Chamber awards $11,000 in mini-grants to 17 schools
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on November 27, 2007 1:46 PM
Innovative teachers from 17 schools were awarded 24 mini-grants Monday to help turn their ideas into reality and implement new projects.
More than $11,000 was distributed through the Business and Education Partnership, which is sponsored by the Wayne Charitable Partnership and the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Ken Benton, chairman of the Education Committee, said he knows the importance of the business community and the schools of Wayne County collaborating to provide unique learning experiences in the classroom.
"This is a great opportunity for us to recognize those teachers who go above and beyond the normal classroom activity to make learning more exciting and rewarding," he said.
The Chamber's Education Committee does several projects throughout the year, but the teacher mini-grant program is the largest.
Over the past five years, $62,000 has been given to teachers.
Sponsors from all over the county donated money for the grant fund, but a large portion was raised during the 2007 Spelling Bee, held Oct. 11 at Walnut Creek Country Club.
There has been tremendous response from businesses all over the county as well as educators in public, private and home school situations. Wayne Country Day School's team took home the trophy.
One of the mini-grants went to Fremont STARS Elementary School. It will be used to purchase a smartboard to be used in the upstairs classroom of two fifth-grade teachers.
Principal Beverly Smith said the school already has a smartboard for the media center downstairs, received in the spring. Teachers and students liked it so much that Susan Boswell and Megann Harlan said they wanted one, too.
The smartboard responds to touch and allows the teacher to control the computer's actions from the front of the classroom, writing and drawing on the white board with a finger or pen and saving the image on the computer.
A complete list of mini-grant winners and their projects include the following:
*Adrian Grandy -- Brogden Middle School -- Step By Step Mentor Program
*Tricia Sullivan - Brogden Primary School - Classroom Listening Library Center
*Mary Capen - Carver Elementary School - Plant Propagation and Hydroponics: Food for the Mind and Future
*Christy Klein - Charles B. Aycock High School - I Make a Difference
*Rebecca Davis - Eastern Wayne High School - Monthly Memories of Our Community
*Barbara Wagner -- Edgewood Community Developmental School - Writing for All
*Susan Boswell and Megann Harlan -- Fremont STARS Elementary School Motivating Students to Learn Through Technology and Use of SmartBoards
*Faith Newell - Greenwood Middle School - A Day in the Life of....
*Karen Helms - Mount Olive Middle School - Do You Know Any Green People?
*Roger May - North Drive Elementary School - Feeling Good Mileage Club
*Jennifer Taylor - Rosewood Elementary School - Enhancing Literacy Using Technology
*JoAnn Smith - Rosewood High School - Wayne, Claude's Way
*Debbe Meeker - Saint Mary School - Shiver Me Timbers!
*Scott Hardy - Spring Creek High School - Can You Dig It?
*Kris Parks - "TEACH" Homeschool Association - "Project Jump"
*Sheila Wolfe - Tommy's Road Elementary - Who Am I?
*Wendy Robert - Tommy's Road Elementary School - Americans - Moving to a Multi-Cultural Beat
*Bonnie Dail - Tommy's Road Elementary School - Read Away with Playaway
*Tara Murrow - Tommy's Road Elementary School - Whiz Kid Math
*Kelly Kokiko - Tommy's Road Elementary School - From Age on the Stage to Guide on the Side
*Ulrike Shepard - Tommy's Road Elementary School - "Save A Tree" - Papermaking as an Art Form
*Cathie Hooks and Leigh Tanner - Wayne Country Day School -- Me in Miniature -- Decoding DNA with 3D Models
*Tyler Fike - Wayne Country Day School - Getting the Basics of Cell Biology
*Fran Shaw - Wayne Country Day School - Robo-Kids: Wayne Country Day Robotics Club