Grants Awarded and Pending
Constant monitoring of grant sources allows the grants team to develop proposals and win grants that improve instructional programs and services. Discover here the recent grants awarded to North East educators as well as grants pending approval by the funding organizations.
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$48,000 grant awarded for Summer Career and Technical Education Program
The $48,000 grant awarded by the Texas Education Agency will make possible a summer school initiative that will offer for credit the Principles of Health Science and Principles of Computer Science to 100 8th and 9th grade students.
The objective of the summer program is to enhance accessibility for rising 8th and 9th grade students who face obstacles in enrolling in Career and Technical Education programs during the regular school year. An example of an obstacle is a crowded course schedule that would not allow these courses during the academic year. The grant also allows the district to recruit four certified educators for the summer to teach 100 CTE summer students.
By strategically introducing summer school options, the district increases access and creates a pathway for middle school students to dive into foundational CTE courses.
$2,500 grant awarded to district tennis program by USTA
The United States Tennis Association granted the North East Independent School District’s tennis program $2,500 to focus on improving the quality of equipment and improving player performance.
Funds will be used to purchase equipment and coaching aids that will provide players with a safe and nurturing environment for learning and playing tennis.
The district tennis program has served more than 500 junior players through afterschool clinics and camps, as well as hosted more than 600 adults through clinics and in-house leagues.
Coaches aim to maximize the impact of the grant for the betterment of its players, their health and the community.
$40,000 grant seeks to prepare educators and cover student AP CSP exam costs
The North East Independent School District received one of four 2023-2025 Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles Grant to improve Advanced Placement course offerings withing regions.
The goal is to increase the number of students meeting College, Career and Military Readiness as well as prepare students to succeed in a computer science related profession.
The $40,000 grant seeks to help the district support seven computer educators and provide them professional development. This will enhance the mission to provide students with essential knowledge and skills that will support the increase of academic achievement rates, as well as enhance innovative opportunities for students to engage in learning beyond the classroom.
The 35-hour professional development program for computer educators will ensure that teachers master foundational course content and Advanced Placement requirements while practicing the collaborative, project-based instructional strategies necessary to teach courses. Additionally, the grant will cover the student’s cost for registering for and taking the AP CSP exam.
The district expects 373 students to take the exam Spring 2025.
$45,448 grant funds industry-standard equipment for Transportation Technology Academy students
A $45,448 grant from the Texas Workforce Commission will fund the purchase of industry-standard equipment for nearly 300 students enrolled in the Transportation Technology Academy at North East ISD.
The Governor’s Office announced that North East ISD received one of 152 Jobs and Education For Texas grants awarded by the TWC. The grants are intended to purchase necessary equipment to establish or expand career and technical education programs that offer Texas students the opportunity to earn a license, certification, or post-secondary degree in such fields as nursing, welding, automotive repair, and density.
North East ISD’s Career and Technical Education Department will use the funds to purchase and install equipment that supports the automotive-related dual credit courses. Students gain knowledge of major automotive systems and the principles used to diagnose systems. The equipment and the program allow students to reinforce, apply and transfer academic knowledge and skills to a variety of relevant activities, problems, and settings.
Equipment purchased with grant funds will be installed and ready for use in Fall 2023.
Automotive courses offered by North East ISD’s CTE Department seeks to produce qualified technicians to fill auto-related jobs expected to increase in the coming years. According to Texas labor market data, the state expects a projected employment of 65,328 Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics. Currently, starting salary for related positions is $43,253.
The Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics program allows students to receive the following High School Certifications: NCCER Core, Automotive Service Excellent Entry Level-Maintenance & Light Repair Leads to Automotive Technology, A.A.S. at St. Philip’s College.
North East ISD receives $261,000 grant to fund rigorous principal residency for qualifying educators
A $261,000 grant from the Texas Education Agency is funding four qualifying North East ISD teachers to earn a principal certification through an intense year-long residency that will prepare them for leadership roles at campuses.
This is the second time since 2018 that TEA has awarded the 2022-2023 Principal Residency Grant to North East ISD. The residency runs parallel with the NEISD Accelerated Leadership Program, a 36-credit hour graduate program designed by North East ISD and the University of Texas at San Antonio that leads to a Masters in Educational Leadership. Qualifying students from the Leadership Program are selected to participate in the residency program.
