ADAMS TWP — Mars Area School District has received a $2,500 donation from the new GetGo in Adams Township for the high school’s Rocket Fuel Café.

Assistant superintendent Elizabeth McMahon said GetGo reached out to her ahead of its grand opening celebration May 18.

“And when they reached out to me they said that they wanted to do something with food, so what could we do possibly with food that would benefit the students?” McMahon said. “So I had told them about the Rocket Fuel Café in the high school, run by our students with special needs.”

At the grand opening, McMahon said the school was presented with a $2,500 check for the students and the cafe.

“So the donation goes directly to the Rocket Fuel Café, which basically will support our special needs students with their prom, which is called A Very Special Evening,” McMahon said, “and then also field trips for our special needs students.”

While McMahon said the cardboard check was not “cashable,” GetGo is in the process of delivering the check to the school in time for the Tuesday, June 13, board meeting.

“It’s going to be money well spent,” McMahon said.

Also at its meeting Tuesday, June 6, the board voted to accept a nearly $9,000 donation from Karski & Spokane Orthodontics for new equipment in the district’s technical education department.

The donation included $4,424 for a 3D design unit, $649 for a Flash Forge Creator Pro 2 3D Printer and $3,775 for five laptop computers compatible with the printer.

“We’re appreciative because they’re very high-tech machines,” superintendent Mark Gross said. “They’re very necessary machines for kids to learn to utilize in our tech-ed program, so we’re extremely thankful for their generosity.”

Gross said the district has been expanding its focus in the technical education department to prepare students for careers in engineering, mathematics and science.

“We really looked deeply into the tech-ed department and how that really has a huge impact on high-level math and science and some of our students entering into the workforce,” he said. “That department, 3D printing, getting kids exposed to that early is very important.”

In addition to the donation, Gross said the district has been investing in the department during the last few years, including hiring a teacher last year to teach high-level electives for students.

“Then, in this current budget, we’re actually getting upgrades to their equipment — things that they’ve asked for years and years,” Gross said. “We’re trying to make a commitment to that department because it really does affect a lot of kids outside of here.”

With many of the classes in the department preparing students for vital engineering education and vocational work, Gross thanked Karski & Spokane Orthodontics for the donation — and the department for its continued efforts.

“I really want to thank the department for their communication with the administration,” Gross said, “and their commitment to making our kids career-ready after high school.”

This story was updated at 8:29 a.m., June 8, to reflect the Rocket Fuel Café receiving $2,500. A previous version of this story said they received $25,000.