Katy ISD Education Foundation Announces Teacher Grant Recipients
Katy, TX (June 15, 2016) The Katy ISD Education Foundation recently announced its fourth year of Inspiring Imagination teacher grant recipients. Two hundred Katy ISD teachers at 33 different campuses were chosen for grants this year. Grant activities range from school gardens to robotics and extend to all subjects and grade levels. Funding will be provided for the 2016-2017 school year.
In its first four years of activity, the Katy ISD Education Foundation has awarded more than $725,000 in Inspiring Imagination grants to teachers at campuses all over Katy ISD. The Foundation exists to raise support for and manage the grant program, an initiative created by the Foundation’s Board of Directors to provide funding for innovative classroom experiences not possible within the parameters of a school district budget.
Grants are made possible by annual pledges from business and community investors, one-time contributions and events. The Foundation hosts two major fundraising events every year: Fireflies and Foodtrucks, slated for September 15, 2016, and its spring GROOVE jazz event. BP, the Foundation’s Cornerstone Investor, funded multiple grants for its BP STEM Grant Program. The Katy ISD Education Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) organization for which donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. To learn more, contact foundation@katyisd.org, 281-396-6031 or visit www.katyisdeducationfoundation.org.
Recognized at May 23 Katy ISD Board of Trustees meeting, this year’s grant recipients and their projects include:
Individual Grants – One teacher for up to $1,000
Bear Creek Elementary, Novel-ty Bookstore, Second Edition, Karen Baker; Bethke Elementary, Constructing More Than Just Cities and Towers, Christina Dismuke; Cardiff Junior High, Arduinos for Inventing and Programming, Stephen Bennett; Creech Elementary, One Brick at a Time, Donna Parker; Fielder Elementary, SPRKing Innovation Through Coding, Erica Foster; Golbow Elementary, Books, Bands, and Bundles Oh My!: A Third Grade Read Aloud Library, Stephanie Watt-Johnson; Katy Elementary, Astronomy Field Trip in a Box, Rose Marie Sager; Mayde Creek High, Fearless Readers of Life-Changing Novels, Frances Ohanenye; Shafer Elementary, Visualizing and Verbalizing, Brette Kuretsch; Taylor High; Traumatic Brain Injury Stations Lab, Lisa Estill; West Memorial Elementary, Skillastic-tastic Learning, Brittany Brehm.
Team Grants – Three or more teachers for up to $5,000
Alexander Elementary, Digital Learners are MOTIVATED Learners!, led by Stephanie Rainosek; Enriching all Learners through STEM, led by Terra Palmer; Beckendorff Junior High, Standing Desks: An Innovative Classroom Seating Solution, led by Tricia Gragnano Reyes; Cimarron Elementary, Young Engineers Ready to Build Bots!, led by Angela Plut; Cinco Ranch Junior High , LASH on Tech! (Language Arts, Science, History), led by Yolanda Hiller; Exley Elementary, Growing Readers and Writers, led by Bethany Paetow; Franz Elementary, Going Green, led by Tracy John; Hayes Elementary, Full STEAM Ahead! led by Sara Hernandez; Holland Elementary, Eco-Kids, led by Stephanie Nady; Itinerant Teams (multiple campuses), Dyslexia Intervention, led by Luis Villanueva; Early Childhood Intervention Groups – Ready, Set, Grow!, led by Denise Cloyes; Katy Junior High, Biomass Breakdown: It’s Getting Hot, Hot, Hot, led by Candice Thomas; CBR Motion Detectors, led by Elizabeth Flowers; Mayde Creek Elementary, Let’s Read Aloud and Play Along, led by Rhea Marsh; Mayde Creek High, Fatal Vision Impairment Goggles, led by Ashley Griffiths; Giant Triangles for Geometric Experiences, led by Sara Bauler; Library STEAM MakerSpace, led by Kathie Fry; Microbiology in the Digital Age, led by Mary Lee House; Operation Collaboration, led by Amber Allen; Thinking Outside the Box, led by Mary Miron; McRoberts Elementary, Field Researchers for a Day, Scientists for a Lifetime, led by Jeanna Bruno; Memorial Parkway Junior High Got Katy Grit?, led by Yasmina Walker; Morton Ranch High, Today I Will Read, Tomorrow I Will Write, Then my Children and I Will Change the World, led by Myrea Schmidt; Pattison Elementary, Connecting School and Community Through Non-Fiction, led by Christi Elrod; Seven Lakes High, Inspiring Learning, led by Chad Meyer; Navigating Geometry, led by Robert Perkins; Navigators, led by Karl Burford; TI-Navigator System, led by Nick Flora; Shafer Elementary, Mentoring Minds to See The World!, led by Hillary Bartee; Focus to Learn, led by JeanAnn Naumann; Giving Kinder Kids Nonfiction Opportunities, led by Kim Forbes; Stephens Elementary, 3D Real STEMing, led by Meghan Jones; Sundown Elementary, Morning Tinker Time: MakerSpace, led by Leah Miller; Taylor High , Giant Triangles, led by Nicole Brayton; Journey to the Edge of Space, led by Ryan Nutt; Seeing Electricity in a Whole New Light, led by Elizabeth Trader; Tompkins High, Theatre Under The Stars: The Literature Experience, led by Ryan Culver; West Memorial Elementary, Movement in the Classroom, led by Lisa Al-Saedi; West Memorial Junior High, Math Nspired, led by Tina Dycus; Williams Elementary, PBIS Pros, led by Virginia Stout; Project Milo, led by Kara Lowery; Step-Ball-Change, led by Brenda Pennington; Winborn Elementary, Building Language with Legos, led by Whitney Jackson; Wolfe Elementary, Enhancing Summer Reading with a Mobile Book Library, led by Megan Barnett.
Courtesy of the District
