ASCISD Education Foundation award grants
ANDERSON – The Anderson- Shiro Education Foundation prize patrol stormed the halls of ASCISD April 28, distributing $39,119 in teacher grants.
Twenty-two grants were awarded totaling $15,000 more than the previous year. The largest grant, “Everyone is a READER” was a combined grant totaling $8,000 and awarded to Kristin Vezurk, Carrie Rodriguez, Stacey Smith and Jamie Mock. This grant provides each Kindergarten teacher with their own Leveled Literacy Intervention Program for their classroom. This program is used during small group instruction to meet individualized student needs for developing early reading skills.
Additional Grants High school/Jr. High Placing Books in the Hands of ALL Students - $4,000 Awarded to Candace Hesterman, Lindsey Young and Abby Cowley.
• Will fund 141 books available for checkout from the library and will include novels, non-fiction how-to books, and book series. This project encourages students to check out books based on their interest and to read with purpose.
Calculating For the Future - $2,638 Awarded to Alenda Lara and Nancy Cathey.
• Seventh and eighth grade Math Department will receive two 10-packs of the TI 84 CE Graphing Calculators.
TI 84 CE Graphing Calculators - $2,638.00 Awarded to Kevin Macik and Kim Allen.
• The High School Math Department will receive two 10-packs of calculators with improved technology and more features than the previously available graphing calculators.
The Innovative Biotech Learning Labs for Innovative Minds - $1,973.50 Awarded to Brittney Wade
• This grant funds learning labs to go along with previously funded Biotech equipment, electrophoresis and PCR machines. Lab examples include how molecular techniques are used to manage infectious disease outbreaks and DNA finger printing as a tool in ecology to analyze shark attacks in a region.
Yearbook Photography $1,812.31 Awarded to Lisa Dietzmann.
• This grant builds on a previous grant with the goal to teach students more about taking professional, magazine- quality pictures by funding a lens that can be used in indoor sporting events, classrooms, and darker room setting such as dances and prom. Students take 100% of the pictures for the yearbook, senior parent memory folders, and many school events beyond sports.
AED for ALL - $1,638 Awarded to Kay Lynn Diorio (nurse) and Jeffrey Dover.
• This grant funds an additional AED unit to be housed in the Agricultural Building which is separate from the main campus.
Ears To Hear - $239.91 Awarded to Shannon Douglas.
• This grant provides three 10-packs of classroom headphones to equip each student with their own set of headphones. Numerous programs are available to present students with text in audio form much like audio books or podcasts.
Elementary School Read, Read, Read - $3,985 Awarded to Kelli Strahan and Courtney Heaton.
• Provides an additional Leveled Literacy Intervention kit for use with second grade students in small group instruction.
Kaibot Coding - $2,000 Awarded to Allison Grenier and Tonya Wyatt.
• This grant provides an introduction to a computer coding program for fourth and fifth grade students. Students will code an object, called Kaibot, using a computer program to complete certain tasks such as playing sounds or picking up another object with its motorized grippers.
Keep Growing Readers $1,892.95 Awarded to Sarah Lee.
• This grant continues the funding of Hand2Mind products for use in Reading Intervention instruction and Scholastic Books the students receive as a reward for reaching reading goals.
Fun With Phonics $1,848.00 Awarded to Kelli Strahan and Courtney Heaton.
• This grant provides additional materials to support the implementation of a campus- wide Phonics program: Really Great Reading. It will provide each second-grade student with their own set of phonics manipulatives to use during lessons.
Apples For The Classroom - $1469.99 Awarded to April Bay.
• This grant provides four Apple iPads, a case for each iPad, and a charging station for use in a 3rd grade Math classroom. Installed iOS apps will reinforce many 3rd grade Math TEKS such as place value, forms of numbers, fractions, fluency in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
From the Ground Up $912.13 Awarded to Amanda Sechelski.
• This school garden project has been funded and expanded for several years. This grant will fund fall and spring plant seeds and a raised container to create an herb garden. Also requested are some hand tools for student to use when planting and maintaining the garden.
Stimulating Creativity & Critical Thinking with STEM bins - $816.80 Awarded to Stacey Smith.
• This grant funds STEM bins. STEM bins include materials like magna tiles, building blocks, and Lego bricks. Using task cards kindergarten students work with partners to build and create objects. Using these materials also helps children develop their fine motor skills.
Classroom Transformations - $692.48 Awarded to Kelley Tagudin.
• This grant funds materials to create classroom transformations in third grade. The classroom is changed into a brand-new landscape such as outer space or a crime scene while tying in content at the same time. The transformations enhance student engagement and provide students with hands-on experiences while learning and practicing grade level content.
Transform Your Learning - $488.95 Awarded to Amanda Sechelski and Christena Pyle.
• This grant provides second grade teachers funds for a pre-made math mega bundle from Teachers Pay Teachers. These materials provide for a review of math skills taught while transforming the classroom into scenes such as a safari, a candy shop, a Hawaiian luau.
Wax Museum- $460.00 Awarded to Allison Grenier.
• This grant provides a complete set of the Who was/ Who is book series for fifth grade students. Students will research and produce an informational writing piece on a person in history of their choosing from the book series.
Fostering an Enjoyment for Reading To Help Encourage The Love of Reading - $444.08 Awarded to Crystal Sechelski.
• This grant will expand the classroom library for a 40-book challenge for fourth grade students.
Wild About Research $419.81 Awarded to Angie Hulsman.
• This grant provides for books to aid in research projects in a third-grade classroom. A total of 25 research books including encyclopedias and atlases covering a wide range of topics will be purchased with these funds.
Photography Club $416.10 Awarded to Megan Reagan • This grant funds materials to start a Photography Club at the elementary level for the 2023-2024 school year.
Closing The Reading Gap Through Higher Interest $359.67 Awarded to Megan Reagan This grant will expand the classroom library for a 40-book challenge for fourth grade students.
Learn more about Anderson- Shiro Education Foundation at www.ascisd.net.