In a season of giving, the Frisco Education Foundation (FEF) continues to show financial support to Frisco ISD educators through the Grants for Great Ideas! program, which provides grant funding for innovative classroom ideas.
Grants for Great Ideas! surprised 43 teachers and their co-applicants with over $68,000 in financial backing across 30 campuses over the course of two days prior to Thanksgiving.
At the beginning of the school year, staff members were offered the opportunity to apply for grants. Completed applications were reviewed by the FEF Board, which ensures funded grants align with District curriculum and initiatives while impacting student learning in new and innovative ways.
“Frisco Education Foundation's Grants for Great Ideas! touches the lives of both teachers and students,” said Sunitha Cheruvu, FEF Board president. “Whether the grant request is to provide young students with mobility issues the freedom to move on their own or being able to learn about space and view the stars during the day with specialized equipment, FEF grants make a wide range of innovative ideas a reality in schools across Frisco.”
Grant winners were each surprised by a check and a visit from the grant patrol, which consisted of FEF Board members, FEF Advisory Board members, members of the FISD School Board, Frisco Women’s League volunteers and CoServ and Credit Union of Texas representatives. The transportation for the grant patrol was donated by Frisco Dodge, which also hosted a pep rally for the Grants for Great Ideas! grant patrol.
“It's a privilege to go on the FEF grant patrol each year and watch the teary-eyed delight on our hard-working teachers' faces because they received a FEF grant which will help improve the students' learning experiences,” Cheruvu said. “FEF is grateful for our community's support for the continued success of our mission.”
The grant deliveries spanned elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and special program centers. From fine arts classrooms to world languages, grant winners had a number of interesting and innovative ideas that varied from podcast equipment to campus gardens.
One additional District-wide grant was also selected as a Grants for Great Ideas! winner this year to support the Frisco ISD La Visión parent training events.
Since 1999, the Foundation has gifted FISD educators over $900,000 in grant funding.
Community members interested in donating to the Frisco Education Foundation Grants for Greats Ideas! program can do so online through this link. Those interested in adopting a grant that did not get funded should contact Terri West at westte@friscoisd.org or 469-633-6868.
Congratulations to these Grants for Great Ideas! winners for their inventive classroom ideas:
Bledsoe Elementary
Kelli Snyder - Playaway to Improve Reading Skills Stamina and Grit
Kelli Snyder - Breakout the TEKS
Boals Elementary
Mandy Koiner - Multisensory Gardening Approach to Learning
Borchardt Elementary
Ann Signey - Ready to Lead through Social-Emotional Learning
Bright Academy
Curstin Ploch - Learn and Grow with Osmo
Katherine Johannes and Curstin Ploch - You CAN Sit with Us
Centennial High School
Sabrina Ewald - The Future is a Paperless Classroom!
Curtsinger Elementary
Lynne Rhodes - Coding in Kindergarten
Early Childhood Center
Lindsay Brittain - Sensational Sensory Panels
Lindsay Brittain - Putting the PLAY back in Playground
Frisco High School
Tina Littlejohn - Indoor Worm Composter
Lawler Middle School
Nancy Gardner and Lauren Thompson - Lawler Outdoor Learning Garden
Liberty High School
Deana Cowger - Bones! Bones! Bones!
Kenric Davies - Teaching Astronomy During the Day
Chris Ham - Performing Genetic Analysis in the Classroom
Nina Loera - Spanish Free Voluntary Reading Library
Patricia Flores - FTC Robotics/Programming Team
Lone Star High School
Anna Ray - Calculating Position, Velocity and Acceleration in the Real-World Using Calculus
Memorial High School
Scott Kaufman - Robotics - AI Development and Competition
Miller Elementary
Stefanie DeWolf - Robots, Coding and STEM - Oh My!
Carrie Partain and Ashley Young - Helping Students Find Their Way
Nichols Elementary
Amanda Bond - Come Strum!
Norris Elementary
Megan Conn - BreakOut Boxes
Pearson Middle School
Tyra Damm - Podcast Equipment
Pink Elementary
Misty Lewin - Global Goals
Pioneer Heritage Middle
Stephanie Lambert - Empty Bowls
Purefoy Elementary
Laura Rohman - Mallet Motivations
Reedy High School
Benjamin Bekerman - Recording Station for Producing Audio Books, Voiceovers, and Speech to Text Projects by Students with Disabilities
Jordan Benton, Meghan Courtney and Nick Williams - Statistics Application of Data Collection
Amanda Biggers and Kelly Clay - Lion’s Den Cafe
Ryan Patton - Collaborative 3D Programming with Microsoft Minecraft Education Edition
Katrina Stroot - SPRK+ a Love for Coding
Rogers Elementary
Ashley Lovely - Yes, to Ukuleles!
Scott Elementary
Kori Kinkel - Alexa, How Can I Increase My Language?
Kristi Taylor - I Gotta Get Outta Here!
Sonntag Elementary
Melinda Lee - Art/Text Connection
Sparks Elementary
Janis Dahl - Drumming Around the World
Staley Middle
Elizabeth Heinrich - Can You Dig It? We Can Dig It! Practicing our GROWTH Mindset
in the Mustang Community Garden!
Student Opportunity Center
Erin Overholt, Christina Baca Pogue, Karissa Norris, Courtney Jones, Sharon Bryant and Melanie Leondardo - Fine and Gross Motor Manipulatives
Talley Elementary
Catherine Patterson - Bringing the World’s Music to Our Classrooms
Vaughn Elementary
Melanie Rutter - Co-Laboratory Corner
Wakeland High School
Cathy Toups - Future Ready! Future Now! DNA Technology in the Classroom
Follow Frisco Education Foundation on social media or sign-up for the FEF newsletter to get updates and read impact stories from teachers and students who received FEF grants.