Dear Friend,

October 14 was an unforgettable evening!
The 2025 South Bend Community Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Banquet was a wonderful celebration of excellence, leadership, and service. We are grateful to everyone who joined us in honoring this year’s inductees and community awardees — and to all who continue to support students and teachers in South Bend.

This year’s event also marked an exciting new chapter. The South Bend Education Foundation and the South Bend Alumni Association have come together as the South Bend Education Alliance — a unified organization dedicated to championing teachers, empowering students, and strengthening our public schools.

This film was produced by the SBCSC Broadcast Media & Film Production Program

Together, we’re building on decades of community support to expand classroom grants, field trip opportunities, and teacher resources — ensuring every student in South Bend has access to enriching educational experiences.

Thank you for standing with us as we begin this new journey. The best is yet to come!

Kris Arizmendi Choinacky,

Executive Director

Congratulations to the 2025 South Bend Hall of Fame inductees — Rebecca Bonham, Dr. Richmond Calvin, Wellington “Duke” Jones III, Debra Stanley, Sara Stewart, Jim Tallman, and James Roemer — and to our Community Recognition Award honorees, The History Museum, Studebaker National Museum, St. Joseph High School Boys Basketball Team, and Sabor Latino. Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate the people and organizations making a difference in South Bend!

Please check out photos from the evening in the gallery below:

AEP FOUNDATION HELPS SBEA FUND FIELD TRIPS TO THE INDIANA DINOSAUR MUSEUM 

In the 2024-2025 school year, AEP Foundation Elementary Field Trip Grants helped 275 students from 3 SBCSC Elementary schools to go on Field Trips to the Indiana Dinosaur Museum.

During the tour, students learned about the founder of the museum, the tools and skills needed to recover dinosaur fossils, and the current theories on how dinosaurs lived in the various prehistoric eras. They were wide-eyed in amazement getting to see real-life skeletons of a T-Rex and Brontosaurus, and shocked to see fossilized bones that were taller than any of the adults on the field trip. Staff members helped students to interact with living reptiles that resemble the dinosaurs they were learning about, and they even got to participate in a “fossil-dig.” Inside a large sand-filled room, using small shovels and sifters to find teeth and small bones from actual dinosaurs. 

Nicole Parker, 2nd Grade Teacher at Harrison, commented:

"The students were so excited to apply their learning to the things they were seeing in the museum! They asked great inquiry questions to the museum employees about different types of dinosaurs and different types of fossils. They were able to dig for their own fossils and then apply their knowledge of fossil types the the fossils they found. They had such a great experience!"

The South Bend Education Alliance is grateful to partner with the AEP Foundation to make these transformative experiences possible for so many children!

SBEA RECIEVES $35,000 IN GRANTS TO SUPPORT STEM EDUCATION

The South Bend Education Alliance is proud to announce that it has received $35,000 in grants from Views on Learning to expand hands-on STEM opportunities for students across the South Bend Community School Corporation.

A $25,000 grant will support the continued growth of makerspaces and 3D printing in several schools, as well as additional Project Lead the Way training for teachers.

In addition, with generous support from both Views on Learning and the Shein Trust, the SBEA is once again able to provide $22,000 in matching funds to support the $100,000 Indiana Department of Education grant that brings robotics education to every SBCSC school.

These investments are helping students across the district think creatively, solve problems, and explore the kinds of learning that spark curiosity and confidence for the future.

TEACHERS, COACHES, ADMINISTRATORS: 

Apply Today at SouthBendEducationAlliance.org

GIVE BACK TO OUR SCHOOLS!

Donations play a vital role in our the work of the SBEA, funding

programs for students and teachers in the

South Bend Community School Corporation. 

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