On May 4, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., EdUCate! held their Twenty Fifth Silver Anniversary Taste of the Triangle event at the Pirch Showroom in the Westfield UTC Mall.

   The VIP Reception, where those who donated 500 dollars or more to EdUCate! this school year were invited to enjoy specially selected wine and food pairings, was held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

   General admission tickets were 65 dollars and tickets for UC High staff were 40 dollars. Event highlights included restaurant samplings, beverages, a 25 year UC Trivial Pursuit Game, and a silent auction.

  Committee Co-Chair Greg Hom stated, “The main purpose of this event is to be able to raise money that will benefit all the students from all five schools in our cluster, and secondarily, to have a chance for some parents and teachers to come out and have some fun.”

   The money raised at Taste of the Triangle will be distributed amongst five schools: Curie Elementary, Doyle Elementary, Spreckels Elementary, Standley Middle School, and UC High. “There will be different ways of distributing the money — either through the grant requests made by the principals of each school or through individual teacher grants that will be made from all five of the schools. Depending on how the grants get reviewed and scored, the teachers will get the money. It’s going to be spread out as much as we can amongst the schools,” he explained.

  According to the official EdUCate! website, the following restaurants had tables at the event: AAharn Thai,  Amardeen (Lebanese and Mediterranean Cuisine), California Pizza Kitchen, Corner Bakery Cafe, Crossroads Deli, Eureka!, Farmer’s Table, The French Gourmet, Great Maple, Lorna’s Italian Kitchen, Outcast Grill, P.F. Chang’s, Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, Snooze A.M. Eatery, and Vitality Bowls (uc-educate.org).

    Most of the items in the silent auction were donated from all over San Diego, and even the state, added Hom.

   Another important feature of the event is the Sponsor-a-Teacher program. Hom expanded, “The Sponsor-a-Teacher program is where parents or members of the community can pay for a ticket for a teacher to attend. That way, teachers can meet the parents out there in a more relaxed atmosphere and mingle with their colleagues as well.”

    Spreckels Elementary Teacher Elizabeth Stewart added, “Basically, we submit our names and they let us know if we get sponsored. Sometimes the sponsor is anonymous and other times we know who it is. When we do know, it’s almost like a special gift.”

   “I think the venue was very cool, the entertainment was excellent, the food was great, and there was a good crowd,” stated Spreckels Elementary Teacher Kendra Littlewood, who has attended Taste of the Triangle for the past fifteen years.

   Several UC High students were also at the event as volunteers. Sophomore Sundi Win said, “I heard about the opportunity when it was announced in the bulletin and also because I am a part of CSF. I decided to volunteer because a lot of my friends were doing it too. We helped with the set up and then served food for some of the restaurants. It was a fun way to get some volunteer hours.”