The residency adds another layer of rigor, said Rudy Jimenez, chief of schools and leadership. “The residents are not teaching in the classroom, instead they are immersed in academic and operational functions of managing a school under the mentorship of veteran principals.”
“The residents will receive on-on-one support from their mentor and a UTSA Field Supervisor who was also a successful former principal,” Jimenez said. “At the core of this program is student success.”
While the residents will not have classroom responsibilities, the residents will participate five-days per week with Title 1 mentor principals. This will occur while the residents take two to three courses per semester.
The educators are expected to earn the master’s degree and certifications by the end of Fall 2023, then have pending assignments at the end of the year-long residency for anticipated campus leadership vacancies. The grant covers the cost of the residency, compensation, and fees for any state-mandated exams.
Camelot prepares for a $50,167 musical playground courtesy of The Charity Ball Association
Musical melodies will drift through the Camelot Elementary School community soon after musical instruments twice the size of the students are installed in the playground, courtesy of a grant from the Charity Ball Association of San Antonio.
San Antonio’s Charity Ball Association awarded the North East Educational Foundation (NEEF) a $50,167 grant to purchase and install five over-sized, colorful instruments for use by the school’s 600 students and the community.
“This wonderful gift from the Charity Ball Association is a beautiful addition to this campus and this neighborhood,” said Camelot Principal Wilma Payne. “The musical playground will be installed just as Camelot celebrates its 50th anniversary serving the children of this community.”
The Charity Ball Association presented the check to NEEF September 10th at the San Antonio Country Club during a banquet. The Charity Ball Association awarded $1 million worth of grants to 16 charities that evening.
The instruments will be located in the SPARK section of the campus. SPARK – or school park - is a district collaboration with the City of San Antonio and San Antonio Sports. It is open to the public after school hours.
The musical playground will consist of sound sculptures arranged in a semi-circle. The school’s four- to 11-year olds will play on contrabass chimes, an imbarimba, a swirl, a Pegasus and tuned drums.
“The music teacher will create an activities guide that families can perform with their children,” Payne said. “The afterschool program also will have access to the musical playground.”
The musical instruments will help the school’s children recognize high/low pitch, rhythm, melody, interaction and improvisation.
Since 1954, the Charity Ball Association’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for children in Bexar County. Each year, association members raise funds, evaluate proposals from the community and fund grant proposals that focus on children, protecting their welfare and preparing them for the future.
NEEF raises funds to expand the educational opportunities for the children of North East ISD. This year, NEEF will award a record $363,000 to district educators who submitted proposals designed to enhance a child’s classroom and learning experience.
Receiving the grant check from The Charity Ball Association
are NEEF Chairman Randy Bristow, Camelot Principal Wilma
Payne and NEEF Executive Director Amy Lane.
These over-sized musical instruments are examples of what
will be installed at Camelot Elementary School.
H-E-B grants $90,000 to Agriscience Magnet Program to enhance meat processing classes
Students enrolled in the Agriscience Magnet Program at Madison High School will soon enhance their knowledge of meat processing with specialty equipment purchased with a $90,000 grant from H-E-B.
The H-E-B Tournament of Champions Charitable Trust notified the magnet program in the North East Independent School District of the award that will help equip a major new addition to the program. The new addition is part of the $8.6 million upgrade to the AMP 20-acre property.
“It is our sincere hope that our support will help make your Meat Processing Facility a success,” wrote Winell Herron, a trustee with H-E-B’s trust.
The new Meat Processing Facility is part of the 60,000-square feet of classroom, meeting and laboratory space. Funds from the $499.9 million bond referendum approved in 2015 is funding the construction of the processing facility.
“The generous grant from H-E-B will allow us to purchase equipment that our students will use to support their coursework through project-based learning,” said AMP Director Doak Stewart.
Stewart said that the equipment would be purchased and installed in time for the facility’s opening in January.
“We are so appreciative of H-E-B’s involvement in public education,” he said. “They have a commitment to produce a highly-skilled workforce.”
