THE GAP FUND
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN STUDENTS AND THE WORLD
Meet The Gap Fund
If there’s anything we’ve learned over the past decade of working with our school boards, administrators, counselors, teachers and students it’s that students graduating from rural schools in New York State are at a clear disadvantage to their urban and suburban peers. That’s partly because our tax base barely funds the state education mandates and enrichment programs are always the first to go. But it’s partly because these programs just aren’t accessible or available in our small community.
Over the past few years Ti-Alliance has dedicated a small amount of general funds each year to supporting underfunded programs at the school, and done some small fundraisers to help local students pay for well-earned opportunities. But we want to do more. We want to create a fund that can help more students broaden their horizons and experiences so that they are better prepared to be good students and good citizens.
We’re calling it The Gap Fund. A dedicated “bucket” that we can draw from to support school trips, enrichment programs, individual student opportunities, classroom enhancements, and dream making. These experiences can be life changing to our students. It makes a world of difference to bridge the gap between them and the world.
Past Work That Inspired The Gap Fund
Larger Opportunities:
Art Student Michael O’Donnell to NYC Art Museums - In 2022 Ti-Alliance donors funded a 4 day trip for art student Michael O’Donnell to NYC to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Michael summed it up as “This was genuinely the most fun I’ve ever had. It was epic and life-changing for me. Someday I’m going to go to FIT!”. Two weeks ago he forwarded his acceptance letter to FIT’s Photography and Media program for the fall semester. $600. Life changing.
Audrey Cook to Sotheby’s Summer Art Program - In 2022, Audrey Cook was accepted as one of the youngest students ever to attend Sotheby’s Summer Art Program in New York. Ti-Alliance donors funded the two week program during which Audrey visited NYC’s major art museums, was mentored by amazing professors and accomplished artists, and explored NCY. AND we raised enough to send some of her younger siblings to summer camp. $6,000. An opportunity of a lifetime.
The Little Things:
The Teacher Wish List - We surveyed every teacher and asked if there was something that would make a big difference in their classroom. The requests were amazingly basic - 30 copies of Catcher in the Rye that every student in their class could have their own copy, a bean bag chair for the special ed room, workbooks to correspond with their texts. We fulfilled every request, a total bill of less than $2,000. Big Impact.
Welding Gloves & Trips to Welding School - The Technology class’s most popular welding bay was shut down during COVID because students couldn’t share the welding gloves. We bought 60 pairs so that all the students could weld again. $350. This year we funded a bus to take eight motivated students to Schenectady to tour Modern Welding School. We expect to see at least one scholarship application to Modern this year. $400. Big Impact.
Drama Club Performances – The Ti-High Drama Club led by English teacher Kyle Lang is amazingly inclusive and empowering of almost 25% of the student body. The huge number of students involved is a testimony to how much the students value this activity. We sponsor every show but we would like to send those students to Proctors’ and other professional performances on an annual basis. $2000. Big Impact.
Drama & Art Students to Montreal – This spring 50 drama and art club students will spend the day in Montreal exploring museums and experiencing cultural and historic venues. A mini trip to a “European” city. $1,000. So Enriching.
Make an Impact on Our Young People
"The trip was genuinely the most fun I’ve ever had. It was epic and life-changing for me. I would like to thank Ti-Alliance, Donna, and everybody who helped make this weekend possible. It was a beautiful experience and my favorite part had to be the diversity and very individual self-expression of the art and people all around the city. The museums were full of so much history and inspirational work. The American Lexicon of Fashion exhibit was my favorite exhibit, as it showed me you can truly make anything into a piece of beautiful clothing or fashion. I loved every minute of it! Thank you so much for the opportunity.”"
- Michael O'Donnell, life-changing opportunity recipient
