News

Foundation doles out $4,700 in first round of grants for class projects

December 2, 2009

Twelve teachers have received more than $4,700 for innovative classroom projects through the first round of grants distributed by the Beaufort County School District's Foundation for Educational Excellence.

This year's grant money will allow St. Helena Elementary students to cook and taste food from different cultures. Special needs students from Bluffton High School will take a trip to the movies with their classmates. Students at Port Royal Elementary will keep journals inspired by Jeff Kinney's popular "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series.

The foundation was established in 2007 to support student enrichment by awarding small grants to teachers. Teachers can apply for grants to pay for any program that isn't in the district's regular budget, said Carol McMillan, the district's community services coordinator.

Wayne Carbiener, a school board member representing Hilton Head Island, donated his $7,500 annual board stipend to kick off the foundation's summer fundraising effort, which collected $15,000to pay for the first round of grants and build its endowment.

More than 50 grant applications were submitted last month, and the 12 recipients were announced at Tuesday's Board of Education meeting:

• Julia Brown, Red Cedar Elementary, Fifth-Grade Math, $500

• Heather Doray, Beaufort High, Green Curriculum Robot, $400

• Jean Eisele, Hilton Head Island IB Elementary, Grammar Program by Michael Clay Thompson, $435

• Renee Glover, Coosa Elementary, S.C. Book Award Program, $152

• Lynda Jernigan, Coosa Elementary, S.C. Picture Book Award Program, $222

• Lisa Lucas-Schell, Bluffton High, trip to the movies and dinner for special education students, $500

• Stephanie Luzny, Beaufort Middle, digital cameras for media arts lab, $456

• John Quindlen, Hilton Head Island High, Bolton Hardware Mini Combo Lathe/Mill for the robotics group, $458

• Liz Rivera, Beaufort Elementary Advanced Math, Science and Engineering magnet program, Student/Parent Book Club, $445

• Debbie Smith, Lady's Island Elementary, Math to Music, $500

• Diana Von Plinsky, Port Royal Elementary, Diary Days, $430

• Eve Weaver, St. Helena Elementary, Edible Surveys, $230

Originally post by the Island Packet