2021 Teacher Grants

The Wylie Bulldogs Education Foundation granted $37,941.73 to Wylie teachers in 2021. Here’s how the grants were distributed by campus: 4 High School, 7 West Junior High, 1 East Junior High, 1 West Intermediate, 2 West Elementary, 6 East Elementary and 5 ECC.

Here are the grants:

• Get More Math Annual License Subscription – submitted by Gary Huckabee as a team with Debra Smith, High School.  Affects 100 9^th grade double block Algebra I students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $1,500.  The money from this grant will be used to secure the subscription to Get More Math.  This is an online tool provides cumulative practice sessions uniquely tailored to each student’s needs. 

• Promoting the Power of Percussion! – submitted by Brittany Gurganus, West Junior High.  Affects 200 5^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $2,148.16.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase additional classroom instruments.  The benefits of playing instruments are far-reaching, affecting hand-eye coordination, stress relief and brain function to name a few.

• Fantastic Scholastic Readers! – submitted by Tanya C. Miles, West Junior High.  Affects 162 6^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $549.50.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase a classroom monthly subscription to Scope Scholastic English Language Arts magazine.  Students will find fascinating important stories that will give them knowledge and ignite their curiosity.  These stories will help them understand the complex world we are living in and maybe inspire them to take action. 

• All the Colors of the Rainbow – submitted by Jennifer Greenough, West Intermediate.  Affects 420 3^rd and 4^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $977.35.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase multicultural picture books for the school library.  It is very important that all students feel accepted and are able to see themselves within their environment.  By purchasing books containing characters illustrated by a rainbow of colors and cultures, students will feel included and appreciated thus improving their desire to visit the library. 

• Stock the Lab: East Junior High Edition – submitted by Kristian Spencer as a team with Lauren McElroy, Amy Grimland, Baylee Barger and Jennifer Ramos, East Junior High.  Affects 800 6^th-8^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $4,325.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase laboratory equipment and supplies to bring the East Junior High Science lab up and running in a manner befitting the quality of Wylie ISD and the needs of a middle school laboratory.  The new equipment ranges from hot plates and scales, to supplies for a variety of STEM labs, to materials for all manners of hands-on learning and investigative research.

• Engaging Nonfiction Books for English Learners and Striving Readers – submitted by Angie Kenley, West Junior High.  Affects 65 5^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $658.74.  The funds from this grant will be used to purchase engaging nonfiction books that will accommodate English learners and striving readers. 

• Coordination and its Correlation to Enriching Students in Music – submitted by Humberto James Loera, East Elementary.  Affects 950 Kindergarten – 4^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $1991.45.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase two bass xylophones along with 10 frame drums of two different sizes. This grant will expand the music room and channel growth for every student at Wylie East Elementary.

• Luck of the DRAW – submitted by Alexis Hughes, High School.  Affects 150 9^th-12^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $956.71.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase high quality drawing supplies including Prismacolor colored pencils, charcoal pencils, pencil sharpeners and blending stumps.  Students will use them for various drawing projects. 

• Architecture and Construction – submitted by Aimee Wristen, West Junior High.  Affects 230 7^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $1,290.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase 10 architectural design kits in the CTE classroom that will allow students to further explore the career cluster of Architecture and Construction by allowing them to create their own 3D architectural structures.    

• Math, Science & STEM in Early Childhood – submitted by Jillian Johnson, Early Childhood.  Affects 16 Pre-K students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $982.41.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase a Light Changing Table, Magnetic Center and items that encourage Math, Science and STEM learning in Pre-K age children.

• iPads for Small Group Instruction – submitted by Kaylee Channell, Early Childhood.  Affects 22 Kindergarten students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $882.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase 3 iPads for a Kindergarten classroom.  The iPads will be beneficial, during small group time, to help reinforce and extend student’s knowledge.

• Multi Holiday Seasonal Books – submitted by Shyrl Martinez, East Elementary.  Affects 919 Kindergarten – 4^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $1,972.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase holiday books for the school library.  It will, also, be used to help replenish some of the more frequently used holiday books on topics the students are required to study.

• Flexible Seating in Second – submitted by Rayna McCarty, West Elementary.  Affects 44 2^nd grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $411.12.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase four stability ball chairs and four foldable floor seats.  Flexible seating will ensure student success in the classroom.  A major objective of flexible seating is that it allows collaboration between students as they can pair up or work in small groups.  Collaboration activities are planned 3 times per week in this classroom. 

• Hands on Learning Materials – submitted by Elise Rocco, East Elementary.  Affects 14 Transitional Kindergarten students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $803.26.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase hands-on learning manipulatives, as well as printer ink and laminating pouches to create and/or print more manipulatives.  The students need the hands-on activities to make the connection between the concrete objects in their hands to the abstract concept they are learning.

