From USD 428...
Teacher Appreciation Week is a great time to share the announcement of our 2024-2025 Mini-Grant Winners. As we celebrate the end of another successful school year, the USD 428 Education Foundation is preparing to enhance learning opportunities with an outstanding list of grant winners from across the district.
In 2024, we are proud to award $16,012 in Mini-Grants, funding innovative ideas and exciting enrichment opportunities. We hope you'll review the awards highlighted below.
2024 grant winners:
Great Bend High School
Anna Alvarez STAR - Sit Together and Read
- I want to encourage reading in my classroom by incorporating silent sustained reading. I want to add books that are at a novice level in Spanish to our classroom library.
Shelly Duvall - Disc Golf Course for Lifetime Fitness
- We would involve teaching the technical aspects of the game like arm swing and footwork to create solid fundamentals for the new or developing disc golfer. Our Coaches teach proper footwork and body mechanics to create a powerful, consistent swing.
Travis Straub - Large Angle Cuts
- This equipment will enhance students' ability to safely cut large angles accurately. Visually assess the quality of the cut and apply a jig to reinforce the quality of the cut.
Jake Hofflinger - 3-D Reverse Engineering Laser Files
- A grant would allow the purchase of professional quality plans that all students have access to. These files are reusable and will last forever potentially being used by dozens of students in years to come. Previously, students have had to purchase their drawing files.
Jake Hofflinger - Gaming Club Monitors
- The Robotics and Gaming club hosts after-school gaming tournaments every year. They have been growing in popularity and are attended largely by a demographic not reached with many existing sports/activities.
Cristina Montes Reading Initiative - More Spanish books
- The Spanish program would like to expand on the reading initiative that our district has. We need more books in Spanish to teach the love of reading.
Dan Heath - Robotic Cameras for Panther Media Live Stream Team
- (1) Panther Media Stream Team is a “Learn By Doing” extension of our Digital Media program inside of the CTE department at GBHS. Students will gain experience with state-of-the-art technology that will enhance their skills in video production and improve the live stream product they present to the public. (2) Directly builds school, parent, and community relations by professionally showcasing activities and events (3) introduces students to career choices in broadcasting, digital media, marketing, and graphic design. (4) encourages student participation
Great Bend Middle School
Nikki Taylor - Panther Talk Equipment
- During Panther Talk, students are taught various methods of interviewing techniques and strategies. The equipment requested will aid them in future career or hobby endeavors that involve these skills.
Pamela Williams - GBMS Panthers Explore Block Printing in Art
- Students will be able to carve linoleum blocks then create art prints from those blocks. These prints will allow students to explore careers in illustration & publishing while building skills in line drawing, creating value & layering inks.
Holly Tittel - CHECK this out…Sports & Hunting books
- The grant allows for the library to add updated Sports & Hunting books to better connect with readers.
Eisenhower Elementary School
Megan McGuire Special Access Swing
- Students feeling overwhelmed or upset can swing to calm down. Gen Ed students will also benefit as they will help push and interact with students with exceptionalities.
Abigail Jonas Sensory Hallway
- This hallway allows for students to both work independently and be guided to enforce/build academic skills through kinesthetic and tactile learning experiences. While strengthening students' self-regulation while simultaneously building academic skills.
Amber Shattuck Learning to Read Hands-On
- Students learn how to read using strategies aligned with the science of reading in a fun and hands-on way that focuses on making sounds correctly in their mouths, sounding out and writing words, and reading words. The games included will allow students to continue praticing these skills in an engaging way.
Jefferson Elementary School
Lindsay Mazouch - Non-Fiction Book Reboot
- This project will be focused on students reading non-fiction animal-themed books to spark interest and curiosity about the world around them.
Lincoln Elementary School
Lindsay Mazouch - Non-Fiction Book Reboot
- This project will be focused on students reading non-fiction animal-themed books to spark interest and curiosity about the world around them.
Park Elementary School
Lacey Hofflinger - Park School Reading Contest
- This project is designed to promote reading outside of school and to build relationships between students and parents as they read together in the evenings and have discussions about the books. The addition of new material is important to cultivate reading to improve their reading skills.
Desteny Alcala and Susan Thornburg - Fluentalk Bundle
- T1 handheld language translator supports 13 offline language pairs out of 8 languages. A Listen mode will translate anything that's said. Chat conversation mode will automatically pick up the speeches in a conversation and translate them. Photo translation mode is for road signs, maps, menus, etc.
Riley Elementary School
Casey Gatton - Classroom Science of Reading Manipulatives
- These manipulatives will allow students to physically manipulate the letters/sounds in words and explore everything from spelling patterns and word families to decoding.
Jenna Dreiling - Classroom Science of Reading Manipulatives
- These manipulatives will allow students to physically manipulate the letters/sounds in words and explore everything from spelling patterns and word families to decoding.
USD 428 Elementary Principals - Scholars Bowl Buzzer System
The elementary schools in Great Bend have been competing for two years in Scholars Bowl Competitions. To begin hosting competitions, a buzzer system dedicated to the elementary schools is needed. Scholars Bowl is a great way to engage students in geography, history, math, science, reading, and more. It's a growing activity at the elementary level and builds confidence for participation in Middle School & High School.
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Save the date...
Dinner & Auction planned for Nov. 19, 2024
Make plans to join the USD 428 Education Foundation for the Annual Dinner & Auction on in November. More details will be announced this summer.