Before the Education Foundation of Sarasota County had an office, a budget or even a conference table, it had Beverly Koski sitting on the grass.

"I remember sitting on the lawn of the high school because we didn't have a place to meet," Koski said in a profile published by the foundation on July 7. "We had a great time just figuring it out."

Koski is a founding board member of the Education Foundation, which Shirley Ritchey launched in 1988 as a nonprofit independent of Sarasota County Schools. Koski, a former fifth- and sixth-grade teacher who also worked as a substitute, was instrumental in establishing the foundation's teacher grants program, according to the organization.

Grants program has awarded more than $3 million

The program, now called EducateSRQ, provides classroom grants up to $1,000 and schoolwide grants up to $10,000 for supplies, equipment and field trips, according to the foundation's website. The foundation has awarded more than $3 million through more than 4,000 classroom grants since its founding, according to a Goldin Foundation profile of the organization.

"They come with the tools," Koski says of children

Koski told foundation President and CEO Jennifer Vigne during a June 17 lunch at Plymouth Harbor that she sees potential as something children already carry.

"I love children. They come with the tools," she said.

She taught for four years before her board involvement and has maintained that every child deserves adults who listen. Her approach: step back and ask what the child is really saying.

Beverly's late husband, Robert "Bob" Koski, co-founded Sun Hydraulics Corp. in Sarasota in 1970. Their son, Tom Koski, remains an active foundation supporter, according to the organization.

43,000 students served since 1988

The Education Foundation has served 43,000 students in 53 public schools and supported 5,000 instructional staff since 1988, according to the Goldin Foundation.

For the 2024-25 school year, the foundation awarded 82 scholarships to Sarasota County high school students, including 44 through its new Future-Ready Scholars program in its inaugural year, according to the Herald-Tribune. Suncoast Credit Union pledged $100,000 annually to support Future-Ready, according to Sarasota Magazine in October 2025.

In late 2025, the foundation moved from The Landings, the school district's former headquarters site, to 1413 Boulevard of the Arts in Sarasota's Rosemary District. The new space includes a podcast studio and conference rooms, Vigne wrote in a Jan. 3 piece for SRQ Magazine.

What comes next

Tom Koski's continued involvement keeps the family's commitment alive nearly four decades after his mother helped launch the organization. Teachers seeking classroom funding can find current grant information at edfoundationsrq.org/teachers/grants.