• We Made It Through a Pandemic.  Time to Reorganize!  – submitted by Kathy Burnitt, West Elementary.  Affects 66 2^nd grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $994.25.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase storage containers and baskets for a 2^nd grade classroom.  The locking shoe boxes will allow students to carry more supplies when switching classes plus it does away with common supplies thus cutting out germs.  The wire baskets will be used to put the classroom library back together.
• Purchasing New Sets of Novels for Students – submitted by Kelly Trumble as a team with Amanda Gay and Denise Cope, West Junior High.  Affects 182 8^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $2,977.27.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase 210 books (3 sets of classroom novels) and three audiobook CD’s for each teacher to use in class.  The books are The Heart Mender, Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Harriett Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad.  These books will bring more diversity, historical connections and cultural awareness to the current curriculum.
• Play Me a Story – submitted by Angela McKnight, East Elementary.  Affects 950 Kindergarten – 4^th grade students.  Dollar Amount requested: $1,985.04.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase Orff instruments and a Djembe drum for the Music classroom.  Playing Orff instruments builds connections of musical concepts and skills through understanding and experience.

• Engaging Novels for Adolescent Literacy – submitted by Lillian Jones, West Junior High.  Affects 200 6^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $948.40.  The funds from this grant will be used to purchase 100 paperback copies of Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli and 60 hardback copies of The Crossover by Kwame Alexander.  These Newberry Award winning novels will be used for classroom instruction to improve literacy skills and provide opportunities for discussion of issues such as homelessness, racial tension, family and coming of age.

• Light It Up and Learn – submitted by Suzanne Wright, West Early Childhood.  Affects 20 Early Childhood and Pre-K Special Education students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $1,000.  The money will be used to purchase a light/sensory table bundle and manipulatives to be used with the table.  These learning tools will help students with disabilities reach their individualized goals and objectives.  The light/sensory table and manipulatives helps to master important skills such as letter identification and writing, sorting, color identification, patterning, turn taking and number recognition. 

• Learning Through Manipulatives For the Early Childhood Special Education Classroom – submitted by Kristina Hadaway, West Early Childhood.  Affects 20 EE and Pre-K students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $1,000.   The money from this grant will be used to purchase more hands-on materials, such as pop beads, mazes and touch boards, for students to use and explore.  This will provide more opportunities to engage in the same objective, be more successful in the classroom, help with interaction and communication, and allow the students to better understand the objective that is being taught. 

• Coding on the Whiteboard – submitted by Luke Hurst, West Junior High.  Affects 200 6^th-8^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $999.95.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase five robots.  These robots will help improve the coding unit in a CGRI (Coding, Gaming, Robotics, Innovation) and a Digital Citizenship class at both Junior Highs.  

• Tools to Build Phonological Awareness and Phonics Skills – submitted by Nancy Reed, East Elementary.  Affects 25 Kindergarten students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $344.46.  These grant funds will be used to purchase manipulatives for kindergarten students to build early literacy skills.  Magnetic sound sorting boards, vowel letter tubs and stamp sets help students explore and isolate beginning/middle/ending sounds and rhyming sounds in words. 

• Making our Im-Print – submitted by Lisa Camp, High School.  Affects 150 9^th – 12^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $1,000.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase Printmaking supplies for the WHS Art department.  These supplies include dry point etching tools, etching sheets, Gelli plates, brayers, speedball cutting tools, printing blocks, ink and barons and a small shop vac to help keep the room clean.

• FastTRACK to success! – submitted by Justin Holland as a team with Chris Shoemake, High School.  Affects 150 9^th-12^th grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $1,500.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase Automatic Tracking Software for the Wylie Performing Arts Center.  This software will be connected to the WPAC’s PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) cameras in the light booth.  Students will be able to use the software to learn valuable lessons in software installation, camera angles and performance self- reflection. 

• Hands-On Learning for the Transitional Classroom – submitted by Amanda McVay, Early Childhood.  Affects 15 Transitional Kindergarten students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $984.86.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase hands on materials to provide students with opportunities to explore and help them relate to the world around them.  The money will also be used to add flexible seating options in the classroom.  Flexible seating allows children to work in all types of positions which keeps young minds alert and focused, especially children who are diagnosed with ADHD and learning disabilities. 
• WANTED: iPads for 2^nd – submitted by Tina Buckner as a team with Jessica McIntire, Rachel Perkins, Robin Cason and Phyllis Ricker, East Elementary.  Affects 110 2^nd grade students.  Dollar Amount Requested: $4,759.80.  The money from this grant will be used to purchase iPads for five different 2^nd grade classrooms.  These teachers cover math, science and social studies.  The iPads will be used to foster learning across all subject areas.