Bernie Bader is a big fan of geometry.

She has been teaching the subject for 10 years. This year, she’s teaching it all day, every day at Montgomery County High School.

“I love it,” Bader said.

Bader also loves the project she has put together for her class, which is an Archimedean solid, one of the 13 solids first enumerated by Archimedes, a Greek mathematician.

The project helped Bader become one of 12 teachers in the Montgomery County R-II School District to earn a Kiwanis mini-grant. The grants are $250 each, and they assist teachers with specific projects.

All of the recipients were honored during a R-II board meeting at Jonesburg Elementary School on Nov. 11. Besides Bader, the other recipients were Rhonda Vicente, Paige Hillebrand, Amanda Davis, Sheridan Cay and Angel Davis of Jonesburg Elementary, Stacy Godsil and Lyndsay LaBrier of Montgomery County Middle School and Taylor Cowden, Tina Harms, Kristal Zerr and Kateryna Henness of Montgomery City Elementary School.

Bader is the only recipient from MCHS. She brought four of her Archimedean solids to the presentation.

“Those are a few I grabbed out of my classroom,” Bader said. “My classroom is decorated all over with these.”

Bader, who has been teaching at the R-II school district for 22 years, said her students enjoy making Archimedean solids.

“One of my kids did it in another district,” Bader said. “I went to that teacher and I said, ‘Hey, do you share? Because teachers share.’ ”

Bader said she was happy to get her first Kiwanis mini-grant. She received a grant from the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation last year.

“It’s great that I’m able to get this grant,” Bader said. “With this, I don’t have to hound the kids to bring in their poster boards and supplies. I don’t have to hound them to pay for stuff. I don’t have to worry about the kids who are more disadvantaged as far as income figuring out how they’re going to pay for their supplies.”

Vicente and Hillebrand, both kindergarten teachers at JBE, received grants for their Pop Its math and language arts project. They came up with the idea of the project over the summer.

“Our kids are excited to learn,” Vicente said. “They see Pop Its and fidgets all of the time, so we’re excited to give them another avenue. Kids learn in different ways, so we’re excited that we can meet another level of kids that might need that tactile sensory way to learn.”

Vincente earned her second mini-grant, while Hillebrand picked up her first.

“We’re very appreciative to get the grant,” Hillebrand said. “Our kids will be very excited to use Pop Its. They love Pop Its and being able to include letters and numbers. Pop Its are a fun way for them to be able to learn.”

LaBrier, who is a special education teacher at MCMS, was awarded the grant for her coffee cart project.

“They would purchase coffee from the coffee cart after ordering it and they would also be able to purchase pre-packaged type snacks,” said LaBrier, who earned a grant last year for her access reading project. “So the kids would be able to work on organizational skills like running a cash register, how to handle money and how to take orders and those kinds of things that could serve them in the future. We’ll use the profits to get further supplies and also use the profits to buy things that students need at the middle school.”

The mini-grant program is in its 14th year. The program is supported financially by many local civic clubs, including Montgomery City Kiwanis, Jonesburg Lions, Jonesburg Optimist, Jonesburg Lady Lioness, Montgomery City Lions and the Montgomery County Rotary.