SEED celebrates 10th anniversary
DOVER – The Seacoast Educational Endowment of Dover, a nonprofit organization dedicated to lifting academic excellence in Dover schools, is celebrating its tenth year funding innovative curriculum, professional development, and classroom equipment.
In 10 short years, SEED has funded more than $240,000 in direct donations to faculty across the Dover district. From biotechnology tools to kindergarten reading back packs. The size and type of grant awards varies, but the impacts remain the same, equipping students with 21st century skills to prepare for post-secondary education and career challenges.
To celebrate the milestone, SEED engaged Dave Sieks Illustration & Design of Dover to create an anniversary marque to be used throughout 2022. Sieks, who has two sons at Dover High School, worked with the SEED color palette to create a graphic that could stand alone. “I am honored SEED selected me for this project,” said Sieks. “I’ve been continually impressed with the innovative projects they have funded throughout the years.”
Dover consistently ranks the lowest in the entire state of New Hampshire in per pupil funding. SEED’s mission is critical to preparing Dover’s future work force, especially with labor shortages across the nation. SEED depends on annual giving to finance grants twice a year and is currently underway with its annual appeal campaign to solidify funding for 2022. “We are forever grateful for the community’s support these last ten years,” said Natalie Koellmer, Chair, SEED Board of Directors. “But we have more work to do and we can’t do it without philanthropic giving to achieve academic excellence in the years to come.” For more information, to become a sponsor, or donate, please visit www.doverseed.org.
Seacoast Science Center offers Marine Science Fellowship
RYE — The Seacoast Science Center announces its semester-long course designed to give high school sophomores, juniors, or seniors the opportunity to study marine science topics in depth. Participants in the Marine Science Fellowship program, which begins on Feb. 5, will learn about different careers in the marine sciences, engage with guest professionals, and gain clarity on their future educational path.
Through inquiry, investigation, and hands-on experience at the resource-rich science center, students will greatly broaden their understanding on a range of marine topics.
They will also gain insight on the impact they have on the ocean, the challenges facing our climate, and how they can contribute to a sustainable and healthy ocean.
Marine Science Fellows will develop individual research projects based on their special interest, receiving guidance throughout the process. Students who participated in the past semester can continue their research project in greater depth or choose a new topic of concentration. All students will learn presentation skills and share their research with others.
Students may also have an opportunity to earn credit through their school via either the New Hampshire Learn Everywhere or Extended Learning Opportunities programs.
The 10-week course, which runs Feb. 5 to June 5, has an expected time commitment of 3 to 4 hours per week, with an option for additional hours. The course schedule includes Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., plus additional study, project, and/or volunteer time to be conducted on the student’s own time, as arranged with the program leader.
The cost for the course is $400 for members of the Seacoast Science Center; $450 non-members.
For a complete course itinerary, details on obtaining credit, and to apply, visit www.seacoastsciencecenter.org/programs/grade-k-12/marine-science-fellowship. Please contact course leader Sean McKenna at [email protected] or 603-436-8043, ext. 31 if you have questions.
The Seacoast Science Center is located in Odiorne Point State Park, 570 Ocean Blvd., Rye, N.H.
NHDES recognizes Dover with 2021 Asset Management Award
DOVER – On Dec. 16, 2021, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) presented the 2021 Asset Management Award to the City of Dover and their Community Services Utilities Division Asset Management Team. The award was established to promote and encourage communities to implement Asset Management Programs (AMPs), which are a holistic approach to manage total infrastructure systems over the life cycle of assets in the most cost effective way.
NHDES believes that by providing assistance to communities, village districts and water precincts for the development and implementation of AMPs, New Hampshire residents will benefit from more sustainable water, wastewater and stormwater systems throughout the state.
In 2019, the NHDES Asset Management Award was established by the NHDES Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau (DWGB), Wastewater Engineering Bureau (WWEB) and Watershed Management Bureau (WMB). The award recognizes exemplary AMPs within the state.
NHDES recognizes the City of Dover and their Community Services Utilities Division for the 2021 Asset Management Award. Dover has developed an asset management program specific to Dover’s needs using its current software, VUEWorks. Dover’s AMP is a team effort. By consciously pulling institutional knowledge from personnel and turning that knowledge into usable information in their AMP, Dover continues to be a leader and a success story in the field. Dover representatives have participated in NHDES’ annual asset management workshop, as well as other opportunities, to freely share lessons learned with other communities.
