New Brunswick Education Foundation Programs Get $10,000 Boost

The programs and efforts of the New Brunswick Education Foundation (NBEF) will soon be getting a boost from a $10,000 grant awarded to board member Gwen Ratliffe.

Ratliffe is a 1987 graduate of New Brunswick High School and a member of the NBEF board for six years.

She works as a staff engineer with PSE&G and was recently chosen as the winner of PSEG’s Recognizing Excellence in Volunteerism program. 

The NBEF is a nonprofit group that works to enhance the education of students in New Brunswick's public schools.

Their offerings include grants for teachers, scholarships for graduating high school students, and a robotics program for middle school students. 

"Every year they acknowledge employees who do outstanding volunteer work," Ratliffe said. "I applied for (a grant), and one of the things I said I wanted the money for was the robotics program."

Ratliffe said that while attending the NJ Science Olympiad, she noticed a lack of students from inner city schools. She wanted to do something about it, she said.

The robotics program is meant to help stir interest in math and science, and extra funding could help the NBEF purchase more kits so more kids can get involved, she said.

"(The NBEF) and myself are really appreciative of the grant that PSEG has given to us because you often (hear of) volunteer work but it's not often recognized," she said. "We just wanted to say thank you very much to them." 

NBEF president Russell Marchetta, who is also employed as the city spokesman, said the NBEF recently received a separate $37,000 grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb, a longtime supporter of the foundation. 

"(We thank) PSEG for their commitment to be involved in the communities where their employees work," Marchetta said.