A big thank you to our wonderful friends at Wasatch Peaks Credit Union for donating $3,100 to help meet immediate food needs at our Student Support Centers! Wasatch Peaks knows that the need for food assistance is high right now, and we’re so grateful that they continue to step up to help care for our students and families. This gift builds on the endowment they previously established to help keep our food pantries stocked, and is another example of their incredible generosity. We’re so lucky to have partners who care so deeply about our kids!
Our team is spending the day at the Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce Women Empowered Conference! So grateful to be surrounded by amazing women who are leading, lifting each other up, and making a difference in our community!
We've got another winner of the Telitha Lindquist Greiner Excellence in Teaching Award to share today: the amazing Sarah Espinoza from George Washington High School! Here are a few of Sarah's nominations:
-Sarah joined our team as a truly transformative force in our Special Education department. She exemplifies excellence and embodies 'best practices' in every facet of her instruction, ensuring that our students are met with the highest standards.
-What sets her apart is an enthusiastic and innovative approach to the curriculum; whether exploring literacy, math and science, or the arts and technology, she finds creative ways to enhance each student's education.
-Sarah is a warm presence who inspires optimism in all of her peers and students. An alternative school can be challenging, being a special education teacher adds an additional layer. Sarah took this challenge with a smile on her face and love for her students.
-Sarah joined our team as a truly transformative force in our Special Education department. She exemplifies excellence and embodies 'best practices' in every facet of her instruction, ensuring that our students are met with the highest standards.
-What sets her apart is an enthusiastic and innovative approach to the curriculum; whether exploring literacy, math and science, or the arts and technology, she finds creative ways to enhance each student's education.
-Sarah is a warm presence who inspires optimism in all of her peers and students. An alternative school can be challenging, being a special education teacher adds an additional layer. Sarah took this challenge with a smile on her face and love for her students.
Congratulations to our former Executive Director, Janis Vause, on receiving the Lewis W. Shurtliff Award for Excellence in Education from the Weber State University Alumni Association at last week’s WSU Salutes Award Ceremony!
Janis led our Foundation for 32 years before retiring in 2022, and she continues to be a champion of education in Ogden. She embodies the spirit of this award in every way, and we’re so grateful to carry her legacy forward through our work today. We loved celebrating this well-deserved honor with her!
Janis led our Foundation for 32 years before retiring in 2022, and she continues to be a champion of education in Ogden. She embodies the spirit of this award in every way, and we’re so grateful to carry her legacy forward through our work today. We loved celebrating this well-deserved honor with her!
Join us in celebrating our incredible Foundation Events Coordinator, Leslie, as she heads into retirement after 18 years! Leslie knows the Foundation inside and out and is the person we all turn to for answers about basically everything. If you’ve ever worked with the Foundation, chances are you’ve worked with her! We’re still trying to figure out how we’ll manage without her and are so grateful for the dedication and expertise she’s shared with us over the years.
We’ll miss you, Leslie, but we’re so excited for you as you begin this next chapter. Congratulations, and thank you for everything!
We’ll miss you, Leslie, but we’re so excited for you as you begin this next chapter. Congratulations, and thank you for everything!
Each year, our Fall Author Event writing contest gives students an opportunity to share their stories and perspectives. This year’s theme, “These Precious Days,” inspired by Ann Patchett’s book, invited high school students to reflect on a disappointment, failure, or unexpected obstacle that changed the way they saw the world and helped shape the people they are becoming.
The winners, selected by our district librarians, had the opportunity to meet Ann before the evening event. Having read their essays, she was delighted to chat with the students about their work. They were also honored on stage during the gala, and each received a signed copy of These Precious Days and a $100 cash prize. What a special opportunity for these young writers to have their voices heard and their work celebrated!
The winners, selected by our district librarians, had the opportunity to meet Ann before the evening event. Having read their essays, she was delighted to chat with the students about their work. They were also honored on stage during the gala, and each received a signed copy of These Precious Days and a $100 cash prize. What a special opportunity for these young writers to have their voices heard and their work celebrated!
