Article Contributed on: 3/26/2007 12:22:49 PM
Just six hours before the start of St. Patrick's day, the great work of the event team, the support of corporate partners Echostar and Lockheed Martin, and a little "luck of the Irish" paid off for the LPS Foundation's annual "Spirit of Littleton Celebration" fundraiser. Through the generous participation of all who attended, the Foundation raised more than $75,000, to be used for the Littleton School District's project of installing hubs for wireless computing in all the schools and for the Foundation's annual scholarships and grant funding. Foundation President
Mary McGlone stated that, "It's all part of the Foundation's "Technology Tools for the 21st Century" program, which supports the math, science, and technology goals of the district."
Steve Spangler, that "science guy" on 9NEWS (KUSA-TV) and the Emmy Award Winning Science Host of NBC television's News for Kids, entertained his hometown audience, demonstrating the importance of science education for the future of our country and challenging teachers to make science exciting for their students. Steve even recruited Superintendent
Scott Murphy to become a reluctant participant in some of Steve's "experiments". Steve is a grad from Littleton's own Heritage High School.
Even the Silent Auction went high-tech (no more bid sheets and pencils), with digital display notebooks showing all of the items up for bid. Guests could make bids from any of the notebooks placed throughout the auction area, even at the dining tables, and could check on the status of all their bids at any time. The designers of the system, Auction Automations, also produced the Audio/Video displays, showing "Did You Know?" fact sheets about the school district and the foundation and showing live, silent auction updates throughout the evening. Harpist
Hannah Jackson, 9th grade student at Arapahoe High School, provided music for the Silent Auction guests.
The live auction, lead by auctioneer
Dave Weldon, included bids for a cocktail party at the Sculptured House (featured in the
Woody Allen movie "Sleeper" and the personal, private residence of Mr.
Michael Dunahay), a bi-lateral lasik surgery package donated by Spivack Vision Center, a six day safari trip from African Eyes Travel, and the opportunity to purchase "shares" in the "Technology Tools for the 21st Century" program.
To see photos and "Did You Know?" fact sheets from the "2007 Spirit of Littleton Celebration", and for more information about the Littleton Public Schools Foundation, visit
www.lpsfoundation.com or contact us at 303-347-3478.
About the Littleton Public Schools Foundation
The Littleton Public Schools Foundation is dedicated to funding innovative school programs that inspire creative learning and improved performance for students in the Littleton Public Schools. Since its founding in 1992, the Littleton Public Schools Foundation has funded over $1,200,000 in student enrichment programs, benefiting tens of thousands of LPS students in every school.