Local TV Figures to Headline LW Schools Foundation Luncheon

Three former local television news figures—Tony Ventrella, Monica Hart and Andy Wappler—will headline the Lake Washington Schools Foundation’s big annual fundraising luncheon May 23 at .

The theme of this year’s “A Legacy for Learning Luncheon” is “Growing Tomorrow’s Great Minds Today, One Child at a Time.”

Ventrella, former sports director at KING and KOMO television, now works as a media host for the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders and will keynote the event. His speech is titled “The Eternal Flame” and is about finding and bringing out in children “that spark inside all of us.”

Former KIRO News anchor Hart, now proprietor of LaFamiglia Design, will also speak, along with former television weather forecaster Wappler, now Puget Sound Energy’s head of corporate affairs.

The annual luncheon generates donations for the foundation’s efforts to support academic excellence in the Lake Washington School District. Last year’s banquet at Juanita High , who focused on the need for science, technology, engineering and math curriculum, and raised $144,500.

Since it was founded in 2005, the foundation has donated nearly $1 million to programs such as science enrichment grants, classroom and school enrichment grants, the LINKS mentoring program and Access, a program assisting low-income secondary students with school expenses.

This year’s luncheon is moving to the recently modernized Lake Washington High, 12033 NE 80th St. in Kirkland. Registration begins at 11 a.m. and the event ends promptly at 12:45 p.m. Lunch is complimentary; there is a suggested minimum donation of $150. To register, or for more information, please visit www.lwsf.org or call 425-936-1414.

There are still opportunities to be a table captain for tables of eight, to sponsor the luncheon, or to volunteer to help make this event a success. Contact Executive Director LeeAnn Wood for more information at leeann.wood@lwsf.org.