Thank you to everyone who let us take their photo at our Fall Author Event last week. It's always a party in the community photo area!
The literacy excitement continued today as more than 900 students from across the Ogden School District gathered for an assembly with Brandon Mull, author of the popular "Fablehaven" series and other beloved fantasy books.
Brandon shared stories about what he was like as a kid (yes, including his most embarrassing moment!) and talked about how we all sometimes have to overcome hard things we didn’t want or choose. He has always had stories in his head, he explained, but becoming an author meant working hard to develop the skills to get those stories onto the page.
A few brave student volunteers joined Brandon onstage to create a fantasy world of their own, and their imaginations did not disappoint! Together, they dreamed up a new world entered through a bathtub, where it rained blood but smelled like brownies. “Blood & Brownies might be the name of a book I write someday!” Brandon said.
Our students were so engaged, asking great questions and learning how to draw on their own life experiences to develop their imaginations. Even the most fantastical stories can have something real at their heart, shared Brandon, adding, “Just because I write fantasy, it doesn’t mean that the things I write about aren’t true.”
BEST OF ALL? The excitement followed students home! Through Operation Literacy’s Book Drop Program and with funding from Utah Humanities and the Ogden School Foundation, every student received a signed copy of Brandon’s book "Tales of Newel and Doren" to keep. Students eagerly checked for his signature and flipped through the pages with their friends, thrilled to have a book of their very own. Watching that excitement unfold was a good reminder of why we do this work: to give students experiences and resources that help their love of reading grow. This has been such a fun expansion of our Fall Author Event, and we’re already looking forward to more Book Drops that bring this excitement to even more students!
(And we may have already heard from one of our school library specialists that all of their Brandon Mull books were checked out as soon as students returned to school today. Now that’s the kind of follow-up we love to hear!)
Brandon shared stories about what he was like as a kid (yes, including his most embarrassing moment!) and talked about how we all sometimes have to overcome hard things we didn’t want or choose. He has always had stories in his head, he explained, but becoming an author meant working hard to develop the skills to get those stories onto the page.
A few brave student volunteers joined Brandon onstage to create a fantasy world of their own, and their imaginations did not disappoint! Together, they dreamed up a new world entered through a bathtub, where it rained blood but smelled like brownies. “Blood & Brownies might be the name of a book I write someday!” Brandon said.
Our students were so engaged, asking great questions and learning how to draw on their own life experiences to develop their imaginations. Even the most fantastical stories can have something real at their heart, shared Brandon, adding, “Just because I write fantasy, it doesn’t mean that the things I write about aren’t true.”
BEST OF ALL? The excitement followed students home! Through Operation Literacy’s Book Drop Program and with funding from Utah Humanities and the Ogden School Foundation, every student received a signed copy of Brandon’s book "Tales of Newel and Doren" to keep. Students eagerly checked for his signature and flipped through the pages with their friends, thrilled to have a book of their very own. Watching that excitement unfold was a good reminder of why we do this work: to give students experiences and resources that help their love of reading grow. This has been such a fun expansion of our Fall Author Event, and we’re already looking forward to more Book Drops that bring this excitement to even more students!
(And we may have already heard from one of our school library specialists that all of their Brandon Mull books were checked out as soon as students returned to school today. Now that’s the kind of follow-up we love to hear!)
Last week’s amazing Fall Author Event with Ann Patchett would not have been possible without our generous sponsors, who continue to invest in the students and staff of the Ogden School District. We are so grateful to be part of a community that shows up for our schools with such generosity and heart. To every sponsor who helped make this event possible, THANK YOU!
