By 8:15 a.m. on Wednesday, October 30 everyone was on the bus: members of the MPHS band, cheerleaders, “Grrr” the Tiger mascot and members of the Board of the MPISD Foundation. They were off to award $33,236.28 in Educator Grants to 36 teachers on seven Mount Pleasant ISD campuses: Annie Sims Elementary School, E.C. Brice Elementary School, Frances Corprew Elementary School, Vivian Fowler Elementary School, P.E. Wallace Middle School, Mount Pleasant Junior High School and Mount Pleasant High School.
Grant recipients and their funded projects are:
Annie Sims Elementary School: Windey Owens to purchase chapter books for her 3rd grade classroom.
E.C. Brice Elementary School: Sandra Cortez to purchase books for her dual language classroom library; Maria Flores to purchase books for her classroom library; Carmelita Perez to purchase Spanish books for her dual language classroom; and Jennifer Walker to purchase dictionaries for her classroom.
Frances Corprew Elementary School: Assistant Principal Jay Silman to purchase 9 guitars for students to learn the basics of guitar during Genius Hour; Gifted and Talented teacher Jamie King to purchase 3 Lego Mindstorm Robot Sets to be able to participate at the Region 8 Area competition; Amanda Phillips to purchase games and activity supplies to utilize in math class; Emily Barnett to purchase 6 wearable communication devices to be utilized by non-verbal students to assist with communication; and Karen Crooks to expand the existent rock climbing wall and to purchase additional mats.
Vivian Fowler Elementary School: Maribel Castillo to purchase books for her classroom library and Jana Dougherty to purchase books for her classroom library.
P.E. Wallace Middle School: Abdiel Luzunaris to purchase modified tennis courts, rackets and tennis balls to introduce the sport of tennis to the school; Janet Losey to purchase MP3 players, tablets and Chromebooks to assist students with reading; Deyanira Torres to purchase Breakout EDU kits and platforms to bring escape rooms into the reading classrooms; Leslie Amerson to purchase flexible seating and technology for research; Karen Sisk to purchase flexible seating; Elda Hernandez to purchase flexible seating and technology for research; Jamie Carr to purchase books for her classroom library; Magdalena Martinez to purchase an iPad and science supplies; Tonya Schultz to purchase books and flexible seating; Dana Armstrong to purchase flexible seating and books; Olga de la Torre Guzman to purchase science lab materials; Sonia Sanchez to purchase flexible seating; Tammy Davis to purchase math games and manipulatives; Audrey Gillean to purchase LCD writing tablets to practice math skills; Arely Nava to purchase flexible seating and materials for Dual Language Science; Kristina Powell to purchase materials to enrich the hands-on learning experience; Principal Nathan Rider to purchase archery items to expand the archery program; Tara Flores to purchase EV3s Lego Mindstorm robotics kits; and Assistant Principal Tommy Ray to purchase chess mats and a large outdoor chess set.
Mount Pleasant Junior High School: Tina Terrell to purchase iPads; Lynn Lovell to purchase a PC; and Jack Jones to purchase an EV3s Lego Mindstorm robotics kit.
Mount Pleasant High School: Jessie McDowell to purchase a Graphics tablet, microphone kit and other materials to be used for computer animation and Robert Taylor to purchase a new projector for the classroom.
“We are so thankful to the MPISD Foundation for again presenting grants to our staff members,” said MPISD Superintendent of Schools Judd Marshall. “These funds will allow our teachers to do things that will benefit our students that would not be possible without Foundation assistance as they fall outside the budgets for our campuses. These supplemental funds will help us enrich the learning experiences of our students. I am also very thankful to all our employees and community members who have donated to the Foundation. Without them, these grants would not be possible.”
“It is always exciting to surprise the grant writers on grant awards day,” said Mariela Crockett, MPISD Foundation Director. “The Foundation has awarded over $263,000 in grants to MPISD teachers and administrators in our five years of operation. We could not have been able to accomplish so much without the support from MPISD staff members and the Mount Pleasant community.”
Anyone interested in donating funds to the MPISD Foundation should contact Crockett at 903-575-2000.
Photos:
The Grant Patrol: Members of the Goin’ Gold Band, Cheerleaders, MPISD Foundation Board and, of course, Mascot Grrr, at the end of a long morning of handing out grants to MPISD teachers.
Sims Owens: Annie Sims teacher Windey Owens and her students celebrate receiving her grant from Foundation VP for Finance/Governance Vikki Goates and The Grrr.
Wallace Rider: Wallace Middle School Principal Nathan Rider receives a grant for archery equipment from MPISD Superintendent Judd Marshall and The Grrr.
Wallace Schultz: Wallace teacher Tonya Schultz and her students are excited to receive a grant from Foundation Board member Sandy Bible.
Fowler Dougherty: Vivian Fowler Elementary School teacher Jana Dougherty celebrates receiving her grant with her students, Becca Bell, Foundation VP for Programs, and The Grrr.