The Garden City Public Schools Foundation Grant Squad visited schools on Wednesday, March 22 to award $200 mini-grants to help teachers enhance instruction in their classrooms. The awards were presented to teachers in a surprise celebration in their classrooms.
The foundation received 16 grant applications from staff around the school district. The grants are awarded to help support learning initiatives in the classrooms. The grants may be used for the classroom, department, or individual staff development for a district employee. The applications are read and judged by the Garden City Public Schools Foundation committee.
The teachers that received the mini-grants include:
Pattie Peitz-Carroll, Victor Ornelas Elementary School RISE teacher, will use the grant to purchase material to create Inclusion Tubs for the RISE students at the school. The students will have various hands-on manipulatives and activities for their individual goals and abilities.
Lyle Sobba, Garden City High School band director, will use the grant to take GCHS Jazz Band 1 students to Bethany College for clinics with Bethany College staff. The clinics allow students to see music beyond high school. Students will work with instrument-specific clinicians during the event.
Julia Regier, Florence Wilson Elementary School instructional coach, will use the grant to purchase materials for phonics, phonemic awareness and instruction. . The resources will increase instructional capacity of phonemic awareness and phonics instruction. This will help increase students achievement in reading.
Ashley Powers, Jennie Wilson Elementary School ESL/Title Interventionist, will use the grant to purchase the Wilson Reading System intensive Tier 3 intervention program for students who have difficulty with written language. It is an intervention program for students who continue to struggle to read and write despite already receiving interventions.
A’Lana Bates and Alfredo Anaya, Horace Good Middle School English Language Arts teachers, will use the grant to purchase “Be a Changemaker - How to Start Something that Matters.” All AVID students will study the text in the fall or spring of their 7th grade year. This will help to instill individual confidence in students and their ability to make a positive change for themselves and their families.
The Garden City Public Schools Foundation has provided over $36,000 in grants to fund opportunities to enhance the learning environment and increase the effectiveness of instruction across the district. The foundation was founded in 2004 and is a non-profit organization that is committed to effectively generate, manage and distribute funds to stimulate excellence for the preservation and enhancement of exemplary education provided by Garden City Public Schools. The Foundation functions in alliance with the Western Kansas Community Foundation.