Watauga Education Foundation Announces Teacher Grants By Mike Shands Becka Saunders delivered some good news to Watauga County Board of Education members at their Nov. 17 meeting. The co-chair of the Watauga Education Foundation’s (WEF) allocations committee, Saunders announced at the meeting that the foundation has provided almost $25,000 in funding to Watauga County Schools (WCS) teachers this year. A non-profit organization, the WEF enhances the quality of Watauga County’s public school system by distributing funds in the form of teacher grants for special programs and projects not covered by regular school budgets. This year the foundation fully funded 15 requests and partially funded another four. Three requests received no funding because they did not meet the WEF’s criteria, Saunders said. “What great teachers we have in Watauga County. Not only do they come up with great ideas, but they do whatever it takes to make them happen for their students,” Saunders said. “I personally delivered all of the checks to the teachers and had a brief visit with most of them. They are all very excited about their projects. “Everyone in the county – students, teachers, parents, families and citizens – benefits from these efforts, and we are honored to help.” Andy Reese, the school board’s chairman, thanked Saunders and the WEF for their efforts to improve the education of the county’s students. “Over the past several years the education foundation has been extremely kind to the system in providing grants and assistance in many different ways,” he said. “We have a tremendous amount of appreciation for all of the hard work and fundraising that goes on by the foundation. “We feel like that you have added tremendously to our educational progress in Watauga County, and we thank you.” Saunders said the education foundation implemented some changes to its grant program this year. “We are now only offering grants once a year, but without reducing the annual amount of money that we have budgeted,” she said. “Instead of offering another round this spring like we’ve done in the past, we hope to use this time to follow up with the recipients’ spending and implementation of their projects through site visits, feedback and publicity. “This year for the first time we invited community members to join us in our decision process. These people had expressed interest in the foundation, and we thought this would be the best way to enlighten them as to who we are and what we do.” The WEF is working on some strategic planning, and hopes it will be able to offer more diverse forms of support for local teachers over the next five to 10 years, Saunders said. “We are always striving to become better stewards of the money given to us by our generous donors,” she said. Teachers receiving WEF grants and a brief description of their projects include: Full Funding * Learning with Leap Pads – for $1,989 to Kim Bentley at Bethel. “A parent-involvement program in which primary students at Bethel are allowed to borrow electronic LeapPad Learning Systems to take home overnight to practice various classroom skills.” * Connecting with Calculators – for $1,158 to Eunice Johnson of Bethel. “A full class set of TI-73 graphing calculators linked to a TI-Navigation System will place one in every student’s hands.” * It’s a Matter of Force – for $1,495 to Wendy Smith of Blowing Rock. “Students will perform hands-on activities to understand the role of forces in their lives – including Newton’s three laws, motion and interactions within a system and the benefits of simple machines.” * Printmaking – for $460 to Camellia Ferguson of Blowing Rock. “Students will be introduced to the process of creating a plate with a picture on it and then using that plate to print cards, book covers or framed works of art.” * Caching in – for $2,000 to Gail Richards of Green Valley. “Geocaching, a technology-driven treasure hunt, is done with a Global Positioning System. Students learn how to use coordinates, mapping and observation skills along with following directions to find a hidden cache.” * It’s a Great Big World – for $1,012 to Josephine Sorrell of Mabel. “Funds used to purchase two educational carpets displaying a map of the United States and one of the world.” * Teaching Smart with Smart Board – for $2,000 to Kathy Idol of Parkway. “Funds used to enhance the learning environment in the media center by purchasing an interactive Smart Board and a wall-mounted projector for the media center instructional area.” * On the Spot – for $787 to Sondra Edwards of Parkway and Mabel. “Funds used to purchase a spotlight for Parkway to be used in a performing arts program through musicals, vocal, instrumental and theatrical programs.” * Different Drums – for $700 to Beth Winkler of Valle Crucis. “The grant seeks to provide additional drums to complete percussion ensemble requirements so that all students who desire to play may do so.” * NC Pride in Our Home – for $2,000 to Wendy Nicholson of Valle Crucis. “Funds used to acquire multimedia materials such as DVDs, CDs and audio tapes in the media center that will allow students to feel a strong sense of pride in their local community and North Carolina.” * PHAT Experiments – for $2,000 to Lari Baker of Watauga High. “PHAT Experiments for Big Hands will allow Frontier and Pioneer Academy students to explore physical science through hands-on learning.” * Blue Planet Medley – for $465 to Trudy Moss of Watauga High. “To build a world music collection for the media center for social studies and other teachers.” * AC-DC Rolling – for $2,000 to Wayne King of Watauga High. “A project for students in electrical and carpentry classes involving the building, wiring and utilization of two rolling instructional modules.” * Bethel Outdoor Classroom – for $2,000 to Ronnie Storie for Watauga High and Bethel. “The WHS construction program will instruct and guide the students to build an outdoor classroom and demonstration area for Bethel School.” * Take the Teacher Home – for $957 to JoAnn Laney of Cove Creek. “Gives students an opportunity to be read to by a teacher at home. Bags would contain a book and matching VHS or DVD and a player if one there is not one in the home.” Partial Funding *Acting it Out – for $1,330 to Gloria Miller of Bethel. “To provide the resources for setting up and implementing a drama club and exploratory class and to provide assistance and resources to K-5 teachers for use in plays, pageants and historical reenactments. * The Organic Garden – for $614 to Scott Morrison of Blowing Rock. “Planning, building and maintaining an organic garden.” * Culinary Kids – for $940 to Amy Murphy of Hardin Park. ”Kindergartners will prepare multicultural foods while learning about the similarities and differences of children around the world.” * Moving on up – for $1,050 to Lisa Combs of all schools. “All Watauga County seventh- and eighth-grade chorus students will participate in an all-county choral clinic.”