Nebo Education Foundation Rewards Grants January 2019

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. 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.

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

Cherry Creek Elementary – Bethany Clark
“We are so grateful for the grant awarded to Cherry Creek by the Nebo Education Foundation. We are excited to use the money for a much needed Kindergarten Intervention program for our students that need extra support. Our Kindergarten teachers are thrilled to have the extra resources and help. This program will allow our technicians to teach our students in an intentional manner at the appropriate rate. We know this program will benefit many students now and for years to come. Thank you for your generous contribution. It means the world to us and our students,” stated Bethany Clark, Title I Coordinator at Cherry Creek Elementary.

Brookside Elementary – Darla Stapel & Becky Jorgensen
Darla Stapel, second grade teacher at Brookside Elementary, said, “I truly want to thank you for this wonderful donation to our classroom from the Nebo Education Foundation. Wow! I am so excited. The entire class is just thrilled. This money will buy six new iPads for our classroom (including the matching funds from our school). That means that each student will have their own iPad to use so that we can do whole group lessons together involving technology. IPads are really great in the younger classrooms because these smaller children can easily access the apps that are available. They do not worry about logging in, they just touch the icon and get started. Having a 1 to 1 ratio of iPads means that we can have Nearpod lessons, Google Classroom lessons, phonics lessons, and many other whole group lessons/activities together. Of course, now all the students will be able to do their own research for science, social studies, and the informational reports that we do here in the second grade. They will also now have access to fun math and language arts games that reinforce the skills I am teaching them every day in our class.”

“This grant allows me to purchase iPads so that I will have an iPad for each child in my classroom. We will be able to use apps like Quizzes and Kahoot that practice many skills which is more engaging for students than worksheets and saves paper. They use iPads to practice math facts and math concepts which again is more engaging and saves paper. Students also use iPads when we research information for animal reports and other topics. With a technology specialist, I'm sure we will continue to find more uses for our iPads!” exclaimed Becky Jorgensen, second-grade teacher at Brookside Elementary.

Spanish Oaks Elementary – Emily Monroe
“I wrote a grant to help supplement my SPIRE reading program. This program has decodable readers that go along with each phonics lesson I teach. These books are perfect for my Special Education students. Reading is very difficult and frustrating for them. Now, I can give them a book that has words they are familiar with and can read independently. This will increase their reading skills and ultimately their confidence. I want my students to have a library of books that they can read independently and build/increase their love of reading. I am so excited to use/share these books with my students. I think I'm more excited then they are!” exclaimed Emily Monroe, special education teacher at Spanish Oaks.

Cherry Creek Elementary – Starr David
Starr David, third-grade teacher at Cherry Creek said, “Wow! I'm so excited to receive this grant and will for sure put it to good use in our classrooms to not only reduce stress, but help our students learn how to self-regulate with the use of emWave technology. We are hopeful that by recognizing the source of a students stress, and then by targeting specific calm down or coping skills, our students will benefit daily from using its recommended practice skills. In just 5-10 minutes a day, we hope to ease mental and emotional anxieties, and improve student's attitudes and emotional perspectives to increase the positive and upbeat climate we strive for here at Cherry Creek. Thank you, Thank you!!!”

Springville Junior – Sierra Hotchkiss
Sierra Hotchkiss, science teacher at Springville Junior said, “We are so excited to get new microscopes to use in the classroom. We previously only had four functioning microscopes. So students did not get to really learn how to use the microscopes. They would just look at a slide that had previously been set up. Now students will be able to learn how to focus and use the microscopes themselves. We will use them for looking at single-celled organisms and samples of cells from different tissues. It really is an amazing experience for the students to look through a microscope and see tiny organisms that they did not even know existed. We are very grateful to the Nebo Education Foundation for gifting us this grant to make this possible for us.”

Diamond Fork Junior – Susan E. Anderson
“One of the novels that we teach in our ninth-grade English classes is Whirligig by Paul Fleischman. It is a novel about redemption. Though the theme is clear, the plot lines and the length are overwhelming for our lower level classes. Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt is also a beautiful book about redemption. The plot line is straight forward and it is shorter. That gives inclusion classes and special education classes a book that they won’t give up on before we even get started. It is a wonderful substitute. It is a stirring story that touches the hearts of students that don't have a ‘typical path’ in life,” said Susan Anderson, English teacher at Diamond Fork Junior. “This grant to help purchase the classroom set of novels will benefit 2 classes this year and even more next year. I am so grateful for the Nebo Education Foundation to support teachers as we introduce new literature into our classrooms. I am so grateful for their support of my classroom this year!”

Sierra Bonita Elementary – Marilyn Paice
Marilyn Paice, music technician at Sierra Bonita said, “Thank you so much for the money our school received for the risers that I requested. We will use the money to purchase a three-tiered riser that will help to extend our school’s steps on the stage area. Our school is the largest school in the district and we cannot fit all fit on the steps in front of the stage. I will be using the risers for our school choir, but also saw a need to get them for the whole school. Each grade level is getting larger and they are unable to all fit on the steps as well. This will be a wonderful addition to our stage area as we perform throughout the school year!”

