Janis Fontaine‘A region is more than its economy — it is our schools that educate the next generation and prepare them for the workforce.’ — From the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce’s strategic plan
The Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce, responding to statistics that showed nearly half of all third graders weren’t reading at grade level, launched the Palm Beach North Education Foundation in 2023 to support literacy in Palm Beach County.
Foundation Executive Director Janiece Davis leads the reading charge on three fronts.
1. The Early Reading Initiative
In 2024, the foundation spent $25,000 to equip Lake Park Elementary with literacy kits, and a grant from The Andrea C. Cameron Foundation provided literacy kits to all first graders at Jupiter Elementary.
The kits contain materials that make literacy learning fun and engaging using the Wilson Language Method, which has the support of the Palm Beach County School District.
Students are showing improvements.
“Our current first graders have shown a 5% increase in (English language) proficiency from (when they were in kindergarten) to January 2025,” Davis said. She anticipates the students’ year end testing figures will show more improvement.
The foundation chose Lake Park and Jupiter Elementary after looking at reading assessments, Davis said.
“They’re both dual language schools. Jupiter is English-Spanish and Lake Park is Haitian Creole-English,” she said. “It’s really important that we encourage learning in a student’s native language as well as English. Initially, their scores appear to be a little behind, but then they make amazing leaps in achievements. They’re skyrocketing and they’re learning in two languages.”
The foundation wants to build on its early success by adding at least one more school, Davis said. “The need is so great, but the schools simply can’t take on the cost of these materials.”
2. Scholarships
This year, the foundation awarded $29,500 in scholarships, including two $10,000 gifts.
One of those scholarships is the John C. Giba Student Leadership Award, which was established in 2010 through an endowment from Giba, a Jupiter-Tequesta business owner. Since its inception, $206,9551 in scholarships have been awarded to 93 students.
Three scholarships — the Cary Stamp Scholarship and Illustrated Properties Scholarships, both $2,500 — are given to local high school seniors who exhibit strong leadership potential through academic achievement, community involvement and extracurricular activities, while also demonstrating financial need. These grads come from households with annual incomes below $70,000.
The final gift is the foundation’s award given to a local student who demonstrates leadership potential and has a financial need.
This year’s winners were:
- Joel Vincent — $10,000 John C. Giba Leadership Award
- Tanmay Mahani — $10,000 Saltchuk Award
- Jalerriah Sharpe — $3,000 Cary Stamp Scholarship
- Mary Smith — $2,500 Illustrated Properties Scholarship
- Oliver Shane — $4,000 Palm Beach North Education Foundation Award
3. Teacher awards and gifts
In collaboration with the Stiles-Nicholson Foundation, the chamber education foundation recognized 22 teachers with awards totaling $22,000.
Teachers of the Year are nominated by school principals.
The chamber discourages the winners from spending the money on classroom supplies.
“We want the teachers to be recognized for their work and we want them to treat themselves to something nice,” Davis said. “We ask them, ‘What’s something you want that you never had the money for?’ We want them to know we appreciate them.”
The 2024-25 Teachers of the Year:
Elementary School
- Sara Cino, Allamanda Elementary School
- Diana Embick, Beacon Cove Intermediate School
- Bailey Philips, Gardens School of Technology Arts
- Ashley Sweeney, Jerry Thomas Elementary School
- Kayley Canterberry, Jupiter Elementary School
- Sarah Stanley, Jupiter Farms Elementary School
- Madison Duncan-Dieujuste, Lake Park Elementary School
- Sara Stelmacki, Limestone Creek Elementary School
- Jennifer Haylett, Palm Beach Gardens Elementary School
- Allison Maselli, Timber Trace Elementary School
Middle School
- Kayla Mazine, H.L. Watkins Middle School
- Mary Ellen Richichi, Independence Middle School
- Janice Aronovitz, Jupiter Middle School
High School
- LaSheena Smith Evans, Riviera Beach Preparatory and Achievement Academy
- Felecia Clemons, Suncoast Community High School
- Wendy Vought, William T. Dwyer Community High School
This year, the chamber also presented three Palm Beach North Golden Apple Awards, one at each school level.
Teachers were selected because he or she “stands out for their exceptional dedication, passion, and impact. Their outstanding nomination and remarkable contributions have set them apart as a true inspiration to students, colleagues, and the entire school community.”
The high school winner, Taahira Royer, is a dynamic English and journalism teacher at Palm Beach Gardens High School. For middle school, Sal Defilippo, an experienced educator at Watson B. Duncan Middle School, was chosen for his passion. The elementary school teacher is Amaia Zuppinger, an innovative educator at Dwight D. Eisenhower K-8.
This is part of a series of Stet News snapshots of Palm Beach County organizations devoted to childhood literacy. The other stories focused on the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, the Runner Center, the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County, Roots and Wings, and Foundations School.
Editor’s note: The Palm Beach North Chamber includes 11 cities from Mangonia Park to Tequesta. Its chairperson, Tim Burke, serves on the Stet New Advisory Council.
