Contributed by Paul Morley
Every fall, the Mat-Su Schools Foundation provides $1,000 teacher grants to enrich and expand educational opportunities for children beyond what is provided by the school district. Our board of directors selects and supports creative teaching ideas designed to excite and motivate students. An additional $1,000 Gorilla Fireworks Grant is awarded to a Houston Middle or High School teacher. This year there were 15 applications received, from which MSSF was able to fund five.
Kristopher Wagoner of Houston High School was awarded the Gorilla Fireworks Grant for the Houston High Spirit Shop. Business skills students will focus on creating, marketing and distributing items that help build the spirit of Houston High School. Students will create individual project proposals and be granted seed money needed to carry out their plan. Students will be required to pay back their seed money before they can earn money for their account, whether that be for a sport they are involved it, a club or other on-campus activity.
Mat-Su Schools Foundation 2017 Grant Recipients:
• Samantha Youmans of Houston High School was awarded $1,000 to purchase drum-line drums, a marching snare drum and a marching bass drum. Drums will be used during sporting events, assemblies, local events and concerts.
• Finger Lake Elementary School was awarded $1,000 for Marcy Farris’s innovative idea for a makerspace. The staff at Finger Lake uses the station rotation model in the library for blended learning to increase engagement and differentiate instructional needs for students. A makerspace is a collaborative workspace for making, learning, exploring and sharing, that uses high-tech and no-tech tools. These spaces provide hands-on learning, helps with critical thinking skills and also expose students to skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
• Maps! Palmer High teacher, Rebekah Kitchin, was awarded $819 for adding detailed, high-quality, mural-sized maps around the school building. Mounted permanently and having a protective coating, they will be accessible to all students for years to come. Having large maps readily available and highly visible will serve to remind students of their place in the world and enrich their current curriculum.
• Fourth grade Big Lake teacher, Mary (Chrissy) Lovelace, is studying salmon in their science curriculum and Alaska in social studies. The $1,000 grant funds will help in their fieldtrip to Seward with an overnight stay at the Sealife Center, a trip to Kachemak Bay in Homer and a visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Museum on their return trip.
You can learn more about the Mat-Su Schools Foundation, previous grant recipients and our spring student scholarships through a link on the MSBSD website under “Programs”, or at www.matsuschoolsfoundation.org. Please consider becoming a member or donate through Pick.Click.Give to help our programs reach more kids.
