Since 2007, the Liberty ISD Education Foundation has awarded grants totaling $208,000 to 76 teachers for innovative projects that enrich their classrooms.
This year’s grants totaled $9,137 and were distributed among 11 teachers at Liberty Elementary, Liberty Middle School and San Jacinto Elementary School.
“The biggest thing about these grants is that the budget in a regular school setting doesn’t go as far or as long as you want it and sometimes you want to do things that are outside of your budget. That’s exactly where these grants can help,” said Bruce Wright, spokesperson for the LISD Education Foundation.
This year’s grants were presented to teachers at the Education Foundation’s board meeting on April 29 at FLNB Corner.
The recipients of the Innovative Teaching Grants are:
- $488 to Joanne Knepper, Liberty Elementary School, for digital LCD tablets for cursive writing. The grant is funded in part by the Dahlia McManus Endowment and the Laura Jane Hartel Endowment.
- $800 to Oriana Cedeno, Liberty Elementary School, for the Making a Difference program. This grant is funded in part by the JoBeth Willoughby Teaching Grant and the Miles Foundation.
- $460 to Agnes Gobert, Liberty Elementary School, for Math Games. This grant is funded in part by the CW and Aggie Castle Family Endowment and the Joann McGuire Endowment.
- $385 to Agnes Gobert, Liberty Elementary School, for math (literature) books for the classroom, a grant funded, in part, by the C.A. “Abe” Miles Endowment and the Liberty County Farm Bureau Endowment.
- $1,094 to Jenny Callaway, Liberty Elementary School, for The Power of Puppets: Readers’ Theatre, a grant funded by the Mildred Arnold Endowment, Liberty Lions Club and the Nora Miles Endowment.
- $1,071 to Elisha Lemelle, Liberty Middle School, for a spectroscopy. This grant is funded by the Jeffrey Family Trust Teaching Endowment, the Baxter W. Dunagan Sr. Endowment and the Norman and Brenda Dykes Endowment.
- $2,052 to Barbara Ross, Haley Regian and Tina Box, teachers at San Jacinto Elementary School, for MakersSpace. This grant was provided by the Vara Martin Daniel Teaching Grant for the Fine Arts and the First Liberty National Bank Endowment Fund.
- $2,134 to Andrea Hagan and Charlott Greineisen, teachers at San Jacinto Elementary School, for Creating an Autism-Friendly Campus. This grant is funded by the M.J. “Joe” Leonard Endowment and the Miles Foundation.
- $654 to Ana Samano, San Jacinto Elementary School, for a Parent Lending Library. This grant is funded by the Dr. Reese and Sara Brown Endowment.
These grants are funded through contributions to the Liberty ISD Education Foundation by individual donors, corporations and community service organizations, as well as through profits from fundraisers, such as the Liberty Freedom Ride cycling event in April and the Handbag Raffle.
For more information on how to be involved in the Education Foundation, call Foundation Coordinator Bruce Wright at 936-641-0367 or go online to www.libertyeducationfoundation.com.