Local teachers surprised by grant awards
DCEF director Andrea Pulling surprised teacher Brandy Weaver with a giant check and news that her grant proposal would be funded.
Photos by Samantha Lyles
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Eight Darlington County School District teachers received very pleasant surprises last week as members of the Darlington County Education Foundation turned up at their classrooms with news that their grant applications would receive funding. Grant awards ranged from a few hundred dollars up to $3,000, and ideas funded include everything from classroom art projects to summer learning initiatives.
DCEF board member Paula Terry (left) and executive director Andrea Pulling (right) with grant recipient teacher Brandy Weaver (center) of Cain Elementary.
The Darlington County Education Foundation was founded in 1998 by a group of Darlington County parents and business and community leaders determined to provide support for and increase public recognition for the jobs educators do in the classroom every day. The DCEF awards grants for projects and programs that enhance the learning experience for children in the Darlington County School District.
Grants awarded for the 2016 cycle include:
$3,000 for “The Moving Classroom,” which will replace some West Hartsville Elementary School student chairs and desks with stability balls and bouncy bands, with the aim of providing better focus and productivity for students with ADHD.
$278.76 for “Burlap Embroidery” art project materials at Thornwell School for the Arts.
$3,000 for “Jungle Learning Jamboree” at Lamar Elementary School, a combo performing arts / physical fitness / literacy / science program with lessons and learning opportunities inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s classic “The Jungle Book.”
$500 for “Busy Boxes,” providing Cain Elementary School kindergartners with summer take-home boxes full of fun math and reading activities.
$1,700 for “Making Math Matter,” to purchase innovative, hands-on math instruction materials for 1st grade students at Cain Elementary School.
$500 for “Tools for HOPE,” which will provide new gardening tools for Mayo High School’s HOPE Community Garden.
$1,500 for “Calm and Focused: Sensory Integration,” a project to help St. John’s Elementary School special education students improve their coping skills, language skills, self-esteem, and fine motor skills through a series of sensory stations set up around the classroom.
$3,000 for “Whip Wheeling Roller Coaster Adventure,” an interdisciplinary math / science / English / world geography project to help 9th grade students learn about motion, energy, and forces – as well as improving their public speaking skills – by entering roller coaster design competitions and science fairs.
To learn more about the Darlington County Education Foundation, visit them on Facebook or at www.theDCEF.org