Grants Awarded in June 2018 by the Nebo Education Foundation

Submitted by lana.hiskey on

The Nebo Education Foundation is composed of 20 volunteer board members who live in cities serviced by Nebo School District. Board members meet each month to review and award grant requests, consider fund-raising avenues and other items that advance the educational opportunities for Nebo School District students. Many of the donations received are for selected projects, yet a substantial amount is available for the greatest need. Greatest need monies are considered for grants submitted by area schools.

"The Nebo Education Foundation couldn't fund these grants without the tremendous support we receive from the Green Fever golf tournament, business partners, and individual donors. Thank you for the generosity of our community. The students in Nebo District have a more enhanced education than they would otherwise receive. We are grateful for all the good we see happening as a result of all those who support the Nebo Education Foundation," said executive director Lana Hiskey.

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

Salem Hills High – Kacie Bosone
Kacie Bosone, teacher at Salem Hills High, said, “My Latinos in Action club recently received a grant for a portable speaker through your foundation. It will be used for our lunchtime socials we hold each month. Music is an important part of the success for these socials because it brings so many peers together and is a proven tool to combat stress. The socials have become a well known function that students look forward to. With the purchase of our own portable speaker, we plan to hold even more activities to promote mental health and create unity within our school. Everything is better with music!”

Rees Elementary – Annette Harvey
“Thank you so much for the grant for technology! This will be amazing! My students use iPod Shuffles daily to listen to fluent reading, which will encourage their own fluent reading. It also gives them the opportunity to read several different authors. This is so great! exclaimed Annette Harvey, first grade teacher at Rees Elementary.”

Cherry Creek Elementary – Cheryl Nielson
Cheryl Nielson, sixth-grade teacher at Cherry Creek, said, “I am thrilled to be receiving this grant on behalf of my students to enhance their educational experience in my classroom. Though seemingly simple, these headphones will make a world of difference to my students who have autism or other sensory issues. The headphones I am purchasing have moderate noise cancelling capability so that these students are not disturbed by outside noise as they try to focus on their work. To students with other disabilities, the embedded microphone will facilitate their becoming better writers of literary and persuasive essays because they can focus on the content of their essays instead of on the difficulties they have typing. Additionally, the microphone included will enable all my 6th graders to integrate reading fluency, higher-order thinking, and cross-curricular connections as they create self-narrated multi-media presentations. Again, thank you for supporting the students of Nebo School District, and specifically my class, with your generosity.”

Oakridge – Candi Bown
“I can't thank the foundation enough for accepting this request. This money is going to go towards loaner hearing aids for hearing impaired children. Hearing aids like anything else has a tendency to break down once in a while and need to be sent in for repair. It is imperative that they don't have down time listening in the classroom. To get a hearing aid back from repair can be up to two weeks which could be crucial learning time. This way they are assured that even though their own hearing aid is broken I can fit them with one during the time theirs is getting repaired. I will also be using these for students who are newly identified as hearing impaired. Last year during our routine hearing screening we found 7 kids in September and October who needed to be fit with hearing aids for the first time. After obtaining medical clearance from an ENT I can fit them with hearing aids until they can find funding for their which can be very expensive. The other thing I am using this money and the matching funds from the special education department is for mini mics for several of our students with cochlear implants. This will enable them to get direct audio input from the teacher to their cochlear implants. They can also connect to their chrome books and iPad's via blue-tooth. This will provide them with greater access to the curriculum. This money will help many kids over the years, and I can't thank you enough for your generosity.” said Candi Bown, district audiologist.”

East Meadows Elementary – Natalie Mecham
First-grade team at East Meadows Elementary stated, “Thank you for the grant for headphones. These will be a great help to assist the students in using the Imagine Learning program. The students will be able to record themselves and listen to their reading. Thank you for your generosity!”

Sage Creek Elementary – Angie Hartung & Makenna Taylor
“We are so excited to be granted this amazing opportunity to purchase chromebooks for our classes. These chromebooks will benefit our students in so may incredible ways. Third grade Is the first time students are really exposed to chromebooks, and to have them in our classes will provide our students the chance to learn about technology and the importance it has on our community. We plan to use these chromebooks on a daily basis with our students,” said Makenna and Angie, third-grade teachers at Sage Creek.

Canyon Elementary – Kalani Reed
Kalani Reed, facilitator at Canyon Elementary, said, “Thank you so much!! I am so excited about this grant. Bee-Bots are a great way for students to be engaged in their learning. With Bee-Bots students can learn to program, sequence, and problem solve in a fun and engaging way. Students program the Bee-Bots to complete certain tasks. This can be done with tasks card that students input the information and the Bee-Bot runs the program. Students learn sequencing by programming a certain order of tasks. Students will problem solve by looking at a map and decide how to program a Bee-Bot to complete a path. I am hoping to have upper grade students learn to use the Bee-Bots so they can teach the younger grade students how to use them.”

Larsen Elementary – Heide Taylor
“Thank you to the Nebo Foundation for granting my request for new white board sets for the three first grade classes. The foundation is a great way to update materials that have been well used and are worn out. The whiteboards will be used in many ways which include word work and for assessment purposes. The Nebo Foundation has granted everything I have requested during the past few years, and I appreciate their time and efforts to help make schools great!” exclaimed Heide Taylor, first grade teacher at Larsen Elementary.

Canyon Elementary – Staci Call
Staci Call, librarian at Canyon Elementary said, “Thank you so much! I am so excited and extremely grateful to be awarded $1,000 for our school library! I will use these funds along with matching school funds (PTA matching funds and funds from my library) to jump start an easy to read non-fiction section for our lower grade levels–specifically sports, animals and science. I have had many requests for these types of books this year from the students in kindergarten and first grade. The books I will be purchasing have text that is a little larger than normal with fewer words per page so that it is not overwhelming, with large colorful pictures to help support the text. I love to see the students so excited about books and develop a love for reading at such a young age. With this grant I will be able to purchase 129 hardbound books to start this collection. I know that these books will be a wonderful addition to our school library and will benefit hundreds of students a year for many years to come. This will give us a great start for a new collection that we can continue to build upon and help grow in the years to come. Thank you so much! Walt Disney said, ‘There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island.’”

Another grant
Payson High – Derek Campbell

The Nebo Education Foundation functions through generous donations made by individuals and businesses. The Foundation helps enrich students’ education in Nebo School District. Anyone interested in the Nebo Education Foundation or who wish to make a donation for education is encouraged to contact Lana Hiskey by email lana [dot] hiskey [at] nebo [dot] edu, by phone 801-354-7400, or mail 350 South Main, Spanish Fork, UT 84660.

#nebohero #studentsuccess #empowerstudents #engagestudents #focusonstudents #loveUTpublicschools #utpol #uted 

Attributions
Lana Hiskey
File attachments
Attachment Size
Nebo Education Foundation Board 5.5 MB