Like a lot of kids, Eli Pollak developed a soft spot early on for animals in peril.
PHILANTHROPY | GLOBAL VACATIONS INSPIRE MIDDLE SCHOOLER
Young philanthropist, still in middle school, wants to give gift of travel to other kids
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"All of my travel experiences have made me super excited about geography," said Eli Pollak, an eighth-grader at Hamilton Middle School in Madison. He's started a fund called "Travel to Learn" to award educational trips to other students.
In this photo from last fall, students gather at their lockers at Hamilton Middle School, which begins at 7:35 a.m. On Monday, the Madison School Board will discuss the possibility of pushing back middle school start times.
Eli Pollak said extensive travel with his family has helped him develop social skills and a thirst for learning. He wants to give other kids that kind of opportunity through the fund he started, called "Travel to Learn."
Eli Pollak, an eighth-grader at Hamilton Middle School in Madison, makes his way through the halls of the school. Pollak started a fund called "Travel to Learn" through the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools. He hopes to raise $65,000 for an endowment that would award educational trips to students whose families can't afford to travel.
The community effort, launched in 1995, focuses primarily on trying to reduce the racial achievement gap in Madison schools.
The district's technology plan seeks to bring "one-to-one computing" to all schools in seven to eight years.
Candidates can begin circulating nomination papers Dec. 1.
They will work full time at 22 elementary schools, instead of part time at all 32 elementary schools, and they will do more direct tutoring.
The principals of all four main public high schools are either new this year or beginning their second year.
Hundreds more applicants were passed along to the interview stage, giving principals more choices.
