Teachers apply for mini-grants through a grant proposal distributed each year by the district office. Applications are reviewed each fall by the CEF Mini-Grant Committee. Those awarded mini grants are then able to use those funds toward the cost of materials and items necessary to complete each project.

2014 Mini-Grants

Chillicothe Education Foundation Awards Mini Grants to Deserving Teachers
October 15, 2014 (CT) Brittany Tutt

The Chillicothe Education Foundation presented its annual mini grant awards for the 2014-2015 school year yesterday (Tuesday) morning. More than $4,000 was awarded to 10 projects throughout the Chillicothe R-2 district. These grants help fund operations that might not have been a strong priority otherwise. President of the Chillicothe Education Foundation, Ed Douglas, said these grants encourage teachers to excel, and it allows the foundation to reward those teachers for their great ideas. These mini grants also benefit the students by expanding their learning. Douglas said the Education Foundation typically gives out about $4,000 a year, and the grants are usually $300 to $500. Out of the grant applications that are submitted, about half get approved every year. These mini grants have been handed out annually for about 15 years, according to Douglas. The funding for these grants comes from Ed Milbanks's cocktail party fundraiser every year, which happens around January or February. The event raises about $17,000 to $20,000 a year, according to Douglas.

Field and Central School teacher, Dan Venner, got the biggest grant this year, which was $510.64 to use for his project, "Do You Like Good Music." Venner received a grant in previous years to purchase ukuleles for his class. This year, the grant money went towards the purchasing of ukulele textbooks, to better teach the children the art of the instrument.

There were two $500 grants handed out. One went to 5th grade teacher, Amy Taylor (above), for a new engaging classroom library. The other $500 grant went to high school life skills teacher, Amanda Marsh (below), for her project, "Hornet Teacher Cafe." This "cafe" will allow her students to make breakfast foods, smoothies, coffee and other morning goodies for the high school teachers on Mondays and Thursdays. The teachers can place orders and the students will fill the orders, as well as make a monthly bill for the teachers in which the teachers are to pay at the end of each month. Marsh said this will teach her students math skills, job skills and cooking skills.

The next largest grant was for $485. That grant went to GRTS teachers Brandon Dennis, Vicky Duckworth and Michael Harrington for their project, "Operation Techno Fruit." The money for this grant went towards purchasing miniature computers. Students can create different projects on these computers, such as, humidity sensors and solar chargers. This project will teach students programming and electrical theory.

Central School teacher, Melissa Englert, received a $479.22 grant for her project "Modular Robotics for STEM Integrated Learning." The grant money purchased robotic cube shapes, in which students will learn programming for robotics, technology skills, problem solving skills and critical thinking skills.

Field School second grade teachers Hilary Beemer, Pamela Chapmen, Brandi Ellis, Kelly Griffith, Jenny Hill, Katie Kerr and Heather McGraw received a $467.49 grant for their project, "Building the Foundation for a Successful Future Through Non-Fiction Mentor Texts." The grant money for this project went towards purchasing non-fiction books for their classrooms, so students can learn different reading skills and strategies during their reading time.

Chillicothe High School teacher, Lisa Rule, received a grant for $404.25. Rule said, "My grant will be used to purchase several classroom sets of the dystopian novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry. Much of the recent fiction written for young adults is dystopian in nature and this novel will enable us to begin the study of that topic. We will be incorporating several non-fiction pieces in this unit as well."

GRTS teacher, Jenny Hughes, received a grant for $303 for her project, "GRTS Business Safety Smart: Healthy and Fit! for 10th through 12th grade and kindergarten. In this project, high schoolers will be partnering with the kindergarten class. The high schoolers will put on demonstrations for the kindergartners. Next week they will teach the children about germs. "It gives the high schoolers an opportunity to be role models for the younger students," Hughes said.

First grade teachers at Dewey: Kari Snyder, Andrea Marriott and Brooke Wolf received a $300 grant for their project, "Memories in the Making."

Lastly, Chillicothe High School math teacher, Annie Shipp, received a $240 grant for her project, "I Can't Hear Myself Think." "The grant money will be used to buy headphones for the math department's ipad cart. Having headphones will allow each student to be in a different place with any type of video that might aid them in achieving high standards. Khan Academy is a wonderful tool to individualize success for students and it has tutorial video," Shipp said.

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