Maggie & Amos Foundation grants continue to help area teachers and students in wake of 2016 deaths

CHANA – For six years, walkers and runners have lined up to start Infinity Run activities to honor Maggie and Amos – a teacher at the Chana Education Center and her 3-year-old son.

Maggie Rosko, 31, died in a house fire Oct. 19, 2016, in Byron, along with her 3-year-old son, Amos. She was a school teacher at the Chana Education Center at the time of her death.

After their deaths, a student of Maggie’s suggested they host a 5K to honor Maggie’s love of running.

Maggie’s friends and co-workers at the Chana Education Center, formed the Maggie & Amos Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, to keep their memories alive and help other schools and agencies with youth-related projects.

On Feb. 15, foundation members along with other educators gathered in the gymnasium at the school to announce this year’s grant recipients.

“Losing Maggie was so painful for us all,” said Lynn Kalnins, assistant principal at the Chana Education Center. “We did not know what to do with our grief. One of our students said we needed to do something, that we could not just let this go.

“So after talking with that student and others, they really wanted to do a 5K. And now we have turned it into a community [and] family event.”

The Infinity Run now includes other activities such as family-fun events, food and music. Through donations raised, the Maggie & Amos Foundation provides grants to educators from community schools to fund creative and innovative learning projects.

“Maggie always – always – invoked creative and innovative and fun events for her kids. And that is continuing on as her legacy at the forefront of our commitment,” Kalnins said. “We really thank you guys applying for the grants and for all that you do for your students, because we know that you are – every day – creating meaningful things, as evidenced by your grant applications.”

This year, grants worth a total of $6,144 were awarded to 13 educators representing six area school districts.

Recipients are:

• Oregon School District: Karly May, Nate Rogers, Erin Moloney and Jackie O’Rorke

• Rochelle Elementary School District: Arely Hickey, Erin Strouss and Amy Springmire

• Ashton-Franklin School District: John Dudzik

• Forrestville Valley School District: Maria Tuten

• Ogle County Educational Cooperative: Tabitha Thomas and CJ Gray

• Amboy School District: Amy Schwamberger and Debra Cleary

Three recipients attended the Feb. 15 event: Debra Cleary of Amboy High School, Amy Schwamberger of Amboy Elementary School and Maria Tuten of Forreston Elementary School.

Cleary will be buying digital cameras for her students to support learning in the digital arts. Students will be creating and editing videos as well as taking images of the art they make in class, she said.

Schwamberger will be buying more pre-band instruments for young musicians to allow them to experience the art of making music before being of age to join the school band.

“These are called ‘tubes,’ and these are called ‘recorder pluses,’” Schwamberger said while holding the two instruments. “So the idea is to give them an early feel of what a band instrument would be like, so that will hopefully garner more interest as they move on to junior high, and hopefully, therefore, increase our band program.”

Tuten said she will be using funds to buy materials to create grief kits for students in her school district.

She said several students in her care have experienced the loss of a member of their family, and she has found that the grief kits help those students cope with their loss.

“These come with a little short book to read, and the kits include resources that are available,” she said. “These help the kids talk about it and process it.”

Stephanie White, a social worker at the Chana Education Center and a co-worker of Maggie’s, said hearing the creative requests from educators aimed at helping students is exactly something Maggie would enjoy.

“Every year we do this, I think Maggie would love this,” White said. “Just knowing that so many interesting and dynamic and engaging opportunities for learning will be happening as a result of this money is just really heartfelt for us.”

To date, the foundation has funded more than $48,000 in educator grants, library sponsorships and scholarships.

Duane C. Meyer, Maggie’s ex-husband and Amos’ father, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated arson and one count of concealment of a homicidal death. His case is pending in Ogle County court. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Kalnins said Maggie’s classroom is remembered by her students as being a place where all felt accepted and could expect spontaneous and fun learning activities.

Amos had just turned 3 and was excited about all things learning in his first year of preschool, Kalnins said.

2024 Infinity Event

This year’s event will be Saturday, June 8, at the Rochelle Wildlife Conservation Club, east of Chana. It will feature a “Running Wild” 5K trail run, a professional and amateur bags tournament, free children’s activities, music by Burn n’ Bush, a silent and live auction, and more.

The event coincides with the club’s monthly steak fry dinner, which is open to the public.

More information on the Maggie & Amos Foundation can be found at https://sites.google.com/ocecil.org/chanainfinityrun/home.