Nebo Education Foundation Gives Grants in October

Submitted by lana.hiskey on

Sarah Sumsion from Cherry Creek answered Wednesday's Challenge 10/09/13. Congratulations! "Where are we Wednesday?" is sponsored by Wiggy Wash.

Nebo Education Foundation 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. 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.

Springville Junior High, English Books, Eighth Grade English, Emily McBride
Photo by Brady will be used as a unit in 8th Grade Language Arts. Photo by Brady is an informational text about the Civil War along with the history of photography and photojournalism. This book works nicely with the Core’s big focus on informational text, what 8th graders are learning in US History, and our increasingly image-centric world. We will finish the unit with creating photo essays using topics and photos researched from the internet,” said Emily McBride. “I am excited to teach Photo by Brady, and I am grateful that the Foundation was willing to help purchase these books. I feel strongly that Photo by Brady will greatly enrich my students’ understandings of informational text, visual images, reading strategies, and even history.”

Sierra Bonita Elementary, Reading Books, Kindergarten, Sue Leber
Sue said, “I was thrilled to receive the grant for leveled readers!  One of my favorite things is to share books with my students.  It truly is a magical moment when they begin to read those books independently.  By awarding this grant to our kindergarten students The Nebo Education Foundation is providing kindergarten students with books that are just right for them and books that they will be able to read on their own.  This grant will allow students to experience that feeling of success we want to provide them as they are just beginning their reading journey.  Providing our kindergarten students with a variety of early reader books builds their confidence and reading abilities and creates in them a desire to continue improving their skills.  Without funds provided by The Nebo Education Foundation our classroom libraries would not grow as rapidly as needed to meet our students' needs.  Thank you so much for providing a means for my students to embark on and continue on their lifetime journey of reading.”

Landmark, Djembe Drums, Scott Carson
Mr. Carson said, “Holyoake Drumbeat Program uses the drum circle format to engage students, build social skills, increase self-esteem, and explore connections between making music together as a group and the development of healthy relationships.  I am excited about this project and the prospect of reaching out to students in a much different way.”

Wilson Elementary, Books, Fourth Grade, Missy Warner
“This grant means so much to my classroom.  Bringing new and high interest book will help my struggling readers to become more active and eager readers.  Seeing my class gain that love of reading is what I long to see and hope to achieve with every class.  Thank you for approving my grant!” said Missy Warner.

Rees Elementary, Drums, Jeff Ballard
“Thank you for your consideration on awarding us this grant.  We will be using the drums and rhythm instruments to add more sounds to our music instruction and performances.  The steel drum will be added to our melodic section to add a more intense Latin sound to melodies and harmonies.  The cuica and cajita drums will be added to our drum section to lend a Latin feel to our rhythms.  And the Vibraslap will be added to our rhythm section for another unique sound effect for our music.  Our students love getting new sounds to add to our drum room, they revel in writing new ways to use them in their compositions,” said Mr. Ballard.

Mapleton Junior, Subscription Scholastic Magazines, Library, Ann Peay
“This grant money will be matched by library funds. For me as a librarian these magazines are an important resource for me to be able to make accessible to the teachers in our building. Each of these magazines features non-fiction articles and accompanying activities in each issue and an online site for further activities. This helps meet the requirements of the new Core by providing the resources for students to practice read, analyzing, and researching informational and non-fiction texts. Interest level in these magazines is high because of the up to date stories and coverage of current events. Classroom sets are easily shared by several teachers and filed for future use, said Mrs. Ann Peay.

Park Elementary, Take Home Books, Kindergarten, Bruce Elliott
Mr. Elliott said, “The purpose of applying for the Nebo Foundation Grant was to give kindergarten students at Park Elementary “at home “ access to reproduced decodable books that are aligned to classroom instruction and the Journeys Reading Program.  A secondary goal is to provide this access in such a way that encourages parental involvement.    With the funding of this grant, the kindergarten teachers at Park Elementary will have a class set of all the Journeys take-home decodable readers with a “hard” (card stock) cover. These books will go home like leveled library books, in a plastic bag with a sign off sheet that parents will autograph to signify that their child has read the take-home books.  The bags would be returned to school after being read by the students and exchanged for the next week’s books.

“It is the goal of every teacher to instill a love of reading in their students.  We are hoping that we can encourage students to spend less time in front of screens and more time in front of quality printed books that will aid in their education.  Perhaps the added benefit of having a parent involved in their reading progress might entice a reluctant reader.   We are grateful for the help we received from the Nebo Foundation to aid us in achieving our goals.”