The AMP has nearly 600 students who have chosen to pursue career paths in agriscience, agriculture mechanics, animal science, environmental science, floriculture and plant science, and food processing.
In addition to instructional and meeting space, the magnet students have access to 65,000 square feet of livestock facilities that can hold up to 300 student projects. Also on site are facilities for AMP’s aquaculture program.
Students enrolled in the aquaculture program use three indoor 500-gallon aquariums and a 1,500-gallon aquatic system designed to breed, hatch and grow fish species. Two ponds, about one-eighth of an acre each, are also used by the AMP students.
Several AMP courses offer students the opportunity to earn dual credit. Dual credit means that students who successfully complete dual credit courses earn college credit and can apply the credit to an associate’s degree; some dual credit may transfer to a college or university.
H-E-B previously awarded a grant to the district’s Career and Technical Education Center. The grant funded the purchase of diesel equipment for in the automotive program. For over 30 years, H-E-B’s trust has invested more than $100 million in educational and non-profit organizations that focus on the needs of children and families.
3 elementary schools receive grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts
Students at three elementary schools will end the year with science singalongs, a day of drumming, and two pigs and a wolf, courtesy of grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Educators at Huebner, Steubing Ranch and Thousand Oaks in the North East Independent School District received Arts Respond Performance Support grants offered by the state’s arts commission.
The schools collectively received $1,512 to pay half of the performance fees. The arts commission partially funds the booking of education-related artists selected from a Texas Touring Roster compiled by the commission.
At Huebner, performer Lucas Miller will lead students through catchy singalongs that include such concepts as metamorphosis, photosynthesis, ocean ecology, feed webs and other related subjects.
“His presentation will complement the school’s focus on S.T.E.A.M.,” said Huebner librarian Natalie Watts, adding that nearly 700 students will participate in the program. The acronym S.T.E.A.M. stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
Through hands-on activities, a “Day of Drumming” at Thousand Oaks will reinforce for 743 students concepts of echo, rhythm proficiency and teamwork.
Thousand Oaks teacher Rebecca Byers submitted a proposal that “seeks to reinforce for students the ability to listen and follow directions for musical play,” she said.
Meanwhile, “Two Pigs and T.H.E Wolf” will visit Steubing Ranch to promote character, responsibility and self-control. T.H.E. are the Wolf's initials: Theodore Howell Eater.
Marie Arce, Steubing Ranch librarian, submitted a proposal that seeks to engage nearly 500 kindergarten, first and second grade students.
“The visiting artists will perform twice wearing pig and wolf costumes,” Arce said.
The TCA pays half of the performer's fee while the campus pays the other half. Keep in mind that the school's half MUST NOT come from an outside source such as a neighborhood business or the PTA. The check to the performer must come from the school.
Educators must first discuss the grant with the campus principal, then follow the district grant approval process. You can begin by contacting the Governmental Relations and Grants Development Department for one-on-one guidance and a form that requires two signatures to proceed.
$22,500 grant funds body armor for North East ISD Police Department officers
Law enforcement officers in the North East Independent School District Police Department will receive new body armor courtesy of a grant offered through a body armor safety initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The $22,750 grant will help fund the purchase of bulletproof vests for 70 police officers in the North East ISD police department, said district Police Chief Wallace McCampbell.
The safety initiative, called the Bulletproof Vest Partnership, reimburses qualified law enforcement agencies up to 50 percent of the cost of body armor. The grant will reduce the department’s body armor expenses by half.
North East was one of eight public school districts to be awarded the grant this year; it was the only school district in Bexar County to receive it.
“Our number one priority is the security of our children.” McCampbell said. “We will continue to seek strategies, techniques and funding to keep our officers equipped with updated equipment, supplies and training.”
The North East school district has implemented a series of security features over the years, including a buzz-in system at schools, an on-the-spot criminal background check of school visitors, metal detectors at athletic events to name a few.
3 grants totaling nearly $24,000 funds "breakfast after the bell" at 3 high schools
High school students at three North East Independent School district campuses will have the option to catch a “breakfast after the bell” courtesy of grants totaling nearly $24,000 from Amazon and No Kid Hungry.
