Christmas Comes Early to Nebo Teachers December 2021

Submitted by lana.hiskey on
Santaquin: Brian Rowley, Ien Richins, Kristina Christensen, Lana Hiskey (missing Mariajose Zaugg)
Payson Junior: Brian Rowley, Kevin Mecham, Graciela Bartholomew, Kristina Christensen, Lana Hiskey
 Park View: Lana Hiskey, Kristina Christensen, Jessica Ribble, Brian Rowley
Apple Valley: Brian Rowley, Mariah Haws, Chad Argyle, Kristina Christensen, Lana Hiskey
Taylor: Lana Hiskey, Kristina Christensen, Billi Robbins, Talysha Wickel
Barnett: Lana Hiskey, Michele LeMmon, Kristina Christensen, Brian Rowley
Apple Valley: Kristina Christensen, Brian Rowley, Kellie Brandley, Chad Argyle, Lana Hiskey

Christmas Comes Early to Nebo Teachers December 2021

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. 
            
“That’s what the foundation is all about – to give our students the best educational opportunities possible through classroom grants,” said Lana Hiskey, executive director.

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

Santaquin Elementary – Mariajose Zaugg
Mariajose Zaugg, fourth-grade teacher in Santaquin, said, “Thank you so much for approving my grant! I am so excited for my fourth-graders to get to use these headphones everyday. It has been a long year of trying to share the few working ones that we have. Ever since COVID happened, we have been so reliant on technology, and these headphones will allow us to enhance our learning as well as keep us safe from germs since we will no longer have to share. As we prepare for our animal research paper/puppet show, these headphones will be so handy for recording the puppet shows and sending them out for parents to enjoy. They will also be extremely useful once we start our end of year testing. It means a lot to me that you have chosen to help my fourth-graders. I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart.” 

Payson Junior – Graciela Bartholomew
“Nebo Education Foundation, thank you so much for approving our grant for $611.50!  We will be able to buy books in Spanish that will be enjoyed by our students for many years to come! The students will enjoy a variety of genres and levels of books for our Spanish learners such as, Spanish I, Spanish II, and Heritage Learners. Our Heritage Speakers will definitely enjoy the authenticity of these books.  We will be using the books for free-reading, choral reading, class discussions among other activities. We hope to buy a variety of novel sets as well. We truly appreciate your contribution to our classroom and to the education of our students.  Muchas gracias de corazón!” said Maestra Graciela Bartholomew.

Park View Elementary  – Jessica Ribble
“Thank you so much for the grant for Park View!  We will be using the grant to purchase a copy of the book "Equipped for Reading Success" by David A. Kilpatrick for each of our teachers,” said Jessica Ribble, facilitator at Park View Elementary. “This year our teachers have been studying the research based LETRS curriculum to improve our reading instruction.  As we have learned how to best teach reading, we know that the key to reading is phonemic awareness. "Equipped for Reading Success" is a collection of research based lessons that build phonemic awareness in students and support the LETRS curriculum. One of the features of the book is that each lesson targets a specific skill.  As we work with our students and diagnose what skills they need, "Equipped for Reading Success" will provide specific research based lesson plans. By having the best materials available for our teachers, our students will receive the best instruction and make great strides in their ability to read.  We are grateful to the Nebo Foundation for the funding to provide the best instruction for our students!

Apple Valley Elementary – Mariah Haws
Mariah Haws, first-grade teacher at Apple Valley, said, “Thank you for the amazing award from Nebo Education Foundation!  We will use the award money to purchase FlyLeaf Decodable books that will be used in every classroom throughout the school to support the basics of reading. These decodables pair perfectly with our current LETRS training that we are doing as a district.  I cannot thank you enough for the generous gift to Apple Valley. Not only will it make students' reading success better, it will make my job easier as a teacher.”  

Taylor Elementary – Talysha Wickel
“Thank you so much for your generosity in helping me in my classroom. The items that will be purchased through the grant will help my kindergarten students in many ways! My students will learn cooperation, collaboration, and creative thinking while engaging with the items I will be purchasing with this donation! It means so much to me to be able to provide more tools and resources for my students. Thank you again!” exclaimed Talysha Wickel, kindergarten teacher at Taylor Elementary.

Barnett Elementary – Michele LeMmon
Michele LeMmon, instructional coach at Barnett Elementary, said, “Thank you to the Nebo Foundation for approving my grant proposal. With this grant and matching funds from our school, I am so excited and grateful to be able to purchase decodable books that will benefit students in all grades at Barnett Elementary. Through the use of text that directly matches phonics concepts, students are seeing the direct link between phonics instruction and the process of reading.  We want to continue with this practice of explicitly matching text to lessons taught in phonics and need to enhance the materials available for teachers and students. The purchase of decodable readers will support teachers while applying these strategies which they have been learning about in LETRS instruction.”

Apple Valley Elementary – Kellie Brandley
“Thank you and the Nebo Education Foundation for the generous grant. The grant, along with matching funds from the school, was used to purchase 89 sets of decodable readers from Flyleaf Publishing Company. This is a huge boost to our library of books! These decodable readers will be used by all the teachers here at Apple Valley as we implement small group instruction. These readers go right along with our LETRS training program and provide students the appropriate practice reading books with the skills they are being taught. The books will be placed in a central location where all teachers have access to them. We will now be able to use the decodable books to help students practice their essential phonics skills necessary for literacy success.  All students here at Apple Valley will benefit from this generous grant.  Thank you once again for your generous grant and your continued support of education here at Apple Valley,” said Kellie Brandley, first-grade teacher at Apple Valley.

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




Apple Valley: Kristina Christensen, Brian Rowley, Kellie Brandley, Chad Argyle, Lana Hiskey
 

Attributions
By Lana Hiskey