Nebo Education Foundation Gives Grants December 2016

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Foundation President, Dale Phelps, remarked, "It is a pleasure to receive the grant applications and see how remarkable the Nebo District teachers are. The Nebo Education Foundation facilitates these grant monies to help teachers realize their ideas and students' potential. As a foundation, we get to see a glimpse at how well our teachers are instructing our students. Our teachers are truly talented and utilize every penny. They do such a great job!"

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

Mt. Nebo Junior – Coleen Huff & Amber Capell
Coleen Huff (CTE teacher) and Amber Capell (math teacher), both at Mt. Nebo Junior High said, “We are so excited to have received a Nebo Foundation Grant.  This money will be used to encourage our students in the field of STEM education.  We will be using these funds to purchase robots (m-bots and Meccano robots) that the students will build and learn to program. Our discovery coding class is excited to share with their parents and families what they are learning with these robots. Our Discovery Showcase Night is January 11, 2017. As teachers of this class, we are thrilled that more of our students will now have the opportunity to discover STEM-based learning through robotics.” 

Salem Junior – Kristen Van De Graaff
“I am so appreciative of community leaders who are willing to donate their time and resources to help our students and school. Nebo Education Foundation's grant helped me purchase an additional classroom set of the book Night by Eli Wiesel for our honors world civilizations students to read and analyze. Elie Wiesel’s book helps students grasp the experiences of Jewish Europeans during the holocaust and Nazi regime. It authentically illustrates Europe’s transformation to acceptance of the holocaust and highlights the social features that led to such atrocities. For many young students, history can seem distant and irrelevant. However, delving into the true experiences of a holocaust survivor helps history come alive and supplements their overall understanding of conflict during the twentieth century. I am grateful for Nebo Education Foundation's generous contribution so students can better engage in history,” stated Kristen Van De Graaff, history teacher at Salem Junior.

Spring Lake Elementary – Denise Taylor
Denise Taylor, first-grade teacher at Spring Lake Elementary, said, “Thank you so much for surprising me with the Nebo Education Foundation Grant today! This grant will fund a new rug for my classroom. This special rug is the heart of my classroom. It is where students learn and grow together as they share their ideas, insights, and knowledge. This is the place where magic happens when we dim our classroom lights, get comfy, and go to whole new worlds through teacher read alouds.  On this magic rug, we learn more about each other and make new friends. We read, we write, we play, and we excel as we come together on our community rug. Thank you again!”

Riverview Elementary – Matt Jenkins
“I'm very excited about our Nebo Foundation Grant that we received this year. Literacy in the early grades is one of the most important skills that we teach. There is a lack of level specific, non-fiction texts that can hold students interest. It's also difficult in the older grades to focus on specific reading strategies in longer books. We will be using this grant to help purchase non-fiction literacy cards that we can use across the entire school. These cards have high interest and allow guided reading teachers to focus on a specific reading strategy.  Thanks to the Nebo Foundation for helping both my classroom and all of Riverview Elementary.” exclaimed Matt Jenkins, third-grade teacher at Riverview Elementary.

Foothills Elementary – Kate Elliott
Kate Elliott said, sixth-grade teacher at Foothills said, “Our sixth grade class is so grateful for this grant. We received 30 Chromebooks earlier this year, but unfortunately we have been unable to secure a cart. Therefore, each time we use the computers, we have to hand out the boxes, find ways to keep them charged and then, to protect the devices, pack them back into their boxes. It will be so wonderful to have this cart to protect the devices and keep them charged.” 

Mt. Nebo Junior – Rock White
Mr. White, Theatre and English teacher at Mt. Nebo Jr. High School in Payson, Utah was thrilled this morning from a surprise visit from Nebo School District's Nebo Education Foundation. Mr. White received a check for $800 to go towards a new updated sound systems body microphones in Mt. Nebo's Little Theatre. 

Mr. White said, “The school has a very active Theatre program and many events (along with regular classroom teaching that takes place in the Little Theatre) will benefit greatly from the body microphones including plays and musicals that often perform there. The school just performed Scooby-Doo: Holiday on Mystery Island, this year's annual Scream show on December 1 and 2. The students did a fantastic job and have been looking forward to a better sound experience in their productions. This is a huge blessing, said Mr. White. "This is such a wonderful gift for our students here at Mt. Nebo!  It will benefit their experiences greatly. Thank you Nebo Education Foundation!”

Payson High – Marilyn Miller 
“Pickleball is dual sport that has been around for a long time. It is getting more popular now. I have been teaching pickleball for 23 years here at PHS. The new paddles will replace old ones that are falling apart. Thank you for your donation my students will love the new paddles,” said Coach Marilyn Miller at Payson High.

Hobble Creek Elementary – Brandi Wayment
“The fifth grade students at Hobble Creek will be participating in social issue book clubs thanks to the Nebo Foundation. We will be purchasing sets of 16 different novels, plus picture books, that focus on a variety of social issues to help our fifth grade students think about issues in the world around them. We will be reading books that focus on growing up, courage, responding to racism, prejudice and stereotypes, overcoming obstacles, working toward change, finding good in people and places, resolving problems, and fitting in. This grant will make it possible for our students to think about issues beyond their own knowledge and become more socially aware of others through the literature and the experiences of the characters,” stated Brandi Wayment, fifth-grade teacher at Hobble Creek Elementary.

Spanish Oaks Elementary – Jill Abbott
Jill Abbott, speech and language specialist at Spanish Oaks Elementary said, “Story Champs is a narrative program designed to help preschool through early elementary age students. It can be used for individual, small group, and large group speech therapy sessions. Stories and illustrations are included to teach basic story structure as well as enhanced story structure. Through the Story Champs program, students learn to retell stories and create personal narratives. The program targets complex language features necessary for both understanding and producing oral language. The language concepts targeted in Story Champs directly align with Common Core standards.  I will use the program to work on receptive and expressive language goals for the students on my caseload who are in Kindergarten through second grade. I look forward to using the program to give my students real-life opportunities to learn and use their individual language targets to meet their IEP goals.”

Salem Junior – Capri Bellows
"This grant will be used to purchase Young Adult copies of Unbroken for our eighth-grade students. Unbroken is an incredible true story that gets students excited about reading nonfiction, which is not an easy feat! The Nebo Education Foundation has given our students the opportunity to build their reading skills while learning about history through the experiences of Louis Zamperini, a man whose courage and perseverance are humbling and inspiring. I especially love this story for my students because many of the challenges Louis faced as a teenager are relatable to them, making the book an excellent base for rich classroom discussions,” stated Capri Bellows, English teacher at Salem Junior High.

Salem Junior – Amy Huhtala