BRAD BRADLEY ARTS GRANTS RECIPIENTS
By Olivia Frenkel
AAs time passes and educational budgets across the
country continue to diminish, school districts
everywhere have begun looking to their communities
for financial help. The West Contra Costa Unified
School District is no exception. After the passage of
Proposition 13 in 1983, funding for public education
was severely cut, and curriculum was left bare-boned.
However, glimmers of hope remained for West Contra
Costa students in the form of the local Ed Fund.
The Ed Fund, or West Contra Costa’s Public
Education Fund, is the WCCUSD’s lead agency to
gather support from philanthropic agencies and local
businesses to provide students with the resources
taken from these budget cuts. These intermediary
efforts began in 2010, once the Ed Fund began to see
the detrimental effects of these budget cuts. At the
beginning of 2011, they hosted collaboration meetings
with representatives from West Contra Costa Unified
School District, Contra Costa College, city recreation
departments, community based organizations, and
local governmental agencies which tested the waters
for the Ed Fund in a liaison position. Four years
later, the success of the collaboratives allowed the Ed
Fund Board of Directors and staff to transition into
a role as an intermediary organization. Their mission
is to “mobilize resources for our students and align
the efforts of our partners to ensure that all students
succeed in college, career, and life” and whose vision
is that “all children and youth in West Contra Costa
County achieve their highest aspirations and help build
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healthy, safe, and vibrant communities for generations
to come.”
Those statements ring true as the Ed Fund awards
grants and scholarships to students, recognizes hard
working teachers, and hosts their annual Soaring to
Excellence Fundraiser. One example of the Ed Fund’s
work is the Arts & Music grant from the Brad Bradley
Bequest. In the 2018-2019 academic year alone,
$24,000 was given to 39 projects across 25 public
schools across the district. These grants range from
$500 to $1,000 depending on the size of the program
and are given to select applicants each academic year.
Some of the new mini programs include the Human
Rights Tapestry Project at Pinole Valley High School,
a Creative Art curriculum for Kindergarteners at
Peres Elementary, and a visit from a creative writing
poet for De Anza High School. A few of the schoolwide
grants include a Multicultural Music Education
Program for Valley View High School, an Outdoor
Mural for Pinole High School, and the Growing
Garden Art and Gardening Program at Sheldon
Elementary.
The range and diversity of these Brad Bradley
programs is impressive and the grants have truly
added another layer of quality education for the
WCCUSD students. The Spoken Word Poetry Project
at Greenwood Academy consists of “in-class spoken
word poetry workshops where students write spoken
word poems based on culturally relevant topics, poetic
devices and guided conversations.” Further cultural