EIS teachers surprised with grants

As D. Dee Shaw put it Thursday morning while walking down the halls of T.K. Stone Middle School, the Elizabethtown Educational Foundation was playing the role of “prize patrol” for educators.

Marty Finley

T.K. Stone Middle School teacher Celeste Lawson huddles with several of her students Thursday to accept an innovative teacher grant check from the Elizabethtown Educational Foundation. The foundation surprised numerous teachers with grants this week.

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Members of the foundation surprised more than half a dozen Elizabethtown Independent Schools teachers during classes with innovative teacher grants, which are intended to help improve classrooms through the purchase of books, supplies or equipment for instruction.

The foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing education in Elizabethtown schools by building an endowment and awarding innovative teacher grants to worthy educators. Grants awarded Thursday were part of round one of allocations in advance of “The Event 2012” on March 17 at Pritchard Community Center, which the foundation has described as a “friendraiser” to benefit EIS. A second round will be awarded before the end of the school year. The foundation has received 29 grant requests totaling more than $25,000, which illustrates the dedication instructors in the district have to their classrooms.

EEF members presented each recipient with a bundle of blue and gold balloons and an oversized check with the teacher’s name and the amount of the grant listed.

They also snapped pictures as students crowded in to celebrate with teachers.

At T.K. Stone, eighth-grade science teacher Celeste Lawson said she was thankful for the award because she could use it to purchase NXT Lego robots for her classroom. Lawson estimated she could purchase two of the robots with the $500 she received.

Students will program the machines to execute tasks, which will determine how efficient students can be in use of automation and robotics.

Lawson said she could teach her students in the static atmosphere of a textbook lesson, but finds the interaction they have with hands-on exercises and science experimentation is invaluable.

At Helmwood Heights Elementary School, two teachers were honored with grants to help students with literacy and reading efforts.

K-1 teacher Jessica Turner was brought to tears by the surprise and said she was utterly shocked when foundation members walked through her door.

“Yeah, I didn’t know,” she said.

EEF board member Lisa Addington hugged and thanked her for her work.

“You all have a very special teacher,” Addington told Turner’s class.

Turner said she would use the $500 grant to purchase RealeWriter Pro, which allows students to create books they can share with others.

Down the hall, fourth-grade teacher Megan Barnes also was surprised by the award and said she would use the money to purchase new books for her students.

“This is the first time I’ve written a grant by myself,” she said. “I’m excited because it will give the opportunity for more children to read at a higher level, which will allow them to use their (critical) thinking and reasoning skills.”

Barnes said her students have been diving into novels and their response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“My students get really excited every time they see a new box of books come in because they’re excited to read the next novel,” she said.

Marty Finley can be reached at (270) 505-1762 or mfinley@thenewsenterprise.com.

School

Instructor

Grant

Elizabethtown Alternative Center

Brad Todd/Tabitha Kerr

$500 for Math Tutor

Elizabethtown High School

Ann Pullen

$500 for Portable Lab Station

Elizabethtown High School

Tammy Dye

$492 for Polymer Clay

T.K.Stone Middle School

Celeste Lawson

$500 for Lego Robotics

Morningside Elementary School

Carole Brown

$499 for Sp Ed iPad

Panther Academy

Becky Pinkham

$275 for Listening Center

Helmwood Heights Elementary School

Jessica Turner

$500 for RealeWriter Pro

Helmwood Heights Elementary School

Megan Barnes

$500 for Gifted Reading