Excellence in Teaching Grants
The Excellence in Teaching
grants are intended to provide funding for resources and tools
that can significantly and positively impact student
achievement and learning. Grants of up to $5,000 will be
awarded to groups in Round Rock ISD educators and/or
administrators to support best instructional practices and
initiatives that benefit students in a grade level, school,
group of schools, or district-wide.
Fall 2007 Winners
- Brushy Creek
Elementary, $1,500 — Literacy
Library for Leveled Reading (Ami Uselman will update the
Literacy Library will be updated with 250 fiction and
non-fiction books targeting readers in grades K-2. This
project impacts 382 students per year.)
- Cedar Valley Middle
School, $2,850 — Lego Simple Machines (Shannon Sieber,
Melanie Brewer, Kristin Lyons, and Sintra Persad will use
the special Lego Mini Kits to teacher students how simple
machines make work easier by multiplying force, multiplying
distance or changing the direction of the input force.)
- Deerpark Middle
School (Two grants), $2,500 —Audiobook Intervention (Amy
Lott, Araceli Garcia, Elisa Chapa, and Rose Fiduk will use
the program to provide a positive, successful reading
experience to struggling readers and ESL students who are
unable to read independently.) 2,500 — Literature Brings
History to Life (Karen Huffman and 10 other teachers will
collaborate between language arts, history and special
education and ESOL departments to enhance student learning
via historical reading material and primary documents about
the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.)
- Hopewell Middle
School, $4,536 — Bringing Geography Alive! (Renee
Blackmon, Natalie Carpenter, Gloria Isbell, Linda Williams
and DeAnn Broom will purchase and implement the curriculum
materials developed by the Teachers’ Curriculum Institute.
The program includes lesson guides for teachers, guides to
reading an note taking for students, interactive student
notebooks and a middle school text.)
- Old Town
Elementary, $3,000 —Abstract Problems in a Concrete
World (Cindy Brown, Tracie Johnson, Eddy Piwetz, Annie
Durham, Staci Raya, Monica Baldini, Debbie Clifton, Rachel
Milovich and Angela Venditti will use the program to
purchase several classroom sets of the same math tools
providing consistency across the grade level.)
- Ridgeview Middle
School, $3,952.79 — Technology
in Tow for Teachers on the Go (Chrissy Sphar and Lynn Cain
will use grant funds to outfit a technology cart with a
laptop computer, digital image projector and document camera
for one 8th grade academic team of floating teachers.)
- Success Program,
$1,800 — Empowering our
Leaders of the Future (Carol Koehler, Alexander Fedorov,
Catherine Chang, Penny Schwinn, Rebecca Sembrano, Betty Zinn
and Jack Darley will use funds to expand the program’s
Leadership course to address the social and emotional needs
of the students.)
- Voigt Elementary,
$3,247 — Science Alive! (Patty
Dillard, SueAnn Johnson, Lila McGuckin, Selma Flores, Carol
Underwood, Barry Vasek and Irma Sanchez-Wagner will purchase
science books and science centers provide the “hands on”
experiences that students need for science concepts to be
meaningful to them.)
The funded projects will impact an estimated 1,188 students
directly, and many others will benefit from the materials
and programs in coming years. Individual Foundation Board
Members and a representative from administration traveled to
the schools to present checks to the grant recipients
throughout the week and announce the achievement via pep
rally, morning announcements or staff meetings. Funding for
the grants and other programs that enhance student learning
and recognize teaching excellence is made possible by
donations to the RRISD Partners in Education Foundation.
Individuals interested in supporting Innovative Teaching
Grants or other Foundation programs are encouraged to call
464.5049 or log on to the Foundation’s web site(www.rrisdeducationfoundation.org).
All donations are tax-deductible.
|
