Testimonials
The Wilson Foundation is happy to have offered support to so many lives and we hope to continue to do so for years to come. Here are just a few messages from those who were positively impacted.
Thank you so much for your generous donation to Pass It Along.
Over the years, we have engaged thousands of teens in volunteer endeavors to provide valuable services throughout our area. Your support strengthens Pass It Along’s goal to foster a commitment to young people that will promote pro-social friendships, strong interpersonal skills, and reassert a sense of hope in the future. Only through empathy and leadership can a sense of individual responsibility be reestablished that will give youth the commitment to follow through on their path to adulthood with a sense of pride and accomplishment.
From, Pass It Along
Thank you to the members of The Wilson Foundation for the amazing award of 10,000 dollars towards my first year of college at Johns Hopkins University.
With this money, I can completely focus on my studies and continue to work towards keeping up my grades. I also am working on my goal of attending medical school and becoming a doctor in the future. This scholarship has allowed me to help my family with paying for college while continuing my premed track at JHU with my major Molecular and Cellular Biology. I will continue to work hard towards my goals while always remembering this generous scholarship and the generosity that has allowed my college years to have a great start.
From, Olivia S.
The first year of Girls who Code was filled with challenges and accomplishments.
The girls worked together to determine a project once we completed a few of the tutorials. Establishing a group project gave the girls an opportunity to work together and to showcase the new skills they had acquired. Throughout the activities the girls were met with challenges that forced them to be flexible and work on their collaborative skills. While at times a final product seemed unlikely, the girls were determined to see their project through. We had a t-shirt design contest, and the girls were excited to work on the fashion tutorial and develop their own t-shirt using a new technology application. One major message we tried to show the girls was that this club is not about a completion of the project but rather acquiring new skills to work with on future projects. This is something that we hope will benefit them moving forward in their educational process. The first thing we presented the girls with was a quote “Women make up 47 percent of the workforce, but only 25 percent of STEM workers are women”. Our goal throughout this process is to highlight our desire to show the girls this does not need to be the case in the future. They will make up the future workforce and can be successful in any field they choose.
From, Jenna C. & Marybeth C. – Co-Advisors for Girls Who Code Club
While I was in China, I attended the second high school attached to Beijing Normal University or 北师大二附中.
My classes provided context for my experience in China as well as opportunities to self-assess my experience and process it. The topics I studied included: demographic patterns in China, internal migration and urbanization including the fate of Beijing’s old neighborhoods, US-China relations, and minorities in China. I was encouraged to consider how these topics related to my own experiences and how they resonated in a global context. CIW classes related to the weekly integrated learning activities, the study trip, and my daily life in China in general. The course featured academic essays, news articles, visual data, and web sourced material. I also planned activities, wrote short pieces, and made a presentation on the treatment of physical and mental disability in China. At the end of everyday there would be an additional activity such as taija and calligraphy. On Wednesdays and Fridays my classmates and I would go on self-planned field trips these included: hiking a closed part of the Great Wall, visiting a tea house, making Chinese jewelry, going to a Beijing Soccer game, and numerous trips to supermarkets and hotpot.
Additionally, while I was in China I stayed with a host family that I had stayed with the year before. This trip served to strengthen the already strong relationship I had with my host family. One weekend my host family and I took a trip to the Gubei Shuizhen or the Gubei Watertown and stayed in a small Airbnb of sorts. My brother and I explored the cool Watertown while wearing bright orange ponchos to keep ourselves dry. My teacher told me after the trip that my host parents couldn’t speak more highly of me. He believes that I might be becoming a standard of sorts in the host family circle these days. He had a host family reference me by name…as the kind of SYA student they would like to host.
From, Kennedy M.
I am just getting back into the swing of things after my trip to Portugal with All-American! I would like to thank you and the committee again for your graciousness.
Your generosity gave me the incredible opportunity to participate in the Yale Model Government Europe Conference.
The conference was an eclectic meeting of delegates from China, Palestine, Honduras, Saudi Arabia, Germany and more who came together under the guide of one topic. Representing Spain as Adriana Lopez in the committee ITRE, I worked in collaboration to produce a draft resolution developing an ethical framework for artificial intelligence (AI). AI is new territory for individuals and corporate groups alike, further defining criteria and metrics for evaluation to allow for the detection and mitigation of any issues is needed and I am thankful to have been involved in a mock solution. I am proud to say that I was awarded the prestigious Outstanding Delegate honor in recognition of my diplomatic, public speaking, creativity and leadership qualities.
Beyond conference, the trip exposed me to the history of the cobblestone streets, the delicacies of Pastel de nata, traditional Fado music and the works of Fernando Pessoa. I am forever grateful for the opportunities of All-American because it has completely immersed me in the urgencies of the world and allowed me to engage with its people and cultures.
From, Iman S.
I can’t thank you enough for the generous award.
The Tuition support will enable me to fully immerse myself in my Bread Load studies, completing my fourth summer of graduate work. In a national and global moment when the world feels as if it is rupturing at the seams, I am humbled to know that a foundation like yours exists. This gift has truly made a world of difference in my life. I will put it to good use this summer.
It was so lovely to finally “meet” you. It has been a deeply refreshing experience getting to know actual persons inside a foundation! More often than not, I’ve found that there is very little humanness in the grantmaking process. Which is a strange contradiction considering we’re all trying to support work that is in true service of our common humanity. Anyway, I really mean it when I say thank you. Thank you for your generosity of spirit, for your willingness to dissolve the hierarchy and power structure inherent in the giving process and to just be human together. It means a lot, and I truly believe it is the best way forward!
