When Jake and Shirley Bostrom think about their daughter, Kari, they remember her warm smile, her strong faith, and her compassion for others. After Kari sadly passed away in January at 46 years old, the Bostroms were looking for a way to exemplify the goals and values that Kari held throughout her life, a way to keep her name and memory alive while supporting the community where she grew up.
They established the Kari Jo Bostrom Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation of Dunn County to support programs specific to causes that were close to Kari’s heart. A 1989 graduate of Menomonie High School, Kari attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology, Art and Museum Studies. She went on to work for the Wilson Place Museum and the Rassbach Museum in Menomonie for several years. Kari continued her education at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, earning advanced degrees in Church History and a theological research degree in History. While earning these degrees, Kari began work in the Luther Seminary Arts and Archives program, where she soon found a passion and unique ability for historical preservation and service to researchers.
The Kari Bostrom Memorial Fund will now help provide teacher mini grants for the School District of the Menomonie Area, as part of the Excellence in Education Teacher Mini Grant Program managed by the Community Foundation of Dunn County. Competitive grants ranging from $250 to $1,000 are available to school staff each year through an application process, to support school projects that promote learning and improve the academic achievement of students. This particular fund will support requests for projects that enhance children’s experiences in areas that Kari was passionate about, including historical experiences or research, field trips to area museums or veterans’ memorials, or projects that immerse students into various cultures or the arts.
The first mini-grant funded by the Kari Bostrom Memorial Fund is in the amount of $1,000 and will allow the Menomonie School District to purchase non-fiction picture-book display bins for their five elementary schools. The project, submitted by the K-5 Library Media Technology Integrator, Jessica Graham, aims to accommodate elementary students of all reading abilities by displaying non-fiction books face-out, giving students the ability to see both the picture and title of books more easily. It can be difficult, especially for younger readers, to choose books by viewing rows and rows of book spines in a limited amount of time. The bins provide a colorful display, allowing books to be easily categorized together by topic. The next cycle of Teacher Mini Grants for the Menomonie School District opens next fall in 2019, with applications due November 1st.