LEF News Roundup
Grants
EDITOR’S NOTE: The LEF News Roundup is designed to recognize LEF achievements and share ideas with others. To submit information for the LEF News Roundup, write to Brenda Wheelock, Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, 120 N. Robinson, Suite 1420-W, Oklahoma City, OK 73102 or e-mail bwheelock@ofe.org.
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| Booker T. Washington High School students Grace Bielawski, Tuyen Pham and Johah Wei-Hass perform a Spanish version of the “Three Little Pigs” during a field trip to Eisenhower Elementary School. Photo by Lida Wilber |
Booker T. Washington High School students are learning from field-trip experiences while acting as mentors for younger students, thanks to a Spanish language grant from the Booker T. Washington Foundation. Among the activities funded by the foundation, students in Spanish levels III and above have been able to visit and mentor children at both Eisenhower and Kendall Whittier Elementary Schools. “This has been a great experience for all involved,” reports Spanish teacher Lyda Wilber. “Our students have the opportunity to practice their Spanish and put into practice what we are studying in the classroom. At the elementary schools, Hispanic children as well as those who are learning the language as part of the their language learning requirements look forward to our monthly visits, and are so grateful to our students for the time they spent acting out plays, reading and playing authentic Hispanic games with them.”
Coweta Education Foundation is providing funds to Coweta high school students as part of a sidewalk art project. Using sidewalk chalk purchased with grant money, art students are creating chalk art works on the sidewalks at their high school.
Central Rural Electric Cooperatives donated more than $5,000 to Coyle School Foundation to provide new playground equipment for Coyle schools. Some of the funds are being used to provide wheelchair access to the new equipment. The foundation hosted a dinner, pie and cake auction, and volleyball tournament to raise additional money for the playground equipment.
Students at Piedmont's Prairie Vale Elementary School are doing more than playing kickball in their physical education class. Thanks to a grant from the Deer Creek Schools Foundation and Nickelodeon's Let's Just Play grant program, students are working out to the video game "Dance Dance Revolution." While two students are competing head-to-head on dance mats connected to the game, the other students are following along on their own mats.
Three Duncan special education teachers were selected to receive the Quest for Excellence teacher professional development scholarship from the Duncan Public Schools Foundation. The grant, totaling nearly $2,900, is the foundation's fourth annual scholarship presentation to teachers desiring the opportunity to enhance their students' education.
A generous gift from a former student enabled the El Reno Public Schools Foundation to purchase $50,000 worth of technology equipment for the high school. Grant funds were used to purchase equipment such as notepads that allow students to complete problems while at their desks that are projected on a screen for the entire class. The Walker Grant is named for former EHS student the late Robert Walker and his wife Lorena, who donated $100,000 to the foundation for the sole benefit of El Reno High School. The remaining funds are kept in an endowment for future projects.
To increase its level of service to the community, the El Reno Public Schools Foundation used a $2,000 grant from the Oklahoma City Community Foundation to establish a Web site, www.erpsf.org. The site provides information about the foundation and allows teachers and students to access grant and scholarship applications.
The Enid Public Schools Foundation is continuing to support an elementary school's reading program initially funded by a state Department of Education grant. While the state grant only funded the program for three years, other organizations, including the local education foundation, are helping the school continue the Literacy First program by providing funds for resources and teacher training.
Holdenville Education Foundation and the Holdenville Creek Community provided funds to purchase and install playground equipment for the pre-K class at the Indian Community Center. In addition to a few swings and a basketball goal, the playground now contains a structure with two slides, a tower, playhouse, arch climber and stairs.
Jenks Public School Foundation is playing a significant role in the implementation of Jenks High School's new program, AVID, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. The program was approved by the school board in early 2006 but required more than $10,000 to implement, which the foundation agreed to provide. AVID was created to increase enrollment in AP classes.
To improve reading skills and generate a greater interest in reading, the Okemah High School English department used a grant from the Okemah Public Schools Foundation to purchase a copy of Oklahoma author William Bernhardt’s book Primary Justice for each high school student. Students will spend this semester reading the novel, answering comprehension questions and completing vocabulary work and high order thinking skills questions about the book. Once they have finished the novel, students will rewrite the ending and write an evaluation before meeting the author.
The Okemah Public School Foundation awarded more than $7,200 in grants to teachers for the 2006-2007 school year. Some grant projects include postcards and stamps to special education students so they can participate in an international program; supplies for students to make a hot air balloon; additional resources for the Accelerated Reading program; thematic learning boxes to enhance skills in various subject areas through hands-on learning; and supplies to integrate technology into daily classroom activities using Winnie the Pooh books, software, games and audiovisual materials. The foundation hosted a golf tournament to raise grant funds.