The district’s School Nutrition Services Department will implement the “breakfast after the bell” program this fall at Lee, Roosevelt and Madison high schools. Students who arrive early at these campuses for tutoring or training before the school cafeteria opens will have the option to pick up breakfast items between first and second periods. The department was awarded $7,904 for each campus.
According to the grant application, hundreds of high school students arrive before school cafeterias opens.
“Among them are band students and athletes who arrive early for practice,” Glosson said. “Not only do these students arrive early, they also continue to practice through the end of first period classes.”
Glosson explained that the first opportunity for some of the students to eat after arriving on campus is between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., depending on the students’ lunch schedules.
“Our goal is to offer these early risers and active students healthy options at the end of their first period,” she said.
The funds from Amazon and No Kid Hungry will be used to purchase equipment exclusively for “breakfast after the bell.”
$90,688 grant will equip school cafeterias to purchase, prep, freeze and serve seasonal produce
The North East Independent School District’s School Nutrition Services Department will equip school cafeterias to prepare, store and serve more locally-grown fruits and vegetables with the help of a $90,688 federal grant.
Fruit smoothies will be among the healthy menu items offered at high schools courtesy of the Farm to School grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “We know that students have diverse tastes and may select food products based on appearance,” said Sharon Glosson, the district’s Executive Director of School Nutrition Services. “Our goal is to provide fresh products in different forms, like smoothies, to determine which offering is more popular.
Glosson said that the proposal focuses on three main activities: processing and freezing local produce and increasing the number of fresh produce menu items.
North East ISD was one of two public school districts in Texas to receive the implementation grant. Previously, the district was awarded a planning grant in 2015. The district’s project was among 73 funded nationwide.
“We will increase the purchase of local produce to expose students to a variety of healthy options including raw selections and prepared menu items,” Glosson said, adding that the grant will touch close to 66,000 students.
Brandon Lipps, Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, said that the grants “expose students to the local foods and the importance of agriculture while supporting American farmers in both urban and rural economies.”
City's Pre-K 4SA awards North East ISD $801,000 grant to add Pre-K classrooms
The number of full day Pre-Kindergarten classrooms in the North East Independent School District will increase from 10 to 17 with the help of an $801,000 grant from city’s Pre-K For SA program.
The funds will also increase opportunities for family engagement and enhance the quality of the district’s Pre-K program by improving staff qualifications, according to the winning proposal submitted by North East ISD.
The Pre-K 4SA, officially known as the City of San Antonio Early Childhood Education Municipal Development Corporation, sought proposals that would improve program and teacher quality and support Pre-K through 3rd grade alignment, said Colleen Bohrmann, Executive Director of Learning Support Services.
“This District’s leadership realizes that success begins at an early age when a child’s curiosity develops along with the mind and the body,” said Bohrmann. “However, as funding from state and local resources become more limited, so do the options that educators have to offer our children.”
The grant will fund a program uniquely designed by North East ISD educators to provide a high-quality Pre-K program. This will be accomplished by enhancing staff qualifications, creating outdoor learning environments, increasing teacher capacity through social emotional learning, providing professional learning, supporting instruction, and sustaining family engagement and arts integration.
Beginning this fall, the grant will make possible the addition of seven full-day Pre-K classrooms at East Terrell Hills, Montgomery, Windcrest and Wilshire elementary schools. Each campus will serve the children in their attendance area.
North East ISD launches a principal prep program with a $104,000 state grant
The North East Independent School District will create a unique program to prepare teachers for leadership positions at Title 1 schools, courtesy of a $104,000 from the Texas Education Agency.
The grant will fund the creation of the NEISD Principal Preparation Program, which seeks to increase the number of candidates qualified to assume assistant principal or principal positions at campuses with a high percentage of low-income students, said Dr. Sean Maika, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and Campus Administration.
“Our goal is to create a principal pipeline that produces educators qualified to serve as campus leaders at Title 1 schools,” said Maika. “We are seeking candidates who reflect the district’s student enrollment and are ready for the next step in their career paths.”