Sage Creek Elementary – Lindsey Smith
“All of the teachers at Sage Creek are so excited and grateful to receive a grant from the Nebo Foundation to supply books for our leveled library. Being awarded this grant means that our students will have access to excellent books that will interest them and challenge them to achieve at even higher levels. We are eager to purchase books for our leveled library, which will be incredibly useful for teachers as they plan lessons for their classes. These additions to our library will be incredibly useful in enhancing reading instruction and we are anxious to bring them to our school. We are so appreciative to receive this grant,” said Lindsey Smith, literacy coach at Sage Creek Elementary.

Sierra Bonita Elementary – Sixth Grade Team
“A huge thanks to the Nebo Education Foundation for accepting our request for Chromebooks to benefit our sixth graders at Sierra Bonita! We are one step closer to reaching one to one devices, which will help our students immensely. With all the wonderful digital resources and learning programs available that enhance our teaching, we can better utilize those to enrich our students' learning and deepen their understanding of the concepts being taught. Thank you so much! ” stated McKell Cope on the sixth-grade team at Sierra Bonita Elementary.

Brookside Elementary – Dustin J. Anderson
“I will be using the grant to purchase four iPad minis. This will give my class a one-to-one ratio of students to iPads. This technology will play a vital role in helping my students succeed in a world that revolves around digital citizenship. IPads in the classroom bring education to life. The students will have endless access to valuable information with thousands of educational and learning apps. We will be using the iPads for reading, math, art, informational reports, coding, and many other educational activities. This grant means so much to me and my class. I know this will have a tremendous impact on the students’ learning. My class and I are very excited,” said Dustin Anderson, second grade teacher at Brookside Elementary.

Apple Valley Elementary – Heather Larsen
Heather Larsen, chemistry teacher at Payson High, said, “I would like to thank all of you for this incredible gift of selecting our school for this grant. We are using this grant money of $475.00 along with the matching funds of $476.63 from Mr. Chad Argyle Principal of Apple Valley Elementary to implement and expand the source of leveled reading materials for our take home library. With this money, we will be adding 200 more books to our growing library. Along side of me, the whole of Apple Valley's faculty are extremely excited to be able to give each child here the opportunity to be able to have a variety of leveled books to increase their vocabulary, comprehension, fine motor skills, and love for reading. What this opportunity means to me, words cannot fully describe. Growing up I would have loved to have had an opportunity to be able to take a different book home to read each day, however my elementary did not have a sufficient amount of books, and the nearest library was too far away to go to for my parents. I have seen this program help my own children increase in their reading skills and comprehension, and I know that it makes a difference in the learning of each child here. Thank you for this remarkable gift you are bestowing upon these children.”

Barnett Elementary – Tessa Bradley
Tessa Bradley, kindergarten teacher at Barnett Elementary, said, “I am so incredibly grateful for this foundation grant that will give the students at Barnett Elementary the opportunity to further their music experiences with the new ukuleles and rhythm instruments that will be purchased with the funds. The students will be able to apply music concepts they have been learning in class to an instrument and will be able to feel the enjoyment and success that comes with exploring a new skill. There are many at our school where music class is their only occasion to experiment with an instrument. With the help of these funds, the ukuleles and rhythm instruments that will be purchased will help facilitate these experiences for many years to come.”

Payson High – Gaylynn Parker
“The eleventh-grade English team is extremely grateful to the Nebo Education Foundation for their generosity. With the grant, we purchased enough copies of Unwind by Neal Shusterman so that each student had their own copy. This book not only helps teachers meet most of the reading literature core standards, but it is a book that all students, particularly reluctant readers, enjoy. Many students have begged to read the other books in the series. Reading this book has been such a positive experience for our students. Thank you so much!” exclaimed Gaylynn Parker, English teacher at Payson High.

Spring Lake Elementary – Heidi Harrison
“I deeply appreciate the awarding of grant money for instruments, books and other supplies for my music classroom. I want music to be fun, creative and to expose my students to other cultures through music. These new supplies will enhance my ability to fulfill these goals. Thank you for supporting the arts,” stated Heidi Harrison, music technician at Spring Lake Elementary.

Principal Teresa Jordan said, “Spring Lake Elementary is so grateful to receive funding from the foundation to support our music program. We will use the instruments (drums, rain sticks, chimes, music books) to increase motivation and interest in our music classes. Our music teacher works with our entire student body throughout the week so this grant will benefit over 700 children. She will use the materials to teach music theory and broaden students cultural awareness through music. Thank you so much for awarding this grant to Spring Lake.”

Santaquin Elementary – Mariajose Zaugg
“Thank you so much for approving my grant. My kids and I are so excited to be receiving more Chromebooks into our classroom. It has been one of my biggest wishes this year, to have enough Chromebooks for all of my students to have one. We use Chromebooks for so many things from math to reading to science. We are especially excited to get to work on some writing assignments. Through the use of Chromebooks my students have access to resources that they did not have before. Currently we are working on our 4th grade animal puppet shows and I am so excited for my kids to use these Chromebooks to do research on some common Utah animals. This is something that is made possible because of your generous contribution. I cannot thank you enough for giving us this gift. The look on their little faces when they found out that we were going to get more Chromebooks was something that I will never forget. This resource is something that will be useful to us for many years to come. Thank you again for giving us a tool that will further our educational goals,” stated said Mariajose Zaugg, fourth-grade teacher at Santaquin Elementary.

Another Grant
Payson High – Linda Walter

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

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