Annual Report

2005 Report to Parents and Staff
Celebrating Two Decades of Investment in Education

2004 marks the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation's 20th anniversary. Over the past two decades, CEEF grants have:

• restored classroom music at all elementary
  schools;
• supported exceptional teacher training programs;
• enabled schools to purchase library books, information resources, computers and software,art materials, musical instruments, and performing arts programs;
• funded math, science, language arts, and information literacy resource teachers;
• supported the development of a multicultural curriculum;
• funded a model “Thinking Math” program and hands-on science workshops.

CEEF's $8.5 million investment in district educational programs has significantly enhanced the quality of education in our classrooms, but more importantly, it has enriched the lives of students and teachers in our community.

“As a mathematician, you need to think of all possibilities and look for exceptions. It's not just memorizing math facts. It's a way of thinking.” Stephen Giandomenico finds math solutions more relaxing than piano practice – that is until he has mastered a musical piece and is able to play it perfectly. When asked what he had learned from his middle school math enrichment class and competitive math experience, he noted that  “Mathcounts helped me learn to approach intellectual problems from different perspectives and assess logical solutions. As a mathematician, you need to think of all possibilities and look for exceptions. It's not just memorizing math facts. It's a way of thinking. You learn to question and consider all perspectives.” “For me, the most important outcome from my competitive math experience was the development of social and leadership skills.”

The impact of math enrichment on Donald Ying's life was quite different. As a child, the Stanford graduate student looked for books about math and read alone because he had no one to talk to about math. Mary Fay-Zenk's CEEF-funded Math Club at Miller Junior High opened the door to the world of interactive math. He thrived in an environment where groups of students could work together to explore challenging math problems, and carried Mary's torch to Lynbrook High School and Stanford University where he founded Math Clubs on both campuses. “I'm proud to say that the number of math majors has quadrupled at Stanford. I think that's because we worked hard to plan Math Club activities that were fun and interactive; we removed the stereotype of Math majors as nerds.”

In the same spirit, Mr. Ying returns every year to help coach the math team at Lynbrook High School. His coaching strategy? “You can't make students calculate faster or more accurately,” he said, “but you can help them to work effectively as a team, to strategize, to communicate quickly, and split up problems among the team to take advantage of individual strengths.” Most importantly, he emphasizes, “placement is not as important as doing well and having fun.”