The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Seven years of grant-making to township schools, and the achievements of three district alumni, were celebrated February 19 at the inaugural Franklin Township Warrior Education Foundation gala.
The event served as both a celebration and fundraising opportunity for the group that since 2019 has awarded more than $30,000 in grants to schools for the support of various educational programs.
“The grants have supported literacy, STEAM, arts, diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, social-emotional learning, athletics, English as a second language,” foundation board member Ed Potosnak – the newly appointed Commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection – told the crowd assembled in the school district administrative office community room.
In addition to raising money for future grants, the foundation also recognized three district alumni representing arts, athletics, and academics.
Those honored were:
- Khailah Johnson — Broadway performer.
- Sarah Montanari — FHS ELA teacher, FHS Aviation Instructor, FTWEF grant recipient.
- Casey Gomez Miranda — standout student‑athlete heading to Division 1 collegiate softball.
Since graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, Johnson has played the leading role in the Broadway show, “And Juliet,” starred in network television on The CW’s “4400,” and toured with the Mildred Spencer Orchestra.
Johnson said she found “a sense of worth” in the Sampson G. Smith theater program, saying, “those shows were top-tier.”
“And I learned such a great work ethic from those shows as well,” she said. “Taking on my first lead role as the genie prepared me to be better prepared for college and for leading a Broadway show.”
She said that performing the role of Dolores in the Franklin Township High School production of “Sister Act “was the first time that I felt like I could do this as a profession. I knew I wanted to, but being given the task of leading a show and leading an ensemble, that was the first time I felt confident that I could maybe be good at it. I wanted to continue this as my career.”
“So I owe a lot to this community, and I’m very, very thankful,” she said.
Montanari said the grants, although small, “can have a big impact.”
“I’ve had so many people, I can see some of them here, who have supported me as a student, and it means so much to give back,” she said. “So, as we mentioned before, these are small grants with a big impact, and I can attest to that. I can see the power these grants give my students when I see their work published in a poetry anthology, or when I see them taking a flight for the first time.”
“It’s powerful, and it’s life-changing,” she said.
Gomez-Miranda, who recently committed to playing softball for the University of Connecticut, thanks her parents for “always pushing me really hard.”
“They’ve always told me that my academics is just as important as my athletics and that’s what got me to where I am,” she said. “So I just want to say thank you.”
Nancy LaCorte, chairperson of the foundation, said the grants – up to $500 – are for projects that are not supported in the Board of Education’s budget.
“This is out-of-the-box innovative thinking,” she said.
“There’s a lot of different projects, and you want to be able to give more and more grants as we continue to grow,” she said.
The foundation’s main fundraiser has been it Tee Up For Teachers golf outing. Potosnak said the idea for the gala was to make supporting the foundation “more accessible” for those who don’t play golf.
“The idea really is to make something that’s accessible for everyone, that can tell the story about what’s happening in our schools, the kinds of opportunities that are to drive innovation, and the kinds of change that can be made with investments,” he said. “And we’re not talking about million-dollar investments, although if you have a million dollars, we have a place you can donate it, and I’m sure we can put it to great use.”
“We wanted to do it right here in town,” he said. “We wanted to do it in our home space with the people we love in a place that we’re familiar, and we wanted to glam it up a bit.”
Following are some scenes from the event:
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