Steppingstone School Holds Fundraiser

Steppingstone School for Gifted Education in Farmington Hills held their
18th Annual Benefit Auction, “Gateway to the Future," on April 2 at St. Mary's Cultural Center in Livonia.

The evening included live and silent auctions, dinner and dancing as well as raffle and door prizes. Guests were surrounded by a science fiction atmosphere and dined at tables decorated with miniature futuristic gates with multi-colored LED lighting. After coffee and dessert was served, a string trio performed a mini concert and guests closed the night grooving to tunes provided by DJ Patty Depa, of Commerce.

Acquisitions Coordinator, Susan Sheth of Novi was very pleased by the wide
variety of donations collected from businesses and individuals. Great interest was shown in two live auction items - Personal Iron Chef, a make-your-own sushi and authentic Korean dinner for eight, and a middle school Student Work Crew.

Auction Chair, Olga Mondrusova of Farmington Hills expressed her gratitude to all who contributed and helped to make the event a success. She was particularly pleased that attendees contributed $2,500 to provide funding for campus beautification and further development of their new facility, the former Holiday Chevrolet on Grand River Ave.

Steppingstone, an elementary and middle day school (Young Kindergarten – Grade 8) with a full academic and enrichment curriculum dedicated to addressing the unique needs facing many gifted children, was founded in 1981 by the current head of school, Kiyo A. Morse of Northville, to help a group of families who urgently needed an educational program for their gifted children.

After nearly 30 years of development, the curriculum provides integrated in-depth studies and enrichment as well as problem solving and critical thinking skills. Supplementing the basic curriculum, the school also offers fine arts, foreign languages, discovery science, computer programming, and a unique physical fitness program that includes fencing and instructional swimming.

Steppingstone also offers summer programs and a laboratory research program for high school students. The electron spin resonance spectroscope equipment for this lab was donated by Bruker Biospin Instruments of Boston, MA. The data analysis hardware and software was donated by Scientific Software Services of Northville.