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Foxfire (The Foxfire Fund,
Inc.) is a not-for-profit, educational and literary organization based in Rabun County, Georgia. Founded in 1966, Foxfire's learner-centered, community-based educational approach is advocated through both a regional demonstration site (The Foxfire Museum & Heritage Center) grounded in the Southern Appalachian culture that gave rise to Foxfire, and a national program of teacher training and support (the Foxfire Approach to Teaching and Learning) that promotes a sense of place and appreciation of local people, community, and culture as essential educational tools.
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2009 Annual Donor Appeal
Dear Friend of Foxfire:
As I write to you today from my office here at Foxfire’s beautiful Heritage Center, I am once again reminded of how fortunate we are to have wonderful friends like you who have contributed over the years, in various ways, to assist us educating our children and in preserving this rapidly-disappearing way of life. This small piece of Appalachian history would have been lost forever had it not been for one teacher and his high school students who made the decision to learn proper grammar and English through documenting and publishing the local history of the area and the stories of their elders who "lived it." Through this teacher-learner-community connection, the students not only learned about their culture and heritage and proper use of the English language, they also:
- preserved a part of that culture for future generations;
- learned interpersonal, communication, and publishing skills;
- learned important lessons on persevering through hardships and difficulties in life;
- came to value the importance of family and community; and
- learned many traditional hands-on skills that they would use throughout their lives.
Little did our students know that, while documenting this vanishing way of life, they were also developing a teaching style, the Foxfire Approach to Teaching and Learning, that would be refined by thousands of teachers around the country as they used those "core practices" to teach their students in a fulfilling and meaningful way.
The students also learned respect for their elders and that those elders have so much to share with younger generations that "matters," if only given a chance to share their wealth of knowledge, for as our elders share stories of the past they, therefore, provide insight into history yet to be made. That teacher-learner-community connection and the history of the Appalachian area are what we hope to continue to share with generations to come here at Foxfire’s Museum and Heritage Center.
We do continue to “make a difference every day” through our educational programs, as evidenced by many emails and letters we receive each day, including the following from former student Chris C. in New Jersey:
...The year after high school was a tough one for me...I fell back on the skills I developed with Foxfire: "construction." Yes, I became a heavy construction worker...I got the job at the company I’m at now and I love it. I am a foreman/ heavy equipment operator, and we install natural gas and water pipelines. Between all of that, my kids grew up and one graduated high school last year. Both are attending a community college; [one] being in his second year is gearing up to be a teacher and [the other] wants to do the Culinary arts...what a beautiful family I am blessed with. In closing, I owe so much to you [Ann] and all the teachers at Foxfire. You were the family I was blessed with through my youth [that] guided me through my troubled times. The guidance I will continue to use throughout my lifetime, and the memories will warm my heart forever...I know if it wasn’t for Foxfire, things would be different for me. I understand the changes [in Foxfire], but I was given a chance to take classes in 7th grade and was hired for the summer maintenance program [several years]...I laugh because I don’t think there was a Foxfire class I didn’t take in high school. I know I wasn’t the ideal student, but if wasn’t for Foxfire’s approach to teaching, I would have been lost in the so-called "Text Book" rules of teaching and been pushed through the system as an "under-the-rug" statistic with a lost education. So, when asked about high school, I always explain to friends how lucky I was to have Foxfire and what it was. If you could Major in anything in high school, I would say I "Majored in Foxfire!" "THANK YOU!"
With your past financial assistance, we have survived a difficult economic time these past two years and have accomplished all of the work you recently read about in Foxfire News and our Circle of Friends museum newsletter (both online at www.foxfire.org). Your contributions have been integral to that work. With your support, we have provided great hands-on learning experiences to students and adults here at the Museum and in local classrooms, scholarships to our graduating seniors, leadership training for our Foxfire Magazine students, and teacher-training courses through our partnerships with Piedmont College and The University of Georgia. With an updated Strategic Plan in place through 2015, and with your continued support, we can do so much more!
We ask, today, that you assist us in continuing our work and educational programs here at the Museum and throughout the region by contributing to one of the needs outlined here. In this difficult economic time that we live in, small nonprofits like ours that provide a valuable community service have never been more at risk, so we are more dependent than ever on your generosity.
With sincere appreciation for your past and continuing support in whatever manner and at whatever level you can contribute,
Ann Moore
President and Executive Director
If you would like to donate online, you may do so through our Shop.
If you would prefer to donate via mail, you can download a PDF of this letter and a donation form here.
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Foxfire
News
For an overview of
Foxfire's work over
the last year, and
to see what types
of programs your donation would support, download the most recent
Foxfire News issue
in PDF format.
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Spring/Summer
2009
Volume 43
Issue #167/168
available now
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