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 9th 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 5th 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.
- All the Colors of the Rainbow submitted by Jennifer Greenough, West
Intermediate. Affects 420 3rd and 4th 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 6th-8th 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.
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Engaging Nonfiction Books for English Learners and Striving Readers –
submitted by Angie Kenley, West Junior High. Affects 65 5th 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 – 4th 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
9th-12th 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 7th 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 – 4th 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 2nd 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 2nd grade
students. Dollar Amount Requested: $994.25. The money from this grant will be used to
purchase storage containers and
baskets for a 2nd 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 8th 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 – 4th 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 6th 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 6th-8th 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 9th – 12th 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 9th-12th
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 2nd–
submitted by Tina Buckner as a team with Jessica McIntire, Rachel Perkins, Robin Cason and
Phyllis Ricker, East Elementary. Affects 110 2nd grade students. Dollar Amount Requested:
$4,759.80. The money from this
grant will be used to purchase iPads for five different 2nd grade classrooms. These teachers
cover math, science and
social studies. The iPads will be used to foster learning across all subject areas.