To support efforts to recruit and retain highly effective and competent teachers, Oklahoma City community leaders established the Jean G. Gumerson Teachers Endowment Fund, a scholarship program for district teachers seeking national board certification. The program, managed by the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation, has enabled a greater number of district teachers to pursue national certification.
The Okmulgee Education Foundation held its first successful Century Club Campaign, raising more than $20,000 to support grants for teachers. The campaign was modeled after a similar program created by the Bixby Educational Endowment Fund. The Okmulgee foundation challenged its citizens to become Century Club members by donating at least $100 to the foundation. Two local banks and the Masonic Lodge joined in to provide matching funds totaling $7,000.
Okmulgee Middle School students are enjoying new technology, resources and equipment thanks to donations from the Okmulgee Education Foundation, the Viersen Foundation and the Okmulgee Memorial Hospital. Lab supplies, computer software and projection equipment are just a few of the items math, science, English, reading and social studies teachers were able to purchase to enhance the learning environment.
The Okmulgee Education Foundation sponsored a trip for Okmulgee middle school students who had been planning an imaginary vacation in Oklahoma. A trip to Oklahoma City was the culmination of the project and allowed the students to visit locations they included in their imaginary vacation. They visited the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the Oklahoma City National Memorial, the state capitol a nd the Oklahoma History Center.
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| Okmulgee Elementary School’s Spirit Choir, shown here with director Larry Sparkman, is funded entirely through the support of the Okmulgee Education Foundation. |
“Telling Our Story,” became a special focus for the Okmulgee Education Foundation as it celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2004. Foundation leaders made scrapbooks, completed a huge photo album and made a promotional video, which they will share during a spotlight session at this year’s Fall Forum. In addition to awarding teacher grants, the foundation annually partners with the Sam K. Vierson Foundation to send students to fine arts performances at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center and provides complete funding for a third through fifth-grade “Spirit Choir.”
Owasso Education Foundation is making it possible for first graders to study and duplicate the style of American artist Georgia O'Keeffe. The foundation is funding classes where first-grade students in Owasso are studying O'Keeffe's artistic style and then creating their own works of art.
Pioneer-Pleasant Vale Academic Foundation’s latest effort brings works by famous artists to Pleasant Vale Elementary School. The foundation, which has been operating for three years, awarded a grant to elementary teachers to purchase and frame copies of art by artists such as Monet and da Vinci. In addition to grants to teachers, the foundation also recognizes students for their academic performance.
Purcell art instructor James Kyzer and his students were awarded a grant from the Purcell Public School Foundation to purchase materials for murals at the school. The murals depicted various events and activities from the 2006-2007 school year.
Putnam City School educators and staff were honored with the Putnam City Public Schools Foundation's Golden Apple Awards. School district employees and volunteers receive the award in recognition of their service and dedication to students. Recipients of the award, which is presented twice a year, also received a check for $200.
Central Fine Arts Academy in Sand Springs was the recipient of a $7,500 donation by Bank of America, thanks to the efforts of the Sand Springs Education Foundation. The donation will fund a special study unit, "Oklahoma Art: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow," which will culminate with a performance, living museum and art exhibit. The foundation applied for the donation on behalf of the school.
Stillwater seventh graders are learning more about science through a literacy project funded by a grant from the Stillwater Public Education Foundation. Students learned scientific facts by reading a fictional novel involving Mt. Saint Helens and enhanced that experience by writing and illustrating their own short stories based on a science topic they had studied. Once they completed their project, the seventh graders read their short stories to pre-K students.
Stillwater students are “Celebrating Daily Respect for Diversity” thanks to a grant from the Stillwater Public Education Foundation. World geography and language arts teachers at the middle school will use the $1,150 grant to purchase multicultural materials for their classrooms. Students will also learn about 20 countries, their cultures, dances, food and crafts by attending hands-on programs sponsored by Oklahoma State University international groups, pre-service interns, community volunteers and parents. The multicultural diversity grant was one of $16,000 worth of grants awarded by the foundation last fall.
Elementary students in Walters are expanding their musical education thanks to the Walters Education Foundation and Dr. and Mrs. Jim Tuloh. They purchased 10 guitars at a discounted rate from a music store in Lawton, which is owned by a former resident of Walters. The students will learn cowboy songs in preparation for a study on the state of Oklahoma.
Woodward Middle School students combined science and art instruction through a grant funded by the Woodward Education Foundation. Through their grant titled “Astronomy Through the Mind of an Aerosol Artist,” Woodward teachers were able to bring professional artist Carey Huckabey to their school for a stellar art demonstration using aerosol paint cans. Each student combined his or her art lessons with research on the solar system to create a “My Planet Book.”