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!
Rees Elementary – Jacquelyn Searle
“Thank you! I am so excited to have this grant approved. I am already planning ways to enrich the concepts that I teach by using the iPad as a way to bring the vast resources that are available on the internet to my classroom. I am also going to use it as a document camera, take anecdotal notes, and use it as a mini lab for students. Thank you for providing this technology so we can strive to do better at teaching our students,” expressed Jacquelyn Searle, first-grade teacher at Rees Elementary.
Sage Creek Elementary – Pam Tippett
Pam Tippett, sixth-grade teacher, said, “This year we had a huge increase in our enrollment. I teach reading to all 120 sixth-grade students and had to combine titles into expanded units to meet the grade level overload. We didn't have enough quality books for our curriculum for the rest of the year. This gift will give us the needed supplies. Thank you again for all the Nebo Education Foundation does for us. Sage Creek has been the recipient of multiple grants from the Foundation throughout the last 21 years of my teaching career.”
These sixth-grade students practiced their writing skills and expressed their gratitude through hundreds of thank you notes from the sixth-grade students to the Nebo Education Foundation.
Hobble Creek Elementary – Brandi Wayment
“I am so grateful to be receiving this grant. Adding high-interest, nonfiction books to our classroom library will benefit all of my students. I am especially excited that these books will include a variety of reading levels so that even my emerging readers will have appropriate and interesting texts thanks to the Nebo Foundation,” stated Brandi Wayment, first-grade teacher at Hobble Creek Elementary.
Springville Junior – Tiffanie Miley, Rachel Neeley, and Jennifer Dunn
“Thank you so much! We are so excited about receiving the Phineas Gage books. The books we receive will benefit all seventh-grade students. The new Utah core curriculum focuses heavily on informational texts. Phineas Gage is an engaging, complex text that will be invaluable in helping students learn how to read and understand informational texts,” expressed the English teachers at Springville Junior.
Mapleton Elementary – Julie Major
Julie Major, special education teacher at Mapleton Elementary, said, “Thank you very much for approving this grant. I really believe that this program will be a valuable resource for me and all the teachers at our school who have students in their classroom who struggle with processing speed, attention problems, and memory. It is an easy program to use and requires minimal instruction to implement. And because this program targets those areas of weakness in students (ie. processing speed, attention problems, and memory), we can strengthen our students in those areas and hopefully help them achieve great academic success.”
Canyon Elementary – Sara Beth Johnson
“The third grade teachers and I are so excited to build a listening center library in order to promote literacy. We are going to use the book sets during reading workshop. A variety of literature has been chosen so that students are exposed to all types of writing. In addition, we hope that by having the students listen to a good reader read, the students' fluency (i.e. expression, accuracy, rate, and smoothness) will improve. We are so grateful for all the materials will we be able to purchase because of this grant. Thank you!” stated Sara Beth Johnson, third-grade teacher at Canyon Elementary.
Salem Hills – Brad Graham
Brad Graham, math teacher at Salem Hills High, said, “The iPad grant has been great. In my classes, I intend to use different Apps for German, Physics with Technology, Robotics, AP physics and any other class they decide I need to teach. The iPad is new technology to me. So far, I have been using it to enhance my teaching. I have been using the technology to see what Apps are available for classroom use. I think that some time in the future, many of the textbooks will have some sort of App for it. I know the Physics with Technology is getting close. I look forward to collaborating with the other teachers to see what they have found to be useful.”
Taylor Elementary – Kindergarten Team
“Thank you, Nebo Foundation!” exclaimed the kindergarten team at Taylor Elementary.
“News of the grant was so exciting! Our school had already purchased some of the LeapFrog DVDs, and we checked them out to the students that were in need of extra help with learning the alphabet letters. The students’ eyes lit up when they realized that they were going to take one of the videos home. Their motivation to watch it repeatedly and to sing along was exactly what we were hoping for! Now, with the grant money, our school is able to purchase twice as many LeapFrog DVDs. We plan to check them out to those students that will be entering kindergarten in the fall during spring pre-registration. Our hope is that the students will develop a love for the alphabet letters and the doors of reading and writing that open with that knowledge.”
Rees Elementary – Billi Robbins
Billi Robbins, staff developer at Rees, said, “I want to thank the members of the Nebo Education Foundation for giving Rees Elementary School a $1,000 grant to purchase Fountas & Pinnell Intervention Kit. We want to help teachers provide powerful, daily, small-group instruction for the lowest achieving children. These materials will help teachers to teach the following: a combination of reading, writing, phonics, and word study; emphasis on comprehending strategies; attention to the features of nonfiction and fiction texts; specific work on sounds, letters, and words in activities designed to help children notice the details of written language; and learn how words work; help for students in expanding their vocabularies; explicit teaching for fluent and phrased reading; and opportunities to write about reading to learn a variety of writing strategies. Purchasing these materials will give our students access to content rich text through appropriately leveled text. These books will provide the opportunity for students to explore and be exposed to many types of literature in their specific reading level. Thank you again for considering us! We greatly appreciate it!”
Brockbank Elementary – Nathan Wright
“The students in my class were so excited to have the newest piece of technology. It was amazing to see all students, not just the high achieving students, naturally become an expert at operating the iPad. As we studied the constellations in class, I told them about the constellations, then I turned on the iPad and pointed it to the sky and showed the students the constellations that were above them at that very second. I have never seen the connections happen so fast. We also use the iPad to work on math problems and then talk about it as a class. I have students fighting over getting a chance to show their work. They don't hesitate and aren't intimidated. Thank You! Thank You!” exclaimed Nathan Wright, sixth-grade teacher at Brockbank Elementary.
The Nebo Education Foundation could use more funds to support these worthwhile learning grants. Anyone interested in donating to Nebo District schools, classes or programs can do so through the Nebo Education Foundation which is a 501 (c) (3) organization created to bring businesses and donors together for the benefit of Nebo District school children. Your contribution is a tax deductible charitable gift as provided by law. Contact Lana Hiskey at 801-354-7400, e-mail lana [dot] hiskey [at] nebo [dot] edu or mail to 350 South Main, Spanish Fork, UT 84660.
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