Valley Alliance for Education presented 28 Creative Classroom Grants – totaling $22,613 – to area teachers August 13, during an awards ceremony and reception at the Blue Ridge Community College Plecker Workforce Center. The organization also recognized three Teacher of the Year winners from Augusta County, Staunton and Waynesboro by presenting each with a gift and $1,000 award sponsored by nTelos Wireless and LUMOS Networks.
VAE received 48 grant applications this year, requesting nearly $40,000.
“Thanks to the generosity of our donors, these grants will serve more than 3,100 students at an average cost of less than $7.25 per child,” VAE President Nancy Bowman said. “This relatively small per student investment will yield huge dividends in engagement, enthusiasm and learning.”
Winning grant titles include: Recreational Reading Rage (The New 3 Rs), Great Graphic Grabs, Let’s Build a Marimba – Cha! Cha! Cha!!, and Poultry Power. Lead teachers for this year’s grants (with some teachers receiving funding for more than one project) are:
- A.R. Ware Elementary – Sandra McGrath, Krista Smith
- Berkeley Glenn – Jenna Frank, Cathie Hart, Lauren Markel
- Bessie Weller Elementary – Dwight Huyard
- Buffalo Gap – Amanda Seldomridge
- Clymore Elementary – Joan Kenney, Betty Forrer McNett
- Fort Defiance – Sue Leonard
- Kate Collins Middle – Lea Farrish
- McSwain Elementary – Christy Davis
- Riverheads Elementary – Linda Brake, Tessa Buchanan, Odile Heisel
- Riverheads High School – Kristin Carr, Tracee McDonald
- Stuarts Draft High School – Bethany Blouse, Benjamin Ham, Martha Mikell
- Verona Elementary – Rowena Fike Myers
- Wenona Elementary – Tara Walters
- Westwood Hills Elementary – Kristie Chandler
- William Perry Elementary – Jenna Frank
- Wilson Elementary – Kristy Breeden
Receiving Teacher of the Year Recognition were Susie Shreckhise – Augusta County Schools, C.J. Hill – Waynesboro Public Schools, and Ruth Thompson – Staunton City Schools.
Established in 1990, the non-profit VAE is a regional partnership of employers, educators and community volunteers established to promote excellence in the public schools, with the ultimate goal of improving quality of life and economic prosperity in the Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County region.
“The Creative Classroom Grants program has directed more than $542,000 into area schools over the past two decades, with materials and equipment from many projects continuing to enrich the lives of students for years following the grant award,” VAE Board President Nancy Bowman noted. In 2012, VAE presented 42 Creative Classroom Grants totaling almost $31,000, benefiting nearly 4,500 students in all grade levels.
Individuals who wish to make a tax-deductible contribution to VAE may visit www.vaeva.org, call 540/943-0029, or write Valley Alliance for Education, PO Box 515, Fishersville, VA 22939. Donors may specifically support the Creative Classroom Grants program by earmarking their contributions for that purpose.
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