The Montgomery County R-II School District awarded 19 grants worth $330 each to assist teachers with specific projects. All teachers in Montgomery County R-II and Immaculate Conception Schools were able to submit applications in the fall.

The grant program is supported financially by many local civic clubs including: Montgomery City Kiwanis, Jonesburg Lions, Jonesburg Optimist, Jonesburg Lady Lioness, Montgomery City Lions and Montgomery County Rotary.

The following applicants were awarded grants this year:

● Caroline Fudge, MCHS Math, Kuta Software for Pre-Algebra and Algebra; Kuta is an online resource for teachers to help them create custom worksheets and assessments.

● Madelyn Woods, MCMS Special Education, Thrive Together: Building Emotional Strength in At-Risk Students; Social emotional curriculum to be used as an intervention for at-risk students.

● Kim Clements, MCMS Special Education, The Reflection Project: Art & Writing for a Change; Supplies to implement student journaling and encourage writing and creativity without electronics.

● Dawn Linstruth, ACHIEVE, Picnic Table/Bench Build; The students build a picnic table and benches, they start from the design stage and see the project through to finish.

● Kate Healy, MCMS ELA, Wares for our Wildcat Warehouse; MCMS has implemented a student economy, the grant would help fill their store with items students purchase with their income.

● Becky Gilbert, MCMS FCS, Sewing; Purchase sewing kits for 6-8th grade students in FCS classes.

● Stacy Godsil, MCMS Science, Science is Fun; Additional materials for science experiments.

● Patti Montalbano, MCHS Special Education, Life Skills/Transition; Replace the refrigerator in the life skills classroom so that students can continue to learn about meal preparation. MCHS will cover the additional amount over what the grant can cover.

● Jeanette Ventimiglia, JBE PreK and Title I Reading, Hands on Reading; Manipulatives to support reading instruction such as magnetic letters and sound tiles.

● Tina Cay, JBE 5th Grade, Learning Needs; Purchasing weighted lap bands and noise-canceling headphones to help students stay focused.

● Angel Davis, JBE Library, Building with STEAM; Purchase cardboard construction tools to enrich their STEAM lessons and projects.

● Cathy Weatherford, JBE 1st Grade, Bilingual Classroom Library Books; Purchasing classroom library books in Spanish to supplement our classroom library.

● Jenna Fitzgerald, JBE 5th Grade, Makerspace Materials; Materials and storage for the STEM instruction and projects in the classroom.

● Kateryna Henness, MCE 3rd Grade, Educational Games for the Classroom; Learning games to be used to supplement instruction and during indoor recess.

● Tina Harms, MCE 2nd Grade, STEAM It Up In The Makerspace; Additional coding, robotics, and circuits to be used in the classroom’s makerspace.

● Justin Graves, MCE/MCMS PE, Activity Inflatable; Inflatable gaga ball pit for PE classes.

● Kristal Zerr, MCE PreK, Outdoor Education; Create an outdoor learning space with tables, chairs and other materials suitable for outdoor exploration and learning.

● Lisa Chisholm, MCE Instructional Coach, Leveled Readers for Literacy Intervention Support; Additional leveled books to expand resources offered to students.

● Tara Polston, MCE Library, Inspiring Young Readers through an Author Visit with Jonathan Miller; A visit from author, Jonathan Miller, to inspire our students to be better writers.