Thirty years of books, community, and showing up for Ogden kids. What a beautiful story we’re writing together! Our sold-out 2026 Fall Author Event brought the warm and gracious Ann Patchett to an amazingly decorated Conference Center for an onstage conversation with Brynn Murdock about her books, opening an independent bookstore, her work getting books to children through the Parnassus Books Foundation, and the adults who step up at just the right moment in a child’s life. Ann reminded us that raising readers starts with letting children see us read (and yes, she even reads aloud to her dog!) and that “it’s never a mistake to be generous, it’s never a mistake to lend a hand.” As we focused on expanding literacy efforts for Ogden students, those words felt especially fitting. We loved hosting Ann, who was so touched by the way this community comes together for kids, and we’re grateful to everyone who has helped carry this tradition forward for 30 years.
Check back next week for the photos we took in our community photo area and watch for our next newsletter for our full event wrap-up. We have so much more to share!
Check back next week for the photos we took in our community photo area and watch for our next newsletter for our full event wrap-up. We have so much more to share!
IT’S FALL AUTHOR EVE! We’ve spent the past few days taking over the Conference Center, the decorations are going up, and our 30th Fall Author Event is almost here! If you’ve attended before, you know our decorating crew does not hold back, and this year is no exception!
And as a bonus, we got to celebrate our board president Linda DeYoung’s birthday with her while we were decorating! (Do we have the best board members or what?!)
We can’t wait to share it all with our ticketholders tomorrow night as we welcome the brilliant Ann Patchett and celebrate the power of reading with our amazing community, all in support of literacy in Ogden. This milestone year is going to be one for the books!
And as a bonus, we got to celebrate our board president Linda DeYoung’s birthday with her while we were decorating! (Do we have the best board members or what?!)
We can’t wait to share it all with our ticketholders tomorrow night as we welcome the brilliant Ann Patchett and celebrate the power of reading with our amazing community, all in support of literacy in Ogden. This milestone year is going to be one for the books!
Small microscopes, BIG discoveries! A huge thank you to community member Robert Puzey for donating 450 portable microscopes for Ogden School District second-grade classrooms! These hands-on tools will bring science lessons to life and give our curious young scientists a closer look at the world around them. We’re so grateful for the generosity of our community and excited for the discoveries ahead!
Our 30th annual Fall Author Event is NEXT WEEK, which means we’ve apparently decided it’s time to look at old photos and get way too sentimental. 📚❤️
From our very first event with Ray Bradbury in 1996 to all the incredible authors who have joined us since, we have been so lucky to welcome some remarkable people to Ogden over the last three decades. Here are just a few random photos from years past of some of those authors during their time with us. We have truly loved them all!
If you’ve been to one of our Fall Author Events over the years, we want to hear from you! Do you have a favorite author, memory, story, or old photo tucked away somewhere? Drop it in the comments or send us a DM. We would LOVE to see it!
And now we’re excited to add another chapter to this story when we welcome Ann Patchett next week. We cannot wait!
From our very first event with Ray Bradbury in 1996 to all the incredible authors who have joined us since, we have been so lucky to welcome some remarkable people to Ogden over the last three decades. Here are just a few random photos from years past of some of those authors during their time with us. We have truly loved them all!
If you’ve been to one of our Fall Author Events over the years, we want to hear from you! Do you have a favorite author, memory, story, or old photo tucked away somewhere? Drop it in the comments or send us a DM. We would LOVE to see it!
And now we’re excited to add another chapter to this story when we welcome Ann Patchett next week. We cannot wait!
One of our favorite things each year is celebrating some of the incredible educators in the Ogden School District! Each spring, the Foundation honors outstanding educators with the Telitha Lindquist Greiner Excellence in Teaching Award, based on nominations from colleagues, families, and community members who see their impact firsthand.
Throughout the year, we’ll be introducing you to each of our award recipients, starting with Heritage Elementary teacher Elizabeth Hooley! Here are just a few of the wonderful things we heard about Ms. Hooley:
-Elizabeth works hard for her students each and every day! She cares deeply for each one and wants to see them all succeed. My daughter grew so much in her class, not only academically but also personally.
-Ms. Hooley is a positive and energetic teacher. She is also a forever learner who constantly strives to learn more so she can bring that knowledge to her students. In addition, she is a supportive coworker who advocates for her peers.
