Nebo Foundation Gives Grants to Southern Area January 2016

Submitted by lana.hiskey on

The Nebo Education Foundation meets each month to discuss submitted educational grants for students in Nebo School District. One of the goals of the foundation is to fund worthwhile projects in the district that provide resources to enrich student learning. The Nebo Education Foundation functions through generous donations made by individuals and businesses.

Congratulations to the following teachers that continue to inspire the minds of students.

Goshen Elementary–Krista Openshaw
Krista Openshaw, sixth-grade teacher at Goshen Elementary, said, “Thank you so much for approving the grant.  Our sixth-grade team this year has five ESL students that speak very little, to no English. I noticed that the school has lots of Spanish picture books but no chapter books for our older students to enjoy. The money from this grant is going to be used to get some Spanish chapter books into our library so that ALL of our students have access to books that they can read. It makes me so happy to see my students, whether they speak English or not, reading books that they enjoy. Once again, thank you so much!”

Santaquin Elementary–Brian Griffith, Annalyn Greer, Judy Rawle, Andrew Mecham 
Brian Griffith, sixth-grade teacher at Santaquin Elementary, said, “Thanks so much for approving this grant.  I am so excited to be able to provide as much technology for my students as possible.  This is going to help me use several technology applications, (Aleks, Spelling City, Utah Compose, and Razkids, are a few), throughout the day as we incorporate technology into every possible aspect of the day. A couple of the projects we will complete will be helped since the students will be expected to type and submit them. (A country report and a children's book are two of the projects.)  At the end of the year, these Chromebooks will help give the students extra practice time learning how to take the Sage test so that they are ready. This grant is such a great asset to my class as it allows us to complete assignments a lot easier for some of my students. Thanks again for this grant and thanks for supporting education in another important way.”

“Thanks to the Nebo Education Foundation, I now have another Chromebook for my students to use in my classroom. It is so nice to have technology readily available.  We use the Chromebooks during math time so I can have some students working on the individualized program, ALEKS, and  some students doing independent work which frees me up for direct instruction with small groups. We will be using the Chromebooks more as we start using Utah Compose for our writing instruction. Our class has used the Spellingcity.com site for Spelling, and we often use the Chromebooks for research during Science. Once again, thank you for this wonderful gift,” said Annalyn Greer, sixth-grade teacher at Santaquin Elementary.

Judy Rawle, sixth-grade teacher at Santaquin Elementary, said, “I just want to express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for the Nebo Education Foundation and all that you do for education. Receiving a grant to help purchase additional Chrome books for my classroom is such an amazing gift. My students use the few Chromebooks we already have in class every day. They have been used for every subject area, but especially math and spelling.  Having more Chromebooks in the classroom will free up more time for other lessons and instruction, because we can have more people getting their work done at the same time.  The students are just as excited as the teachers at having more access to the programs they use.  This gift will be used for many years and will affect many more students than just the ones I have this year.  Thank you once again for your generous donation and support!”

“With this grant my classroom will be getting five new Chromebooks and will put our class total at ten.  This will enable us to shrink the math instruction number to half the class while the other half use the Chromebooks to work on Aleks and/or the online math book and lessons that are available.  It is also going to be a huge benefit in writing as students will be able to type their papers on a google doc instead of writing final drafts by hand.  The Chromebooks will be used in preparation for end of level tests by spending time working on sample questions for reading, science, and math as well as utilizing the Utah Compose website where students can practice writing informational and argumentative papers off a prompt and given two to three resources,” stated Andrew Mecham, sixth-grade teacher at Santaquin Elementary.

Spring Lake Elementary–Ien Richins
Ien Richins, fifth-grade teacher at Spring Lake Elementary, said, “Thank you so much for the grant money that was given to us for the Illustrated Thesauruses.  The fifth- and sixth-grade students are going to thoroughly enjoy using them to enhance their writing and vocabulary building processes. We are excited to be able to purchase these resources, which we otherwise would not be able to supply to our students.  Thank you for your generosity and contributions to help students succeed in the learning journey.”

Barnett Elementary–Trenya Peterson
Trenya Peterson, sixth-grade teacher at Barnett Elementary, said, “Technology has been changing lives all over the world; having a new iPad--and an array of applications--will maximize speech-language therapy by (a) incorporating a multi-sensory approach, (b) allowing us to track progress with ease and (c) the ability to easily communicate with colleagues and parents. It’s going to be a real game-changer for my students with language disorders, especially those struggling with verbs and prepositions. The technology will be used to deliver and manage speech-language therapy and instruction for students in preschool through sixth grade. The applications target the specific goals contained in an IEP in a way like no other, incorporating a multisensory approach to include not only sight, but touch and sound as well. Studies have shown that video is considered best practice for teaching many aspects of language, especially verb tense and prepositions. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity the Nebo Education Foundation has provided for us.”

Taylor Elementary–Mindy Sumens
Mindy Summens, kindergarten teacher at Taylor Elementary, said, “We would just like to express our gratitude to the Nebo Foundation for your generosity and support of the students and teachers of Nebo School District.  Our kindergarten students are thrilled to begin our adventure into the brain based, multi modal world of Secret Stories. The stories and the learning cards are going to be used to connect our young learners through visual, auditory, and kinesthetic means in the acquisition of new reading and writing skills. Used in conjunction with the Journeys program and our guided reading instruction, we hope to help our young learners make personal connections to the skills and improve understanding and retention of these difficult reading and writing patterns.  Thank you again for kindness and generosity it is truly appreciated. Your donation will make a difference for kindergarten students at Taylor Elementary for years to come.”

Payson High–Clint Peery
“By receiving this grant, it allows the over 125 broadcasting students to continue to push the envelope of innovation while producing high quality, student controlled broadcasts.  The students at Payson High School have produced over 75 live broadcasts so far this school year. With the help of this grant, we will continue to show the student body, faculty, community, and the world all of the great things happening at PHS. We very much appreciate the support,” stated Clint Peery, videography teacher at Payson High.

Goshen Elementary–Joanie Burningham
“I would like to thank the Nebo Foundation for the grant that they provided for my second-grade class. With this wonderful grant, we will be able to purchase Chromebooks that will enhance the learning of my students through different reading, math and science programs. Many of my students do not have the ability to have time to learn while on a computer or tablet at home. The Chromebooks in the classroom will give them this opportunity. Thank you,” exclaimed Joanie Burningham, second-grade teacher at Goshen Elementary.

Attributions
Lana Hiskey