About JZEF
The goal of our foundation is to provide educational opportunities for determined students by monitoring innovations in education and educational research and funding the development of alternative high schools that employ the best of these practices. By examining our schools and disseminating our findings, we aim to improve the state of education as a whole.
Mission Statement
The following is the mission statement for our foundation:
Our foundation's goals are to improve education, to promote active and informed citizenship, to provide educational opportunities for students in need, and to encourage critical thinking skills and life long learning. We will achieve this by evaluating and disseminating educational research and providing financial and cooperative support for institutions that work towards our goals. We believe this undertaking is necessary because engaged citizens improve their society, because understanding the greater world community requires an appreciation of diversity, and because education should always be improved.
Below is a working description of the school we want to create.
Students at our school are educated by experience; given the tools and understanding necessary to act in their own lives and in their communities. They are educated by work and service; given a broader perspective on the world. They are taught how to learn, to improve their own ability to learn and to prepare them for a life of learning ahead. Through their determination and our own, through feedback and growth, they define and approach their own goals and become conscientious citizens in all aspects of their lives.
Who is Julia Zaluzny?
Julia Zaluzny was my grandmother, who passed away in the summer of 2005. She was very instrumental in my (and my brother's) education, from asking us to read our bedtime stories to her to contributing to our college tuition. She recognized the crucial role that education would play in our lives, and her perserverance and support let us know that she believed in us and wanted nothing but the best for us. It is in the memory of her dedication on my behalf that our foundation is named for her.
--Colin Fredericks, founding member