ST. MARYS — The Doug and Charlotte Dobson Memorial Fund, a donor advised fund at the Elk County Community Foundation, recently made a grant award of $3,500 to Francis S. Grandinetti Elementary School in Ridgway.

The award funds experiential learning experiences using eight different special learning opportunities through Marcia Raubenstrauch’s classroom. The programs have provided students with the ability to make connections between formal learning and real life.

Opportunities beyond the traditional classroom allow students to become excited and adventurous and to be able to think differently. Annually, the family of Doug and Charlotte Dobson has the opportunity to direct dollars to projects that enhance the community in which they lived.

The Dobson Fund is one of more than 140 funds held at the Elk County Community Foundation.  

Recently, one of the programs funded by the grant took place. Gifted students from fourth through eighth grades were able to work closely with Gene Boni and Roland Boni, the local artists who own and run MudSlide Pottery. Students were engaged in learning about the history of pottery, the chemistry of glazing and understanding both the artistic side of design and the business of running a pottery shop.

Students worked with the artists at school, then went to the studio to learn how to produce pottery. Throughout this project the emphasis was on critical thinking and solving problems in the real world.  

The Elk County Community Foundation is an affiliate of the Community Foundation of North Central Pennsylvania.

The Doug and Charlotte Dobson Memorial Fund is just one of many funds, each with a different story and each for a different purpose. Interested parties are invited to contact the Foundation for more information either by calling 814-834-2125 or visit its website atwww.elkcountyfoundation.com.