The Mt. Pleasant ISD School Foundation awarded its first Educator Grants Wednesday, January 6. The grants, totaling $8,719.65, were presented personally by Foundation Board members to 17 teachers on six campuses. The presentations were made before morning assemblies of students and staff members, faculty meetings, in classrooms and before students and grant recipients gathered in a school hallway.

“We are so thankful to the MPISD Foundation for these grants,” 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.”

The grants were awarded to teachers at Annie Sims Elementary School, E.C. Brice Elementary School, Frances Corprew Elementary School, Vivian Fowler Elementary School, P.E. Wallace Middle School and Mount Pleasant High School.

Grant recipients and their funded projects are:

Annie Sims Elementary: P.E. teacher Jerry Ballard for wireless microphones to use during class and visiting programs in the gym;

E.C. Brice Elementary: Kindergarten teacher Misti Sloan for ReKenrick Classroom Kits to aid in teaching math concepts;

Frances Corprew Elementary: Reading Interventionist Melanie Falkner for her Genius Hour Enrichment Group creating Butterfly and Vegetable Gardens;

Vivian Fowler Elementary: GT Coordinator Sheila Eddy for GT students to attend Sky Ranch Retreat in Van, Texas this spring;

P.E. Wallace: 6th Grade English teacher Jana Jenkins for Vocabulary Games such as Scrabble to provide a creative way to increase students’ vocabulary;

P.E. Wallace: 6th Grade Math teachers Tammy Davis, Cathleen Fender and Sandra Wright for classroom supplies (dry erase boards, markers and erasers; a magnetic coordinate grid; student seating; small group tables; and storage units);

P.E. Wallace: 5th Grade Reading/English Language Arts Teachers (Leslie Amerson, Dori Beasley, Kristi Dupriest, Darlene Greenlee, Douglas Little, Rhonda Newman, Karen Sisk and Deyanira Torres) for books to create classroom libraries; and,

Mount Pleasant High School: Spanish teacher Maryna Svirska-Otero for students to attend a Hispanic Flamenco Ballet Performance in Mesquite as part of their study of Spanish & Hispanic Culture.

“The Foundation will award more grants this coming May for teachers to use for fall semester classes,” said Foundation Executive Director Dr. Judith Saxton. “The deadline for applications for that round of grants is March 4. Anyone interested in donating funds to the MPISD Foundation should contact me at 903-575-2000.”