This week grants totaling more than $19,000 were delivered to AASD schools!

Board member Tom Mangold presents a check to Teri Fechter at Richmond Elementary School.
Board member Tom Mangold presents a check to Teri Fechter at Richmond Elementary School.

A big thank you to all AASD educators who applied for grants and congratulations to everyone who has received funding. We can’t wait to hear the results of your out-of-the-box thinking to help students learn and develop.

All grants were awarded from the Appleton Education Foundation Fund – an unrestricted endowment – unless otherwise noted.

Appleton Area School District –

  • $10,000 to support an AASD staff member’s coursework and certification as an Add+Vantage Math Recovery (AVMR) Trainer. Once certified, this person will help train other staff members to more effectively diagnose which math concepts students are struggling with the most so that intervention is targeted and successful.
  • $500 from the Stoner Fund to support more than 100 AASD middle and high school students’ attendance at WE Day Chicago. WE Day is a full day of inspirational speakers and performers – designed to help young people find their passion and then act to improve their community and world.
  • $240 from the Diversity Fund to support the district’s programming for new-to-the-country students (based at McKinley Elementary, Roosevelt Middle, and North High schools). Students and parents will participate in a field trip to High Cliff State Park where they will be able to practice the science, social studies, history and English skills they’ve learned in the classroom.
Board member Nancy Johnshoy presents two grant checks to Jim McClowry at West High School.
Board member Nancy Johnshoy presents two grant checks to Jim McClowry at West High School.

Appleton West High School – $2,000 from the Co-curricular Endowment to fund the Coach’s Academy Series which will provide professional development for coaches. Through this program, West will establish best practices for all coaching staff and, as a result, have a positive impact on student achievement.

$1,500 from the Co-curricular Endowment to further develop student leaders. Craig Hillier will lead a full-day workshop based on his book “Playing Beyond the Scoreboard.”

Columbus Elementary School/Appleton Bilingual School – $500 to create literacy centers in the library. Centers will offer a kinesthetic way for students to learn about literacy and will feature magnetic poetry, Lego sentence building kits, magnetic crosswords and an audio book listening area.

 Edison Elementary School – $470 from the unrestricted endowment and Connie Pitt Endowment Fund to purchase hokki stools for an early childhood classroom. These stools provide the core strengthening and movement benefits of a stability ball without the bouncing and rolling. Data will be gathered to learn whether or not use of the stools improves students’ time on task and other factors.

Franklin Elementary School – $316 to purchase the Expanding Expression Tool, a mnemonic device that uses visual and tactile manipulatives to help students build their oral and written language skills.

Highlands Elementary School – $750 to support the cost of a keynote speaker for Community Day – a day to celebrate the diversity within the school building.

Madison Middle School – $775 will cover expenses related to a space exploration project. For this multi-disciplinary project, students will work in teams to gather information, read and use math and problem solving skills as they write the history and constitution for a newly discovered planet. With the help of Fox Valley Technical College’s Fab Lab, students will design an acrylic rover to explore the new planet.

Richmond Elementary School – $558 to purchase three levels of Word Warm-ups, a program that gives struggling readers a way to practice decoding words and using phonics skills.

Wilson Middle School and Roosevelt Middle School – $1,500 to purchase high-interest books, chosen by students, for use in a new summer reading program designed to combat summer reading loss. Students will apply to be in the program and be matched with a reading mentor (teachers volunteering their time) who will engage them in rich discussions and reflections about their books. The program will kick off in May and include two large-group gatherings over summer.

AASD educators applied for these grants through AEF’s biannual competitive grant process. The next grant deadline is Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 4 p.m.

Learn more about the grant application process.