Impact Report
2024-25 BLAKE FUND
Blake Fund gifts support the robust programming your students participate in.
Look at all the ways donor generosity has benefited learning experiences this school year:
Engineering and programming teacher Joe Druskin ’84 worked with Early Learning Center students to print 3D monarch wings, attaching them to a Cubetto robot—a tool that develops algorithmic thinking— and programming the butterflies to mimic their migration from Minnesota to Mexico.
Similar to a martial arts class, Tamara Gonzalez’s Upper Elementary strings fourth graders earned colorful “belts,” each representing a specific milestone reached within their music reading curriculum. This fun game recognized students’ accomplishments while teaching them that hard work pays off!
Matt Hall’s Middle School science students incorporated engineering practices to create inclusive playgrounds. Using an empathetic approach to design, students were challenged to build enhanced spaces where kids of all abilities can play together.
Led by ninth grade World History faculty, Upper School students worked in groups to study the political, economic, religious, artistic and geographic aspects of an ancient civilization. Utilizing laser cutters, 3D printers and cardboard in the makerspace, each group designed and constructed a building based on their collective research. Group projects culminated in museum-style didactics and videos, providing a deeper explanation of each building’s connection to their respective civilization.
The fall athletics season wrapped up with many incredible achievements by Blake student-athletes including five team titles in the Independent Metro Athletic Conference (IMAC), three team section titles and, for the second year in a row, a girls’ tennis team state title!
Middle School students staged the play “Biz Town” in the MacMillan Performing Arts Center. Upper School students followed suit with three performances of “As You Like It.”
Ninth grade Breakthrough Minneapolis at Blake (BMB) leadership students visited nonprofit organization Appetite for Change to learn how food is used as a tool to build health, wealth and social change in North Minneapolis. BMB is a unique public-private partnership between Minneapolis Public Schools and Blake.
Participation from the Blake community helps shape the learning environment that educates, empowers and engages students for the future.
our students for the E DU C ATE , E MP OW E R & E N G AG E