Education Foundation's Red & White Ball rolls into town

What’s red and white and raising money for schools on Saturday night?|

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HERE. See you on Saturday night!

While locals this time of year know that an army of revelers in red on the Plaza can only mean one thing, tourists walking by on Saturday night may get a start.

Close to 900 guests and more than 100 volunteers will swarm the Plaza for the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation's annual Red & White Ball this weekend. Since 1993, the powerhouse nonprofit has raised almost $10 million for the public schools of Sonoma Valley.

Wonder Bread 5 will perform at what event chairs Sallie Moore and Michelle Rulmont describe as 'the dance party of the year.' Dixie Giants, a Dixieland band featuring Sonoma Valley High School band teacher Casey Jones and his students will perform before dinner begins, and will lead the crowd to the dining tables on the north side of City Hall, for a dinner created by Glen Ellen Star chef Ari Weiswasser, in collaboration with Stellar Catering.

As of press time, a handful of the $200 dinner tickets are available, as are the dance-only tickets at $40 a pop.

Over the course of the 2015-16 school year, the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation provided $1.8 million in funds to support almost a dozen ambitious projects across the district.

• Early Childhood Education For several years, the Ed Foundation has been a major donor behind the district's 'Preschool for All' initiative. Prior to 2012, only 40 percent of Sonoma Valley students participated in a preschool program. Now, with community support, close to 80 percent of Sonoma Valley students are receiving a high quality preschool education.

• AVANCE Parent-Child Education: Thanks to a variety of grants, almost 50 parents with children ages 0 to 3 in Sonoma Valley receive important parent education while nearly 75 children receive pre-literacy and school-readiness skills during the same time.

• Early Literacy: SVEF funded this summer's new 'Jump Into Reading!' program aimed at helping Sonoma Valley's youngest struggling readers (grades K-third), giving them a bigger chance of reading success.

• Summer Reading & Writing Academy: In this camp-like summer reading program – funded largely by SVEF and donations from Wine Country Weekend – almost 275 first-, second- and third-graders receive 150 hours of reading and writing instruction to mitigate 'summer learning loss.'

• Grade Level Proficiency Project: the Education Foundation has joined forces with the the school district to fund an innovative program that uses reading and math software along with real-time professional development and coaching for teachers during the school year to support reading and math progress.

• S.T.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math): SVEF and other donors help to fund Sonoma Valley High School's Sustainable Agriculture Academy and its Engineering Design & Technology Academy, open to sophomores, juniors and seniors.

• The School Garden Project: SVEF is the primary donor supporting school site garden-centered lessons in cooking and nutrition along with visits and cooking instruction from local Sonoma chefs.

• Valley Vibes Orchestra: This youth orchestra program teaches young students the violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, trumpet or trombone in an intense daily after school music program.

• Bridge to Algebra: SVEF helps to fund this summer program for freshman students heading into algebra.

• Teacher Support Network: This unique program run by the SVEF connects the community to the high school by arranging for volunteers to support teachers in the classroom and participate in special projects, career presentation days, mock interviews with students, senior project mentorship and senior project presentations.

• Classroom Grant Program: SVEF provides small grants to teachers for innovative and creative projects or school supplies that engage students, expand instruction or enhance curriculum.

The event begins at 5 p.m., dancing begins at about 8 p.m. and the party ends at 10 p.m.

This year's raffle features four prizes, including a one week Hawaiian vacation, two new electric bikes, a group cooking class at Ramekins and several wine tasting experiences. Raffle tickets are $20 and are sold each Tuesday at the Farmers' Market and at The Red Grape restaurant.

There is no live or silent auction, just a Fund-A-Need midway through the evening. 'This is our primary fundraiser of the year,' said Zimmerman. 'And every single student and every single school benefits from the Ball.'

Sonoma Valley Unified School District Superintendent Louann Carlomagno added, 'What is so amazing about the community support for our schools in Sonoma Valley is the willingness of the people here to turn out for events like the Red & White Ball even if they don't currently or have never had children in our schools. When Chuck Young served as Chancellor at UCLA, he was pioneer in sharing with the community-at-large, that whether or not you have children at UCLA – this is your school, in your community and we are asking for your support. I feel the same about schools in Sonoma Valley.'

Contact Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.

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HERE. See you on Saturday night!

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