A total of 27 employees across eight different schools in Copperas Cove Independent School District were given the surprise of a lifetime on Wednesday.
"As soon as I heard it I was like 'Ahhh,' it might be me and I think turned red," first-grade teacher Hillary Newton said.
The Copperas Cove Education Foundation awarded a total of $24,583.
"Many of those have to do with reading programs, but we also have some after-school programs at several of the schools and many of the grants helped to fund those," CCISD Education Foundation President Etta Kay Kirkpatrick said.
Newton received a check for just over $500, it'll go towards a play put on by the schools drama club.
"It will just pay for our scripts and the CDs and all of the things that give us the permission to do the play," Newton said.
In order to receive the grant, CCISD employees began anonymously submitting applications in September.
"And the foundation are scored and graded and then it's just a process of top score-givers and then we have to go through the process of making sure all the grants meet all the criteria," Kirkpatrick said.
The grant criteria call for innovative ideas that affect the greatest number of students for the longest amount of time.
Here is a full list of the grant recipients.
"All Elementary Campuses
Science Olympiad - $1389.88 – Stacy Robinson (Fairview Jewell)
If approved, this grant will provide the funds necessary to continue our International Science Olympiad Competition. Students across the district will benefit from the hands-on inquiry based learning. Campuses will hold after school clubs that will be open to all students that would like to participate. At the end of the year, students in grades 3-5 will have the opportunity to enter district wide competition.
Martin Walker Elementary School
The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow – $540.00 - Hillary Newton
This grant is a project that would allow our campus to have a drama club that meets after school and has the ability to perform for our campus and community in the spring. The drama club will allow students on our campus an opportunity to have a theater experience.
Listen Up! – $3649.62 – Breanne Turner
This grant will provide teachers the materials so that they can then provide students with high-engaging, listening workstations. Each kindergarten, first and second grade teacher will receive a CD player and four headphones to use as a listening station during the Balanced Literacy block. In addition, seventy five high interest children’s books with matching audio CD will be available for the students to read and listen to.
Teaching With the Body in Mind – $250.00 – Michelle Hoffchen
This grant will allow me to integrate into the learning environment sensory tools that will help students manage their senses in order to achieve optimal performance in the classroom by increasing self-regulation, focus, attention, and body awareness.
CCISD Upper Elementary Spanish Bilingual Library – $3934.02 –Theresa Garcia
In CCISD, students are expected to read independently as a part of the Balanced Literacy initiative. Our district has many students who struggle to read books from their classroom libraries because there are not many books written in Spanish. If the students who can read in Spanish have the opportunity to read a book on grade level in Spanish, then the students will have more opportunities to meet classroom expectations and to make connections to the classroom and what they already know through their past experiences.
Clements/Parsons Elementary
Ukulele Club – $240.00 – Wilford Elmore, Josefa Franks
Music is a form of fine arts that allows students to express themselves through the use of vocals and instruments. I have been teaching ukulele to 3rd through 4th grade students at my school for the past 4 years. I would like to expand the Ukulele Club by adding/incorporating the baritone ukulele. The students will learn about 8 Christmas songs before our school sing-along and then learn songs in which they will co-perform with the Honor Choir.
Art Club – $1224.82 – Wilford Elmore, Michele Cox
This club will be held after school, where on average 30 students participate. Students from kindergarten through the fifth grade will have the opportunity to participate. Conducting the club after school ensures the time to teach all aspects of art and to ensure the use of different mediums; for example: acrylics, watercolors, oil pastels and water color pencils. Students will learn the principals of art in order to help show off their artistic abilities.
Kids Care Club – $450.00 - Sheila Wright
The Kids Care Club’s focus is to develop compassion and social responsibility in elementary school children and to encourage the development of a life-long commitment to service. This club promotes acts of kindness throughout the school and the community that positively impacts everyone involved. The students develop and participate in projects that show compassion and respect for others, which ultimately creates a positive school atmosphere and sustains a culture of kindness throughout the community.
Bilingual Buddy Books – $1000.00 – Robin Spencer
This grant money will provide the opportunity to purchase more Spanish and bilingual titles for our library collection. With the advent of bilingual education in our district, comes a better understanding of the need to have titles that support the first language of many of our learners.
