Intern Program? It’s easy to contribute, just use the donate button below.
Monthly Annual Contribution
Want to spread out your Annual Contribution into budget friendly monthly payments? Select a monthly payment option from the drop down menu and click the SUBSCRIBE button below instead to make monthly Annual Contribution donations.
| Monthly Payment Options |
Checks
Make checks payable to the Spanish Education Fund and mail to:
SEF Treasurer
c/o Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion School
13400 Staring Lake Parkway
Eden Prairie, MN 55347
SEF Federal Tax ID# 27-0584708
Spanish Education Fund | info@spanisheducationfund.org | Expanding our children’s world
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