The District will partner with the University of Texas at San Antonio to provide teachers with the opportunity to complete a master’s degree while remaining a classroom teacher. Once accepted into the program, the teachers will become residents at a Title 1 campuses and guided by a mentor principal. The program is designed to give residents teaching experience at a Title 1 school for at least two years and complete a master’s program at UTSA while working to attain the state-required principal’s credentials.
“The residents must commit to remain at the campus for the 2019-2020 school year,” Maika said. “The participating school gains a high quality teacher, and the resident gains a master’s degree along with valuable mentorship.”
Teachers enrolled in the UTSA-NEISD Accelerated Leadership Program For Schools can apply to the grant-funded program. Of the 25 teachers enrolled in the Accelerated Leadership Program, eight will be accepted into the NEISD Principal Preparation Program that will run parallel to the accelerated leadership program.
$74,810 grant equips North East ISD diesel students with industry-specific tools
A $74,810 federal grant will equip the North East Independent School District’s automotive and diesel technology programs with industry-specific tools that will prepare students for industry-related certifications and earn college credit.
The Texas Education Agency announced recently that North East ISD was awarded the Perkins Reserve Grant, which will enhance the automotive and diesel-related programs, said Ben Peterson, senior director of Career and Technology Education.
The programs prepare 9-12th grade students for high-skill, high-wage and high-demand occupations in the region,” Peterson said. “This will position our students to qualify for internships and be employable in high demand fields after high school graduation.”
The automotive program positions students to earn high school credit while earning up to 16 hours of college credit toward an associate degree from St. Philip’s College. Additionally, North East will collaborate with Goodwill’s Good Careers Academy. The academy will provide an adjunct professor and offer support services designed to help students transition into college and the workforce.
The unique equipment will complement the standards set by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation. The foundation examines training programs and evaluates them against standards established by the industry.
These standards reflect the skills that students must master to be successful in the industry, according to NATEF.
Peterson said that discussions with industry partners reveal that beyond a high school diploma, skilled technicians must remain updated with changes in technology.
“This is a compelling reason to provide real-world equipment in our classrooms,” he said. “These items are expensive for school districts and we rely on donations and grants to fund them.”
The program serves high school students from the following schools: Reagan, Johnson, Roosevelt, Churchill, Lee, Madison, MacArthur and the International School of the Americas. Students are bused from their home campuses to the district’s automotive facility in the Career and Technical Education Center at 3736 Perrin Central. The students are then returned to their campuses.
Verizon Foundation awards 3 grants totaling $60,000 to 3 North East ISD magnet programs
Three middle school magnet programs each will receive $20,000 from the Verizon Foundation and Project Lead The Way to strengthen computer science-related curriculum. The computer-related curriculum will help middle school students transition into high school-level computer science pathways, according to the directors of the magnet programs.
The magnet programs at White, Krueger and Nimitz middle schools will use the grant award for teacher training as well as equipment designated by PLTW as essential to the implementation of two courses, App Creators and Computer Science for Innovators and Makers
The App Creators program exposes students to computer science by developing mobile apps that will solve real-life problems in the areas of health, environment, emergency preparedness, education, community service and school culture.
The Computer Science for Innovators and Makers unit will allow students to design and develop a physical computing device, and plan and develop code for microcontrollers that bring their physical designs to life.
Fernando Ruiz, the principal of the Design and Technology Academy at White, said that using technology is a great motivator for students.
“We help prepare our students for college or a career anytime that we put practical technology in their hands,” Ruiz said. “With this technology, we can guide our students through high-level lessons that allow them to discover real-world solutions to real-world problems.”
Several DATA courses offer middle school students the opportunity to earn high school credit. This program prepares students for careers or continued studies in architecture, visualization, computer science and scientific research.
Stephen Watson, the director of the Krueger School of Applied Technologies, said that the PLTW program will complement the school’s two focuses: aerospace science and technology.
“Our rocketry program prepares students to demonstrate their engineering capabilities at our local launch sites and at locations across the nation,” Watson said. “Participation in PLTW will not only provide us with additional training, but also provide us with networking opportunities with others doing similar work. “
“We hope to connect with business partners through our participation in PLTW to provide our students with rich, hands-on experiences,” he said.
