Grants Awarded September 2020 by the Nebo Education Foundation - Answer to Wednesday Challenge

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.

Spanish Oaks Elementary – Megann McKendrick        
“We are so excited that we got our grant funded this year for Scholastic News! Thank you so much for taking the time to review our grant.” said Megann McKendrick, a fourth-grade teacher at Spanish Oaks Elementary. “The fourth grade at Spanish Oaks Elementary uses Scholastic News articles to instantly engage students in real life scenarios of science, social studies, technology, and other relative news around the world in a kid friendly way. The online resources from this bundle add to their learning with the engaging debates, videos, quizzes, and educational games. What makes it even more wonderful is that the articles change reading levels throughout the year to help students increase their comprehension and fluency. The students LOVE Scholastic News and we are so excited to have them in our classrooms this year. Thank You!”    
            
Payson High – Pearce Nitta        
“This grant at Payson High School has been utilized to help fund acquiring the necessary equipment to start a piano class. With the funds, the school has been able to set up a piano lab with 20 keyboard stations and a piano lab system. This system lets each student practice on headphones while remaining connected to the central hub unit, allowing the teacher to listen in and provide individual instruction. From here, it becomes simple to add computers to make a full MIDI or composing lab for the students. We are excited to have new opportunities to teach students a more diverse music curriculum!” exclaimed Pearce Nitta, a band teacher at Payson High. “Thank you so much to the donors, the board members, and all helping hands in the Nebo Education Foundation. The support of our district means so much to us as teachers. We will be using the equipment acquired using the grant for years to come. Thank you for being willing to provide for students and staff alike.”

Wilson Elementary – Amy Walker        
Amy Walker, a music teacher at Wilson Elementary, stated, “I am so excited to get this grant. I will use these funds to purchase new ukuleles for the fourth and fifth graders that I teach. We are in need of a whole classroom set, and the ones that we do have won't tune. I am grateful for the Nebo Foundation for allowing me to provide this to my students. I feel music is such an important aspect of our lives and is needed in our schools to help both academically and socially.”

Apple Valley Elementary – Eileen Lisonbee        
“In second grade students are supposed to participate in shared research and writing projects. They get to read books on a  topic and gather information from different sources to produce a written report. We put students in groups to research one of the habitats, continents or symbols together. Having books in each of our classrooms will help each second grader accomplish so much in being able to discover for themselves the different habitats, continents, and national symbols that are important for their individual and group learning.  It will  also facilitate team work in our classrooms. Teamwork is a life skill that our students will use throughout their lifetime,” stated Eileen Lisonbee, a second-grade teacher at Apple Valley Elementary. “Thank you so much to the Nebo Education Foundation for your generous gift to Apple Valley second graders. Our students will thrive with the materials for science and social studies that we received because of the grant.”

Taylor Elementary – Talysha Wickel        
Talysha Wickel, a fifth-grade teacher at Taylor Elementary, stated, “We will be using the Nebo Foundation Grant to purchase class sets of novels and non-fiction books. These books will allow for all students to receive grade level instruction with differentiated support for all achievement levels. These studies will also allow students to practice multiple comprehension strategies throughout the year.” 

Payson Junior – Stephanie Riggs        
Stephanie Riggs, an English teacher at Payson Junior, stated, “The English teachers at Payson Junior High are thrilled to receive this grant. As we move towards greater collaboration and alignment within our department and grade level, having a common novel goes a long way towards that goal. Also, being able to have a novel in students' hands that celebrates diversity and cultural understanding can help students open their hearts and minds to those of different backgrounds. This is a life skill that they need to master, as our world starts to feel smaller with every new global connection. We are so grateful to the Foundation for helping us complete our classroom sets, avoiding the tricky rotation of books and teaching time frames that often happens otherwise when there isn't enough books to go around. This shows how much the members of the Nebo Foundation understand the needs of a classroom. Thank you for being willing to help us share the love of reading through this novel.”

Congratulations to Emily Wright for answering this week’s “Where are we Wednesday?” challenge sponsored by Wiggy Wash.

#BeTheMagic #NeboHero #NeboSchoolDistrict #StudentSuccess #EmpowerStudents #EngageStudents #FocusOnStudents #LoveUTpublicSchools #UtPol #UtEd #ThankATeacher #LoveTeaching #covid19 #staywellnebo

Attributions
By Lana Hiskey