From, Alesandra Z.
Recently, the Vice President of the Rocket Club had to step down for personal reasons and the President asked if I would want to fill the position.
Based upon my involvement as the club’s Community Outreach Manager, he thought I would be a good fit and ready to take this next step. I gladly accepted the promotion and now hold both titles!
Last month, I coordinated an online town hall meeting with the Chief Technology Scientist of NASA, Dr. Douglas Terrier. Dr. Terrier shared some exciting information on the upcoming Artemis rocket launch, where astronauts will return to the moon for the first time since 1972! He also spoke about his experiences working for NASA and gave us insight as to what students can do now to show leadership. I was able to ask him what future careers he sees as up and coming, so that I can start getting involved in these areas now and have a head start.
Clemson University published both an article and video about the event, in which I am featured. Here’s the link to the article if you would like to read it – NASA Article.
Two weeks ago, I organized a community outreach event on Clemson’s campus for the Rocket Club. Another club member and I set up a promotional booth outside of the Residents in Science and Engineering (RISE) dormitories. We showed off the club’s past rockets, handed out candy, and played a rocket game. It was a lot of fun and we succeeded in obtaining 36 email addresses from students interested in joining the club. I’ve added a couple of pictures of the event below.
Currently, I am working on obtaining my Orange Certification in the machine shop. I’m learning how to use the welder, plasma cutter, and angle grinder! Once I finish this level of certification, I plan on applying to become a machine shop supervisor wherein I will teach other students how to use all the machines and help run the shop.
On November 7th, I will be visiting a launch site in Camden, South Carolina with other members of the Rocket Club. I will have to build, launch, and successfully recover a rocket to obtain my Tripoli Level 1 Certification. Completing this step would authorize me to purchase and fly H and I-sized rocket motors. I am very excited to take part in this hands-on experience!
I am also working on a promotional video aimed at recruiting new members for my Clemson Rocket Engineering Club. I have also spent some time over the past few weeks teaching myself computer coding, learning about the stock market (trading and investing), and reading my statics and dynamics textbook to get a jumpstart on an important class I am taking this semester. My art business has been busy as well and I have been painting quite a few shoes and jackets for clients. It sure has been an active summer for me!
From, Anthony D.
Thank you so much for the award.
I am now able to take the full amount of classes that I wanted to take and do not have to drop any due to the tuition. I really do appreciate this opportunity you have given me to succeed, and I promise to make this investment worth it. I am passionate about my education and doing all that I can to continue this path, and slowly reach my goals experience by experience.
From, Alexandra T.
Thank you very, very much!
This is a blessing to my family and the relief of a burden for Our Lady of Mt Carmel School.
From, Helene D. & Family
Based on the generous support of The Wilson Foundation, we sent a cohort of ten teachers to the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning for an intensive week-long seminar in July.
They came back with renewed energy and ideas to help Far Hills excel at providing learning experiences more informed by innovative research on learning and the brain. During opening faculty meetings, the cohort led a professional development workshop for all teachers, who enthusiastically embraced the new ideas. The cohort will conduct faculty workshops on an ongoing basis this year to help ensure that every student and every faculty member benefits from this work. Our goal is to support and include our entire staff in this program so that we can truly be the expert faculty who will “…provide each child brilliant beginnings for success in the modern world.”
While the teacher cohort was digging into Mind/Brain Education and Neuroscience, we were busy working to create a new kind of learning space, a new curriculum, a schedule of Learning and Design classes, and professional teacher development at Far Hills to move our learning forward.
From, Far Hills Country Day School – Cathy V. & Jennifer P.
Emma won two first-place awards
(called Best Delegate in Model UN) and was a captain on the Poland and China team.
From, Emma H.’s China Trip
Thank you for your generous contribution of $5,000 to our school’s Preschool & Elementary Playground.
Because of your generosity, students at Celebrate the Children School continue to benefit from abundant opportunities to develop, progress, and make connections to their world.
Celebrate the Children has impacted the lives of thousands of students and their families during its 14-year history and with the help of a caring community we can continue our work. Your kind donation allows us to continue to expand our programs that help our students develop and enjoy a positive school experience.
Please accept our warmest thanks for supporting Celebrate the Children’s Preschool and Elementary Programs. You have given an invaluable gift to many individuals with autism and special needs for many years to come.
From, Monica O. – Executive Director at Celebrate the Children (CTC)
With money received from the Wilson Fund Grant, we were able to purchase two Lego MindStorm EV3 kits.
We have been able to explore the kits this year and will be incorporating them into our 5th grade STEAM curriculum for the 2018-2019 School year. The kits enable students to create moving robots and with a full year of coding experience should help to enhance technology lessons going into the future. With the help of the Wilson Fund, we were able to purchase these kits to make sure we have them ready for our students going into day one of our new school year.
From, Brad D. – Technology Teacher at John Hill School (JHS)
The BHS Technology Department is thrilled to announce a grant award from the Wilson Foundation for the purchase of a Form 2 SLA 3D printer.
The SLA (stereolithography) printer uses a resin 3D printing process to create functional prototypes for use in hands-on engineering and design student projects. This printer technology mimics that of today’s workplaces and allows students to expand their knowledge and experience in rapid prototyping. Our new Form 2 printer will serve as one of the highlights of our newly redesigned Technology and Fabrication labs at BHS.
From, Vicki C. – Technology Teacher at Boonton High School (BHS)