Jennifer Jensen, the principal at the STEM Academy, anticipates the grant will enhance the academy’s math and computer science pathways. The academy focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“The PLTW units will increase programming knowledge and level the playing field among a diverse student body as they advance to the high school level,” Jensen said.
Project Lead The Way provides advanced learning experiences for students in grades kindergarten through 12th. The organization also provides teacher training, resources and support to engage students in real-world and hands-on learning. It is run by a board comprised of current or retired leaders from such companies as Dow Chemical, Autodesk, General Motors and Lockheed Martin.
$30,000 Sams Foundation grant funds musical playground at Hidden Forest Elementary School
Students at Hidden Forest Elementary School will combine physical and creative energy to create music on musical instruments in the playground, courtesy of a $30,000 grant from the Earl C. Sams Foundation.
PTA president Lisa Thompson launched the grant submission process that landed the grant to fund “Music in the Park.” The musical instruments will be installed in an area of the campus known as SPARK, a recreational area created by a school/city partnership and open to the community.
The durable outdoor musical instruments will be accessible to the 5-11 year olds during the day and available to the community after school hours and the weekends.
The “Music in the Park” project will create a musical playground for nearly 600 elementary school students and the community, Thompson said.
“Imagine an outdoor space where elementary students are experimenting with sounds, developing musical skills and playing together,” she said. “The musical instruments are designed to be accessible by everyone, regardless of musical or physical abilities,” Thompson said.
The musical playground will consist of sculptural designs that produce music. Five brightly colored instrument stations will be arranged in a semi-circle, including a metallophone, resonated xylophone combination, chimes and drums
Angela Leonhardt, Hidden Forest’s music teacher, will incorporate the instruments into music instruction.
“This will give our kindergarten through 5th graders the opportunity to develop their fine motor skills, language skills and academic and social interaction,” Leonhardt said. “The project will expand the school’s current music curriculum and increase the opportunities for children to interact with music while benefiting from outdoor play.”
Hidden Forest Principal Cody Miller said that the musical playground will combine play and music, “both important aspects of a child’s development.”
“Our children will now have the opportunity to release the music inside them while playing in the playground,” Miller said. “Our goal is to offer unstructured creative play with the instruments that will stimulate our children’s musical creativity.”
STEM Academy receives $15,000 grant
The leadership of North East Independent School District’s STEM Academy will design a strategy that will help transition middle school students to STEM-related high school classes, courtesy of a $15,000 grant from the Educate Texas Fund.
“We will focus on bridge programs to support a student’s move from middle school to high school in STEM areas,” said Jennifer Jensen, STEM Academy Director. “We want our students prepared to enroll in dual credit courses while in high school, as well.”
STEM is the acronym for a combined study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The STEM Academy is a magnet program for 6th through 12th grade students with classes offered at Nimitz Middle School and Lee High School.
The grant will fund the design and implementation of a plan that emphasizes algebra to middle school students in preparation for the advanced or career-focused math in high school, Jensen said. The grant will be used for a combination of advisories, summer camps and parent camps to better equip students with the skills and relationships they need to be successful in a rigorous high school program.
Additionally, the plan will include helping students plan for two and four-year degrees, informing students of career opportunities and suggesting courses that would lead to industry certificates.
The grant was awarded by Educate Texas, a public-private initiative of Communities Foundation of Texas. The foundation, an alliance of public and private groups, focuses on improving the public education system.
$15,000 Verizon grant helps fund Colonial Hill's garden cistern and solar-powered pumps
The $15,000 grant from Verizon will fund the addition of a system that will harvest rainwater from the school's rooftop, to include a 5,000 gallon cistern with a solar pump attached to a downspout to feed a drip line irrigation system.
The community garden at Colonial Hills Elementary School isn't your basic campus garden, it is an outdoor classroom in which every grade level learns the value of healthy living, healthy choices and teamwork.
The Verizon grant, combined with other grants, has fed a four-year dream to have a garden that involves every grade level and offers lessons in plant science, ecology, water conservation, art, music, math, technology engeering and creative writing.