Riverview Elementary, Headset Microphones, Skill Building, Melissa Michelsen
Melissa said, “I am using this grant to buy microphone, headsets for my students to use while they are on Success Maker and Imagine Learning Computers. These computers are used daily and will benefit hundreds of students. I am grateful to receive this grant knowing firsthand how a "working" headset will benefit my students. I'm excited for these headsets and know that they will aid in the educational growth of each child. Thank you.”

Cherry Creek Elementary, Choir Music, Choir Fourth-Sixth, Susan Deardeuff
"Cherry Creek is so grateful for the generous donation from the Nebo Foundation.  With the money that was donated, we were able to purchase several copies of new music for our school choir.  The choir at Cherry Creek is very popular but was is need of some new songs.  Our students are excited to learn the new music and perform it for parents and students.   Thanks again to the Nebo Foundation!" said Principal Duncan.

Westside Elementary, Units of Study, First Grade, Charlene Hall
Mrs. Hall said, "We are very excited about the Nebo Foundation grant. Our plan is to purchase the Lucy Calkin's Units of Study in Opinion, Information and Narrative Writing, Grade 1: A Common Core Workshop Curriculum to help us plan writing lessons for opinion, information, and narrative writing which aligns with the common core standards. We have used Lucy Calkin's Writers' Workshop Units of Study in the past, and have benefited from her vast knowledge of how to help young writers. We look forward to using these units of study to help our students be successful in writing opinion, information, and narrative papers. Thank you, Nebo Foundation, for making this possible for us and our student this year and years to come!"

East Meadows, Musical Instruments, Music, Lisa Ross
"We are overjoyed at receiving this grant for our school!  We will be be purchasing rhythm instruments for our music class such as hand-bells,  drums, resonator bells, and others.  We believe that having instruments in the hands of the students opens their minds to the creative process and will help them to continue to succeed academically.  The students are eager, as are we, to see what we can create through music.  Thanks again!" said Lisa Ross.


Spanish Fork High, Calculators, Mathematics, Denise Daniels
"We are very excited to get a grant in the math department. We use the graphing calculators in all of our classes especially AP Calculus, Math 1050, Math 1010, and Secondary Math III. We encourage students to solve problems algebraically, numerically, and graphically. By doing so, they make many connections and the understanding of the model increases," said Mrs. Daniels.

Other grants given:
Wilson Elementary, Books, Fifth Grade, BJ Wright
Riverview Elementary, Around the World Books, Sixth Grade, Doni Bufton
Riverview Elementary, Math Manipulative & Maps, Math, Sherilyn Woodhouse
Payson High, Flip Cameras, English, Margorie Ralph

Attributions
Lana Hiskey
File attachments
Attachment Size
Emily McBride Teacher Springville Jr., Foundation Board Members Natalie Clyde & Craig Shields, Principal VanAusdal 718.27 KB
Sue Leber Teacher Sierra Bonita, Foundation Board Members Natalie Clyde, Gayle Gammell, Craig Shields, Principal Larsen 945.81 KB
Joe Kelly, Scott Carson (no photo) Landmark, Foundation Board Member Kristina Christensen 944.54 KB
Missy Warner & BJ Wright Teachers Wilson, Foundation Board Members Kristina Christensen & Lana Hiskey, Principal Fluckiger 839.37 KB
Jeff Ballard Teacher Rees (no photo), Jenifer Peterson, Foundation Board Members Craig Shields, Natalie Clyde, & Gayle Gammell 796.82 KB
Ann Peay Librarian Mapleton Junior, Foundation Board Members Gayle Gammell & Craig Shields, Jeff Nelson 765.92 KB
Bruce Elliott Teacher Park, Principal Ryan Kay, Foundation Board Members Lana Hiskey & Keela Goudy 767.07 KB
Melissa Michelsen, Doni Bufton, Sherilyn Woodhouse (no photo) Foundation Board Members Lana Hiskey & Laura Taylor, Ms. Muirbrook 880.77 KB
Susan Deardeuff Teacher Cherry Creek, Mr. Duncan Foundation Board Members Natalie Clyde & Craig Shields, Principal Mike Duncan 846.64 KB
Charlene Hall Teacher Westside, Foundation Board Members Natalie Clyde & Craig Shields, Principal Sara Matis 910.12 KB
Lisa Ross Teacher East Meadows, Foundation Board Members Lana Hiskey & Laura Taylor, Principal Liddiard 834.8 KB
Denise Daniels Teacher Spanish Fork High, Board Members Lana Hiskey & Laura Taylor 928.47 KB
Marjorie Ralph Teacher Payson High 1017.9 KB