-Elizabeth exemplifies excellence and embodies best practices in her teaching by encouraging her students to do more and take responsibility for their learning. She is such a caring and nurturing teacher and fosters a culture for learning!
Throughout the year, we’ll be introducing you to each of our award recipients, starting with Heritage Elementary teacher Elizabeth Hooley! Here are just a few of the wonderful things we heard about Ms. Hooley:
-Elizabeth works hard for her students each and every day! She cares deeply for each one and wants to see them all succeed. My daughter grew so much in her class, not only academically but also personally.
-Ms. Hooley is a positive and energetic teacher. She is also a forever learner who constantly strives to learn more so she can bring that knowledge to her students. In addition, she is a supportive coworker who advocates for her peers.
-Elizabeth exemplifies excellence and embodies best practices in her teaching by encouraging her students to do more and take responsibility for their learning. She is such a caring and nurturing teacher and fosters a culture for learning!
A huge thank you to the Guild for Good Golf Invitational for selecting the Ogden School Foundation as one of the charities supported by Utah’s very first Guild Mortgage golf tournament! We were absolutely blown away by their generous donation and the incredible support behind it. Funds raised through the tournament will help create even more opportunities and support for our amazing Ogden students, and we are so grateful to everyone who helped make it possible. Special thanks to Jason Hassell for making the connection, and to all of the Guild Mortgage sponsors, supporters, golfers, and volunteers who came together for such a great cause. We’re lucky to have partners who believe so strongly in our schools and our students!
Ways to Help Wednesday! And this week we're talking about something with some real staying power.
Through our Legacy Society, you can support Ogden students for generations to come with a planned gift, including bequests in wills and trusts, insurance policies, and cash donations for endowment funds. You can even direct your gift to the school, program, or area of education that means the most to you.
Let your legacy become our future.
Learn more at ogdenschoolfoundation.org/legacysociety
Through our Legacy Society, you can support Ogden students for generations to come with a planned gift, including bequests in wills and trusts, insurance policies, and cash donations for endowment funds. You can even direct your gift to the school, program, or area of education that means the most to you.
Let your legacy become our future.
Learn more at ogdenschoolfoundation.org/legacysociety
Our 2026 Raptors Night last Friday was a total home run! Thousands of Ogden students and families filled the stands to root, root, root for our home team (with foam fingers for the first 800 kids through the gates!). Students formed a human tunnel to welcome the players onto the field, players signed autographs, Ogden High student Kristen Munoz gave an amazing performance of the national anthem, and Superintendent Rasmussen shared an on-field message to kick off the school year. Huge thanks to the Ogden Raptors for helping us create such a memorable night at the ballpark. We already can't wait for next year!
Thanks to our Raptors Night Sponsors for investing in our students and providing a fun night for the entire community!
We hit the road today with players from the Ogden Raptors to visit students, talk about setting goals and working hard, and even got in some pitching practice and high fives. That's a pretty great school day if you ask us! And now, we are all warmed up for our Raptors Night Event TOMORROW!! Free Raptors Night tickets are still available at your school’s office, so grab yours and come cheer with us at the ballpark. We can’t wait to see you there!
It’s Ways to Help Wednesday, and this week’s way to help is a fun one: Come hang out with us at Raptors Night this Friday! ⚾️
Help us kick off a new school year, cheer on the Ogden Raptors, and celebrate the amazing students, families, educators, and community that make Ogden such a great place to be. 💙
🎟️ FREE tickets are available for Ogden School District students and families and can be picked up at your school office. We’ll see you at the ballpark!
Find all the details at ogdenschoolfoundation.org/raptors
Help us kick off a new school year, cheer on the Ogden Raptors, and celebrate the amazing students, families, educators, and community that make Ogden such a great place to be. 💙
🎟️ FREE tickets are available for Ogden School District students and families and can be picked up at your school office. We’ll see you at the ballpark!
Find all the details at ogdenschoolfoundation.org/raptors