Mae Stevens Early learning Academy
Born To Move – $1602.67 - Brandy Petty
The goal of this program is to introduce age-appropriate exercise equipment to students that will foster the development of various motor skills will providing children with disabilities the ability to participate with their typically developing peers through inclusive practices. They will have the opportunity to build their cognitive and social abilities, and promote a respectful understanding of the knowledge shared.
Kids at Heart – $500.00- Brandy Petty, Stacy Tomblin-Weaver
The goal of this program is to foster relationships among elderly individuals residing in our neighboring assisted living facility and young students of our district. They will have the opportunity to build their cognitive and social abilities, as well as promote a respectful understanding of the knowledge shared. Funds received will procure materials necessary to complete engaging projects based on TEA approved curriculum, planned and purposeful activities completed as a group, as well as provide the occasion for the students to experience learning and community service in a unique environment.
S.C. Lee Junior High School
Virtually Augment Our Reality – $3448.00 – Sandra Carswell
Virtual and Augmented Reality are the computer-generated simulations of a 3D image that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside. By purchasing a ClassVR set, all students on our campus will have the opportunity to see the world from the comfort of their classroom and create 3D worlds and objects of their own. ClassVR comes with headsets ready to use immediately and lessons in all subject areas and grade levels making this the perfect addition to any 21st century classroom.
Hettie Halstead Elementary School
Breakout EDU – $275.00– Swantje Drayton
Breakout EDU is an immersive learning games platform that is transforming teaching and learning by using an “Escape Room” approach to engage students inside of the classroom. Breakout EDU brings the 4C’s alive – critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication.
House Creek
Edmark Online – $925.00 –Jessica Smith
The Edmark Reading Program is a sight word based reading program which is designed for students with disabilities to acquire reading skills through a carefully sequenced, highly repetitive word recognition method combined with errorless learning. The program motivates students by breaking learning into steps that ensure that even the poorest readers achieve over 90% accuracy. This approach eliminates incorrect responses and helps students view themselves as readers.
Copperas Cove Junior High School
Outdoor Adventures in Education - $1282.86 – Trevor Allen, Robin Miller, Amanda Crawley, Sable Stephens-Wilson
This year our campus expanded our elective choices for students by offering the Outdoor Adventures class. In order to fully implement the course curriculum, additional supplies and materials are needed to make the class a success. This grant will address those additional needed equipment and help students experience the outdoors and outdoor education in new and different ways. Students will experience hands-on learning in the great outdoors through the funding of this grant.
Learning Through Games – $250.00 – Bridgette Gatzert, Sheila Gilbert
Learning Through Games makes learning and practicing skills in reading and writing fun. We as educators strive to customize the instruction, while games do that for our young learners. By having two game sets in each reading classroom, helps the educators focus on developing standards in isolation in a fun, rigorous, yet nonthreatening way. The engaging and challenging games are ideal for every educational situation, including partners, small groups, teams, and through whole group instruction. By using these games in the classroom, they will also support the inclusion redesign being made in the 6th grade reading classes.
Rock N Roll Physical Education – $1149.00 – Jennifer Wilson, Tracy Honea
The physical education department is ecstatic to add the sound of music in our education program. Music is a great way to help our students keep their minds off the physical exertion and on to something they can relate to on a daily basis. Music will give us an opportunity to differentiate the learning of our students and guide them to a lifetime of healthful physical activity. The use of music would increase our student engagement, student participation, student skills and their overall confidence about themselves.
Win Win “A Trading Game” – $500.00 – Cooper Carlton
I am asking for funding to purchase materials for a free enterprise trade activity in my class. The game simulates how free trade benefits all the countries involved. Students will make a series of trades with their classmates and also document their satisfaction level of each trade as they progress. Upon completion students will see how their satisfaction level grew from the items they were given at the start of the activity, to the ones they finished with after making a few successful trades.
Imagine the Printabilities – $1221.99 – Tobi Sheon
“Imagine the Printabilities” that the students could have when they have access to the school’s new 3D printer! Whatever they can imagine, it could become a reality. Instead of building a shoebox diorama for a project, they could create a 3D reality display. There would be no limits to what their imaginations could create and then, print out."
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