A wave of holiday giving engulfed Killeen ISD schools Thursday when the KISD Education Foundation delivered $124,248 in classroom grants to teachers.
The grants will fund a wide variety of projects to enhance learning across grade levels at dozens of schools.
Two separate groups of foundation board members, school district leaders and donors traveled to schools to deliver the grants in surprise presentations.
With noisemakers, reusable streamers, big checks and various holiday bells and whistles, the festive award presenters burst into classrooms to make their happy announcements.
Many of the grant winners showed emotion as they explained their planned activity or program.
Rancier Middle School science teacher Angela Farlow cheered and raised her hands in the air as she caught a glance at the check for $4,995 for her grant, “STAAR Results: Students Motivated to Reach for the Stars.”
The grant, she said, will provide a web-based computer program to help individualize specific science concept lessons based on actual need.
While educators can readily identify the specific concepts students struggle with on STAAR tests, it’s not easy to tailor re-teaching to individuals. “This program does that,” she said. “It designs the lessons for them.”
Farlow is a first-time grant writer. She said she was especially excited because she thought the time had come and gone for the foundation to announce the winners.
More than one-third of the grant distribution took place at one location, where 10 school librarians received a total of $45,413 in grants during a scheduled librarian meeting at the Jackson Professional Learning Center.
One of those, a $4,750 grant is aimed at urging middle school students to read books for a competitive challenge among multiple schools leading to a trip to a book festival in Irving next April.
The total also included the annual grant to fund the KISD Elementary Science Olympiad at $10,061. Elementary schools are set to compete in the science-related games on March 2.
Another $9,999 will finance a Battle of the Books competitive team literary event among elementary schools in March.
Education Director Joyce Hodson pointed out the diversity of grants, addressing every grade level and numerous academic disciplines.
“These grants cover a variety of fun ways for students to learn,” she said.
“Some of the awards are for reading and literacy, a few are for math, science and music. There’s even a high school clay and ceramics club. Every year, the quality and creativity of the applications are more innovative and original.”
English teachers at Liberty Hill Middle School celebrated a grant that will bring a two-day writing camp to the school that will benefit all students on the campus.
Grant recipients, their schools and funding totals include the following:
- Mountain View Yvonne Cox $950 “Beanstack Blooms”
- Union Grove Elizabeth Maldonado $4,995 “Book Vending Machine”
- Ellison Avlyn Bolton $4,998 “Clay Club,” Marissa Ocampo $5,000 “Level Up Reading Challenge”
- Trimmier Caitlin Dunnells $2,200 “Empowering Young Authors”
- Hobby Kristin Phillips $1,958 “Empowering Young Minds”
- Liberty Hill Rebecca Fay $4,750 “Endless Stories,” Belinda Culley $4,544 “Teach Big Summer Camp,” Summer Heidtbrink $3,000 “We’ve Got that Groovy ESL Beat”
- Saegert Kelly Sills $4,998 “Engaged in Math and Reading,” Stephanie Foster $3,885 “Letters are Alive!” Sharlette Saiz $2,092 “Pop into Reading”
- Reeces Creek Dina D’Amore $3,637 “Fueling Curiosity”
- Shoemaker Janet Sutton $1,218 “Game On!”
- Harker Heights Elementary Sara Mossman $1,918 “Headphones with Microphones,” Shawnette Simmons $952 “Learning and Growing in Kindergarten,” Rayanne Polm $4,591 “Sports from Field to Page”
- Harker Heights High Margaret Landes $4,977 “HOSA Uniforms”
- Killeen Elementary Amber Longoria $4,980 “Specialized Learning”
- Pat Carney Shanay Cordova $1,600 “Learning Through Big Stencils,” Meagan Ezernack $4,646 “Innovate, Educate, and Elevate”
- Palo Alto Diana Huerta $4,470 “Ukulele Club,” Keyetta Mathis $3,611 “Tales Unwoven”
- Haynes Adrienee Lerma $4,606 “Nurturing Knowledge for Non-Fiction”
- Ira Cross Barbara McYoung $938 “Ramping Up Read Alouds”
- Killeen High Kathie Thomison $1,050 “SIRIUS Solutions Online”
- Rancier Angela Farlow $4,995 “Motivated to Reach for the Stars”
- Nolanville Holly Barlow $2,926 “Strong Little Readers”
- Willow Springs Amy Engelke $4,715 “Strumming to STEAM Success”
- Peebles Gerrica Bailey $4,980 “Power of Knowledge Through Non-Fiction”
