Somewhere in a sixth-grade science room in Hayward, students are building working circuits and tending a surprisingly productive worm compost bin. Across the district, students are learning in outdoor classrooms, while teachers have access to new technology, specialized equipment, and other tools that make it possible to teach in ways the regular school budget might not otherwise allow. One memorable day, Hayward students even had the chance to meet NASA astronaut Jeff Williams.

None of those things came from the regular school budget. They happened because, more than thirty years ago, a group of people in Hayward recognized that some of the best opportunities in education would always live just beyond what a school budget could reasonably provide.

In February of 1994, they created the Hayward Foundation for Educational Enrichment.

A foundation without a building

HFEE has no building of its own, which seems fitting for an organization whose impact can be found in so many other places. There is no office or storefront, and there are no employees. Instead, there is a post office box, a volunteer board of thirteen people, and a mission that has remained remarkably consistent for more than three decades: help Hayward students and educators pursue ideas that might otherwise be out of reach.

The model is simple. Neighbors, families, and local businesses give to the foundation, HFEE carefully grows those gifts through its endowment, and the earnings, along with directed donations, go back into the Hayward Community School District. There are no salaries to support and very little overhead between a gift and the classroom it eventually reaches.

Over time, that simple model has become something substantial.

In 2010, HFEE's endowment stood at a little more than $200,000. Today, it has grown beyond $1 million, and last year the foundation awarded more than $36,000 to the district, its largest year of giving yet.

Those numbers tell a story of patience as much as growth. A donation made years ago continues to help a teacher today. A classroom idea finds its way to someone in the community who believes in it. A piece of equipment arrives, a new program gets a chance, and a student experiences something that might not have happened otherwise. Then, year after year, the cycle begins again.

What thirty years of quiet work adds up to

Since 2015, HFEE has also recognized a Hayward Teacher of the Year, awarding $1,000 to the winner's classroom and $250 to each of five additional nominees. This year's honoree is sixth grade science teacher Shannon Judy, whose classroom is home to those circuits and that thriving worm compost bin.

The foundation's Teacher Wish List creates an even more direct connection between the community and the classroom, allowing neighbors to see a specific need and help make it happen. And each May, the Lee Bonicatto Memorial Golf Outing brings people together for a Friday on the course that ultimately turns into another year of projects, equipment, experiences, and ideas for Hayward students.

Most of this work has happened without much fanfare, which may be part of what makes it so easy to admire. There have been no construction fences around it, no cranes above it, and no ribbon to cut each time another grant reaches a classroom. For more than thirty years, HFEE has simply kept at it, steadily investing in teachers, students, and possibilities that can be difficult to measure in the moment but become unmistakable over time.

We've spent a lot of the past year thinking about that kind of work at The Lumber Exchange. Construction has a very visible way of measuring progress. You can watch foundations being poured, steel rising, brick going up, and rooms beginning to take shape. But some of the most important things a community builds are much harder to see.

HFEE has been working on one of those since 1994.

Where two building stories meet

On Thursday, September 17, The Lumber Exchange will host the first event in the life of this building: a Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce Business After 5, hosted by the Hayward Foundation for Educational Enrichment.

Before our grand opening, before the ribbon cutting, and before this place settles into the daily rhythm we hope it will have for many years to come, its first gathering will belong to an organization that has spent more than three decades investing in Hayward's future.

There is something about that that feels exactly right.

We have imagined this building holding all kinds of gatherings over the years ahead: meetings where a difficult problem finally gets solved, conversations between people who hadn't met before, presentations that send a new idea out into the world, and afternoons when a group simply leaves with a little more energy than it arrived with. Every one of those moments will add another small piece to the story of this place.

But a building only gets one first event, and we are awfully glad this is ours.

If you're a Chamber member, we'd love to have you here. You'll get an early look inside The Lumber Exchange before opening day, meet some of the people behind HFEE, learn more about what their work makes possible in Hayward schools, and enjoy charcuterie, drinks, and a few door prizes along the way.

Join us Thursday, September 17, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. at The Lumber Exchange, at the corner of Main and Hwy 63 in downtown Hayward.

And if you're not a Chamber member, there are plenty of other ways to get to know HFEE and become part of what they are building. After more than thirty years, their work is still very much under construction.

We hope it always will be.

Get to know HFEE

HFEE's work runs on neighbors. Learn more about the foundation, browse the Teacher Wish List, or make a gift at hfee-wi.org.

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Follow HFEE on Facebook and Instagram to see more of the students, teachers, and ideas their work supports.

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Curious about bringing your own meeting, retreat, or gathering to The Lumber Exchange? We'd love to hear what you're planning.

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