In addition to their work with both drinking water and wastewater asset management, Dover also took a unique approach to their stormwater asset management program by taking the next step to solely use in-house personnel, without the assistance of a contractor, to add stormwater assets to their AMP. Dover personnel fully embraced the mission and immersed themselves into the development of their Stormwater AMP. 2016 was the first year that funding was available for Stormwater AMP, and Dover is one of 28 New Hampshire communities thus far that has taken advantage of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program to develop a Stormwater AMP. Overall, Dover is a great asset management success story, and well deserving for recognition of their hard work. They have demonstrated that they are an asset management leader in the state, and continue to lead and grow their AMP in the City of Dover. We proudly present the 2021 NHDES Asset Management Award to the City of Dover Community Services Utility Division.
For more information about Asset Management and funding opportunities, please visit our Asset Management webpage or email [email protected] or [email protected] for drinking water, [email protected] or [email protected] for wastewater, or [email protected] or [email protected] for stormwater.
Step Up Parents raises $17,463 at 10th Annual Spinning Generosity
PORTSMOUTH — Step Up Parents entered the holiday season in high spirits. The nonprofit recently participated in its first Spinning Generosity, an annual weeklong fundraising event hosted by Portsmouth fitness guru Liz Forkel of LizFit. This year, the event raised over $119,000 for seven local nonprofits. With the support of some local financial institutions, Step Up Parents (SUP) surpassed its Spinning Generosity fundraising goal of $10,000, raising a total of $17,463.
Service Credit Union was the top donor, and their $5,000 donation helped propel the SUP team of 18 volunteer riders past their fundraising goal.
“We are proud to support Step Up Parents in the 10th annual Spinning Generosity fundraiser,” said Wendy Beswick, VP of Marketing. “Step Up plays a crucial role in helping support New Hampshire children by providing essential resources to their caregivers, and we are so grateful for their efforts.”
Sponsoring two employees to ride for team SUP, Merrimack County Savings Bank donated $500 to the cause, and Bangor Savings Bank also stepped up giving $250 to the effort. With over 130 total donations to SUP, Spinning Generosity was a great success.
As a direct-assistance organization, SUP provides financial and material support to kinship caregivers raising children whose parents struggle with substance use disorder. This kind of support is more important than ever as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the cost of food, clothing, and energy.
“The pandemic has had a devastating impact on so many kinship families,” said Step Up Parents Founder Denyse Richter. “With heating costs on the rise, we are seeing a real uptick in applications for assistance. With the generous donations from Service Credit Union, Merrimack County Savings Bank, and Bangor Savings Bank, many more kinship care families will receive support for their individual needs, like daycare costs, clothing, baby supplies, or utility bills.” SUP gave assistance to more than 100 kinship families in 2021.
If you or someone you know is a relative caregiver raising children of a loved one struggling with substance misuse, please visit www.stepupparents.net, call 603-319-4739, or email [email protected].
To donate to Step Up Parents, please visit www.stepupparents.net/donate or mail to P.O. Box 1603, Portsmouth, NH, 03801.
Anonymous donation made to Working Dog Foundation and NH Police K-9 Academy
NOTTINGHAM — A very dedicated supporter and proponent of the Working Dog Foundation is giving back to the community with the donation of a brand new 2022 Cargo Express utility trailer to The Working Dog Foundation (WDF). This donor wishes to remain anonymous.
In recent years WDF has utilized various sites around the state for training purposes. Providing a variety of environments both interior and exterior is an important component of Police K-9 training. This generous donation will allow us to store and transport our training equipment. When not in use, the trailer will allow for equipment storage in a secure location. With several new K-9 teams coming on board recently, equipment needs have grown significantly.
“We provide training and equipment for law enforcement organizations in smaller communities,” according to WDF Trainer John Usher. “This donation will allow us to continue to provide best-in-class training for our K-9’s and their human partners” he continued.
Currently the Working Dog Foundation trains seven Police K-9 teams from communities in New Hampshire and Maine.
The Working Dog Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life and safety in communities through the expert training and care of Police K-9’s. These dogs prote police officers and help them locate and rescue missing persons; detect dangerous drugs, weapons, and preserve order in cities and towns.
