The Lapel Teachers Fund was created by Clara “Peg” Roudebush in memory of her late husband. “Lester was encouraged by the teachers in the Lapel School District to further his ongoing education,” commented Ms. Roudebush.
Roudebush believed that the South Madison Community Foundation would be able to preserve and support the legacy she and her husband wanted to leave behind. By establishing the fund through South Madison Community Foundation, she ensured that the teachers in the Lapel Community would have tools to encourage and inspire their students for years to come.
This fund is for teachers to receive monies for workshops or classroom projects so that the teacher’s personal money won’t have to be used. That in part inspired both Lester and Peg to do more and give more.
The Lapel Teachers Fund awards mini grants to teachers to carry out special projects in their classrooms or to fund creative learning activities that might not otherwise be possible within a typical school budget.
The Lapel Teachers Fund is now over twenty years old, which means that two generations of Lapel’s students have now been touched by the mini-grants Mrs. Roudebush envisioned.