Colonial Hills Coach Terri Pitts started the grant-writing process, and with the district's grant department, nurtured it into an award-winning grant.
"This past fall, we had produce go from the garden to the cafeteria," Pitts said. "We made coleslaw. The students picked carrots and cabbage and delivered them to the cafeteria staff."
Students who nornally do not like vegetables were willing to try the coleslaw because it grew in the school garden," she said.
First-graders sowed a variety of tomatoes, second-graders planted lettuce, third-graders added vegetables, fourth-graders planted herbs, spinach and broccoli and fifth-graders planted herbs and broccoli, and special education students contributed cucumbers and flowers.
The Verizon will enhance the twelve 4x8 raised garden beds and the two 4x2 table garden beds. The garden also has a cedar garden toolshed with stepping stones leading to the shed. The beds are protected by a cast-iron fence.
"Students learn about sharing and teamwork as well as the interconnected web of llife," Pitts said. "Gardening gives our school a way of helping students idenify with their school and to feel proud of their own individual contribution."
Roosevelt's garden blooms with 4 grants totaling $13,500
The Theodore High School Roosevelt Campus-Community Garden continues to blossom with an infusion of grants funded by such organizations as the Spurs, Whole Earth, Lowe’s and Miracle-Gro.
Three grants, totaling $12,000, were awarded during the 2016-2017 academic year, while a $1,500 grant from Miracle-Gro was awarded last May, according to Roosevelt science teacher Misty Belmontez.
The combined $13,500 is funding the expansion of an outdoor classroom space that attracts, students, staff and community members.
“We must provide our students with real world, hands-on experiences in order to create genuine connections between What they learn in school and their own lives,” Belmontez said.
The outside classroom will provide hands-on learning that will bring added meaning to the content that we are currently teaching,” she said.
Belmontez said that science students will use the garden to collect, graph and analyze real data such as a plant’s rate of growth, gas production and food production. Biology students will observe homeostasis, adaptations and symbiotic relationships. English and language arts students will write expository and persuasive essays about their observations and experiences in the garden.
Meanwhile, art students will have opportunities to sketch, sculpture and design mosaics based on their observations in the garden, she said.
The garden continues to grow courtesy of the following grants:
- The Spurs Team-Up Challenge - $5,000
- Whole Kids School Garden Grant - $2,000
- Lowe's Toolbox For Education Grant - $5,000
- Miracle-Gro Grant - $1,500
4 North East schools share $1,975 in grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts
"The British are coming" is a myth. Paul Revere didn't shout this warning during a midnight ride.
Roan Forest Elementary School students discovered this on the exact morning that the American Revoluation started 242 years earlier. The night before was the anniversay of Paul Revere's ride in which he is recorded as saying: "The Regulars are out."
Bill Perryman brought Revere to life as part of a 40-minute, multi-sensory presentation made possible by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts. A week earlier, Perryman brought his "History In Person" presentation to Encino Park Elementary School in which he portrayed Thomas Jefferson for one show, and Meriweather Lewis for the second show.
The llibrarians at both schools accessed the Texas Commission on the Arts website to apply for a grant that paid for half of the performance fees. Perryman targets his performances to various elementary grade levels, as well as laces his presentations with facts that connect to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.
Encino Park and Roan Forest joined Colonial Hills and Thousand Oaks elementary schools as recipients of the Arts Respond Performance Support, offered by the TCA, during the 2016-2017 academic year.
The TCA granted the following amounts to these four schools:
- $375 - Encino Park
- $825 - Roan Forest
- $300 - Colonial Hills
- $475 - Thousand Oaks
Bill Perryman portrays explorer Meriwether Lewis
$1,500 grant funds pyramid-style vertical gardening at Colonial Hills
Colonial Hills Elementary School will expand its 14-bed community garden in a non-traditional direction that will offer lessons in "urban farming," courtesy of a $1,500 grant from a state agency.
