FEPS presented Eden Prairie Schools with an oversize $100,000 check. (L-R) FEPS Exec. Director Lisa Sisinni, Superintendent Josh Swanson, EP School Board Member CJ Strehl, FEPS Board Chair Kristin Jonason, FEPS Board Member Anna Anderson. Photo by Sheldon Powell
The Foundation for Eden Prairie Schools (FEPS) has announced it raised over $55,000 during its Annual Red & Black Gala, held April 12 at Bearpath Golf & Country Club.
Attended by nearly 200 guests, the gala was FEPS’s annual fundraiser and awards event. Guests enjoyed an evening of drinks, food, live music and dancing, while also bidding on silent and live auction items. The event also honored this year’s Legacy Award winners.
To celebrate the district’s 100-year anniversary, FEPS board member Anna Anderson presented Eden Prairie Schools Superintendent Josh Swanson with a $100,000 check to build an Emerging Technologies Lab at Eden Prairie High School.
The lab will break ground this spring and will open for use by teachers, students, staff, and the community when classes resume in the fall. More details surrounding the Emerging Technologies Lab can be found here.
“We continue to be humbled by the steadfast generosity of our FEPS community,” said Lisa Sisinni, FEPS’s executive director, in a press release. “Each year, our Red & Black Gala grows, and we believe it’s directly tied to the shared vision we all have for students to have an exceptional education.”
Sisinni said the $55,000 the event raised was “just short” of FEPS’s $60,000 goal. She encouraged the Eden Prairie community to consider supporting FEPS’s work with donations.
“At FEPS, we have a guiding vision that while a public education is free, an exceptional education is not,” she said. “I’d like to encourage Eden Prairie Schools supporters to dig just a little deeper into their pocketbooks and make a donation that will pour directly back into our schools.”
Donations can be made online on FEPS’s website.
The FEPS Red & Black Gala was held at Bearpath Golf & Country Club. Photo by Sheldon Powell 
(From left) State Sen. Steve Cwodzinski, City Council Member PG Narayanan, State Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, Superintendent Josh Swanson, and Mayor Ron Case. Photo by Sheldon Powell
The gala featured both silent and live auctions. Photo by Sheldon Powell
The gala featured live music from local band Spotty-fi. Photo by Sheldon Powell 
The gala raised $55,000. Photo by Sheldon Powell
Legacy Award winners recognized
During the evening’s celebration, recipients of the 2024 Legacy Awards were honored. FEPS established the Legacy Awards in 2008 to honor outstanding teachers, staff, volunteers, alumni, and community members who contribute to the legacy of excellence In EP Schools.
(From left) Mitch Hegland (Staff of the Year), Gretchen Meek (Volunteer of the Year), John Lee (EP Lifestyle publisher), Michael Isaacson (Elementary Teacher of the Year), Julie Rochford (Secondary Teacher of the Year). Photo by Sheldon Powell
The 2024 Legacy Award winners were:
Teacher of the Year (Grade 6 to TASSEL): Julie Rochford, special education, Central Middle School.
Teacher of the Year (Early childhood to grade 5): Michael Isaacson, Grade 5 teacher, Cedar Ridge Elementary.
Staff Member of the Year: Mitch Hegland, associate principal, Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion.
Volunteer of the Year: Gretchen Meek, Forest Hills Parent-Teacher Organization.
Alumni/Community Leaders of the Year: Aditya Srinivasula, Devh Kowshhick Thenepalli, Marissa Williams, Lucinda Jacobs, and Simone Kirkeby.
The image below has a full list of all of this year’s Legacy Award nominees.
More details about the Legacy Awards, including previous winners, can be found here.
In its press release, FEPS thanked its Corporate Mission Sponsors: ECMC, 3M, SCHEELS, Knutson Construction, Royal Credit Union, Veridian Credit Union, Flagship Bank, and Hallberg Engineering; and Event Sponsors: The Prouty Project (Gala Entertainment Sponsor), Eden Prairie Lifestyle (Legacy Award Sponsor), Media Bridge (Video Presentation), and Epic Event Rental (Decorations Sponsor).
“To all of them, we are so grateful,” Sisinni said.