Of course, we get excited about our programs. But many others are excited about us too. Our awards include:

• Recognition in Oak Park's award as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People, from the America's Promise Alliance, 2008. Click here to see our description on the map of selected communities.
• A $10,000 2007 Visionary Grant from Community Bank of Oak Park & River Forest to expand Architecture Adventure into all ten District 97 schools
• 2009 Rotary Club of Oak Park River Forest grant for Geared Up, and 2008 Rotary grant for Art Start
• 11 ArtsFunds grants for Art Start from the Oak Park Area Arts Council, including its “Best in Class for Educational Programming” award in 1999
• Annual grant to expand the number of Global Village partnerships from a donor of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation, starting in 2006
• 6 grants from Target for Art Start, most recently in 2009
• American Architectural Foundation 2007 and 2008 Award of Merit to Architecture Adventure for K-12 Architectural Education
• First Place prize to Global Village from the Midwest Living magazine Champions in Education contest, 2004
• Nineteenth Century Club Benevolence Trust Fund grant for Art Start field trips in 2008-2009
• A $20,500 award for Art Start from Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities in 1998
• A $25,000 McDonald’s Children’s Charities awarded to Technology in Motion, a former OPEF program
• Exemplary Partnership Recognition for Global Village at the 1994 Illinois Conference on Business/Education Partnerships
• Recognition for Art Start by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and Arts Education Partnership
• Honorable Mention from the Educational Environments Exhibition in 1996 for Technology in Motion