Carrollton Elementary School teacher Xaviera Kight received a grant from the CCS Education Foundation that will help her purchase backpacks and supplies for her STEM “on the go” project, which will include kits filled with scientific tools for students to use during outdoor learning activities.
The Carrollton City Schools Education Foundation awarded 74 grants to teachers through the Instructional Excellence Grant program this year, with awards totaling nearly $26,000.
Grants were awarded to teachers at Carrollton High School, Carrollton Middle School, Carrollton Upper Elementary, Carrollton Elementary, Support Services, and the Harry Morgan Center. The awards were announced in “Publishers Clearinghouse Prize Patrol” style, which included a team of foundation members and school administrators surprising the recipients in their classrooms.
The Instructional Excellence Grant program began in 1994 with five teachers sharing $2,000 in funding. More than $380,000 in grants has been awarded through the program, which provides teachers with a funding outlet to support instructional projects or programs that are not funded through traditional sources.
Teachers apply for the grants at the beginning of the school year. The grants committee, consisting of foundation board members and community representatives, then reviews the applications and selects recipients.
This year, the grants will fund a variety of supplementary materials to enhance student learning across the district. CES students will engage in outdoor STEM exploration with discovery backpack kits outfitted with binoculars and magnifying glasses for the young adventurers, while CHS will help bring math to life through proving and building geometric shapes with logic puzzles. At CMS, students will learn about financial literacy using board games to better understand the importance of assets, liabilities, and making wise financial choices. CUES students will use a brand new microscope in lab activities to learn more about cells and microorganisms.
“It is amazing to see the innovative teaching ideas from our teachers, who plan exceptional lessons for students,” said Brooke Mobley, executive director of the CCS Education Foundation. “The Foundation board and grant committee members were excited to be able to grant teachers these extra tools to enhance the classroom experience for their students. Seeing the teachers’ reactions during prize patrol was a rewarding experience.”
The CCS Education Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to provide financial resources to support programs that directly impact teaching and learning at CCS. To learn more about the foundation and ways to give, visit https://www.carrolltoncityschools.net/community/foundation.
