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Iowa West Announces $5 Million in Grant/Initiative Funding

The Iowa West Foundation Board of Directors approved almost $5 million dollars this quarter in grants and initiatives funding.

Pete Tulipana, President and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation, says one of the big areas of focus this time around was education. 

Tulipana says the foundation has been successful at developing its local K-12 school district in many ways.  Here he discusses the most recent initiative.

"International baccalaureate.  We funded College View as our first elementary to have an international baccalaureate curriculum.  Carter Lake was the second.  So one of the things we funded in this cycle was taking that international baccalaureate curriculum into the junior high schools.  So both the junior high schools in Council Bluffs will have that as their curriculum and model, beginning in 2018 I believe it is.”

Tulipana says key elements of the International Baccalaureate program include foreign language, a focus on the arts and a rigorous curriculum of math, science and English.

He says in the focus area of Placemaking, $100,000 was awarded to the Greater Omaha Chamber Foundation for the startup of the food incubator called The Kitchen Council. 

The Kitchen Council will be located in the former Famous Dave’s location at the Mid-America Center.

For a complete list of grants and initiatives funding winners, the website is IowaWestFoundation.org