“Rather than expanding the community garden out across real estate, it will expand up,” said Terri Pitts, the Colonial Hills PE teacher who submitted the grant proposal to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Last spring, the state agency sought proposals for its Awards for Excellence in Texas School Health Discovery Award. Pitts submitted a proposal for a project initially suggested by the student members of the Garden/Kids School Advisory Council. Pitts said that advisory council members told her that their classmates lamented not having the space to create traditional gardens because they lived in apartments. Pitts said that this observation led to the “Lessons Grow in Vertical Gardens” project designed to encourage “urban farming.”
“Students who live in apartments now will discover how to garden food vertically when there is not enough space for a more traditional garden,” Pitts said. “Students and their families will be able to apply these vertical garden examples and lessons at their own homes.”
The state agency will pay for Pitts’ expenses to attend the Texas Action for Healthy Kids Summit in Houston where the award will be presented. The $1,500 grant will fund the purchase of plants, soil, mulch and pyramid-shaped tiered bedding on which 143 gallons of soil will provide the bedding for 76 plants.
“This configuration will allow us to grow about eight times more plants per square foot than a traditional garden,” Pitts said.
The $1,500 grant is one in a series of grants awarded to Colonial Hills to grow its community garden. Last year, a $15,000 Verizon grant added a 5,000-gallon cistern and a roof-top water collection system. Plus, a solar pump was attached to a downspout to feed the drip irrigation system.
The creation of the garden in 2014 and its continuing success contributed to the “Gold Status for the Alliance of a Healthier Generation” national recognition awarded by the Centers for Disease Control last spring. While planting and harvesting, students apply lessons in math, plant science, ecology, water conservation and engineering. However, a more healthful and beneficial by-product of the garden is that students are now trying fruits and vegetables they typically would avoid.
Students are now eating more vegetables and fruits since they know where and how they are grown, Pitts said. Cafeteria cooks create dishes from fall and spring harvests for garden-to-cafeteria samplings for students to taste what they have grown.
Educators in the North East Independent School District seeking grants can access a mini-base created and updated by the Government Relations and Grants Department. The mini base lists grant opportunities by subject. Employees must be signed-in to the district system for full access to grant-writing resources.
It is advisable that educators watch a seven-minute video posted under the “Grant Training and Writing” tab before starting a grant application.
$1,000 fitness-based grant on the way to North East elementary school
Music, movement and academics will combine to produce movement and physical activites for students through a $1,000 grant.
Coach Terri Pitts at Colonial Hills Elementary School was notified in June the school will receive a Game On Grants. The grants are made possible by Action For Healthy Kids, an organization focused on mobilizing professionals, families and communities to take actions that lead to healthy eating, physical activity and healthier schools where kids thrive.
The grant will fund activities and equipment that will "stimulate fine motor skills, coordination, reflexes, cross/bilateral movement and cognitive associaton, said Pitts said.
Portions of the grant also will help expand the Colonial Hills Community Garden with the addition of vertical garden beds.
"We will generate the benefits of physical activity with the use of Geomats, a 36-inch square labeled with numbers and letters used with a fitness-based program," Pitts said.
Pitts said that the Geomats program will be used during PE as well as Family Fitness Night, PTA Meetings, Science Night, Math Night, Reading Night and Health Night "engaging students, parents and staff."
"Eventually the students will become the teachers and lead their parents and families through the physical activity," she said. "Once mastered, we intend to take the activity to nursing homes with our students leading the activities.
Meanwhile, the expansion of the school garden will continue to be used as an outdoor classroom and as a source of food products.
"The harvested tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and cilantro from the spring harvest will be used by the cafeteria staff to make and serve picante sauce," Pitts said, adding that coleslaw would be created using produce from the fall harvest.
$1,000 Wal-Mart grant funds the purchase of health-related equipment
The $1,000 Health and Wellness Community Grant will help Colonial Hills Elementary School purchase equipment for use to encourage physical activity among its students, teachers and parents.
During physical education classes, students are encouraged to be as physical and active as their abilities allow.
Additionally, the equipment will be used during community Wellness Programs, Family Fitness Night and Healthy Field Day.
"The families learn at the community health events," said Coach Terri Pitts. "And the students receive the same message at home as well as at school."
As healthy and productive adults, the students will pass their smart choices to the next generation, Pitts said.
"A healthy body houses a healthy mind," she said.