Gioannini gift continues to fund education projects at Farmington
By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post
FARMINGTON – One measure of true generosity is giving a gift for which you never receive thanks.
Anonymous donors, planters of oak trees and those who create endowments and lasting memorials come immediately to mind. So does Annette Gioannini, a long-time Farmington resident who taught briefly for Farmington Central Schools. That, however, is just a part of her legacy.
The donation Gioannini made to the school district after her death in 2016 at age 101 has funded hundreds of projects worth $115,961. And that’s just the interest earned from her donation, meaning generations of Farmington students will continue to benefit from Gioannini’s generosity.
Count second-year librarian Sara Meyer among those very grateful for the donations. Meyer this year received $4,000 in books and materials for a maker-space area where students can create, invent and learn.
Ongoing projects include learning about electrical circuits, 3D printing, coding robots and chemical reactions.
“It helps me bring a lot of tech to kids in the maker space,” Meyer said. “It has just really made the kids seem more alive and more excited and eager to come in. They are excited to come to the library.”
Students spend one week a month in the maker-space area, three weeks in the library. Meyer said the extra funding helps her replace damaged and lost books and keep up with student’s latest interests.
“This is giving me a huge opportunity to keep the library collection updated with current characters the children enjoy and popular series and new topics they like,” she said.
Favorites include books about Bluey and anything from the “Dog Man,” “I Survived” or “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series.
“I can’t keep ‘Dog Man’ on my shelves. But those books always break and are constantly needing replacement,” Meyer said. “I’m extremely grateful this program is here.”
Funding also came in handy for Farmington’s grade-school reading specialists Heather Rice, Bridget Rickard and Robby Reeder. This year, the trio combined for a grant to purchase two different forms of specialized reading curriculum – Fundations Level 2 and 3 and UFLI, from the University of Florida Literacy Institute. A grant last year paid for Fundations Level K and 1.
This specialized curriculum is designed for students in grades K-3 whose test scores indicate areas in need of work.
Rice said she was willing to buy the Fundations book out of her own pocket, but the grant took care of the costs.
“This is a fantastic program to get tools for updating resources,” said Rice, who has taught at Farmington for 23 years. “One year I wrote a grant and got the (ECR) Wobble Stool for flexible seating. They’re really nice to have for kids that fidget a lot.”
This year’s awards of $27,979 also went for classroom books, microscopes, calculators, geometry shapes and various other supplies. A committee of teachers, parents and an administrator determines the allocation of funds on a yearly basis for the following items: educational supplies, activities and programs, equipment, building repair or construction.
“Our committees want things to affect the students directly. The money never goes to clubs and teams. You’ve got booster clubs and fundraisers for that type of thing,” Assistant Superintendent Toby Vallas said. “I think we’re extremely fortunate. You never know what the state and what budgets are going to look like from year to year. To have something to fall back on like this that directly affects our students is amazing.”
