Demopolis City Schools Foundation partners with teachers, community to further classroom learning

Every year, hundreds of private donors and businesses in West Alabama give to the Demopolis City Schools Foundation to invest in public education excellence. This year is no exception, and through those generous gifts and investments, the Demopolis City Schools Foundation has been able to award classroom grants totaling more than $1,100,000.
For fall 2016, the 33-member board of the Demopolis City Schools Foundation is excited to announce that $35,000 in classroom grants will be awarded. These grants will be put to immediate use at each of the schools in the Demopolis City School System – Westside Elementary, US Jones Elementary, Demopolis Middle School and Demopolis High School.
“Every year I am awed by the depth and breadth of classroom grant applications we receive,” said Sara Chandler Hallmark, board president. “Our teachers are invested in providing the best tools possible to educate our children and we are honored to assist them in their work.”
New this year, the Foundation will award a second set of grants in the spring of 2017.
“We have earmarked $25,000 in additional funds to meet the needs of teachers in the spring,” Hallmark said. “Our community has invested generously in the future of our students and the economic development of our area. We take very seriously our job to partner with our educators and school system leaders to ensure classroom needs are met year-round.”
Following are the grants awarded at each school.
Demopolis High School
• $622 to Connie Boutwell for a buzzer system to start a scholar bowl team.
• $2,000 to Cynthia Whitlock for the most current and/or most requested graphic novels, including both fiction and non-fiction, for the high school library.
• $2,007 to Courtney Kerby for a teleprompter and Adobe Premier Pro software to provide students with professional quality products to prepare them for careers in broadcasting.
• $2,020 to Brittany Dunson for equipment for physical education activities, including tennis, pickle ball, disc golf, and badminton.
• $2,886 to Jody Tartt for materials and supplies to enhance instruction and student performance within the DHS Fine Arts curriculum.
• $5,906 to Kim Browder for a set of 25 Chromebooks for the high school history department.
Demopolis Middle School
• $500 to Susan Browder to support a middle school math team.
• $3,000 to Ginger Godwin to purchase books and eBooks for the middle school library.
US Jones Elementary School
• $200 to Dana Hill to support the creation of a US Jones math team.
• $495 to Dana Hill for chess sets for the gifted program.
• $254 to Adrienne Etheridge for a set of six balance balls for students to use in the classroom.
• $671 to Tanya Patterson for writing materials to be used daily in the classroom to produce effective 3rd grade writers.
• $2,100 to Emily Windham for new books for the US Jones school library.
• $6,100 to Amelia Mackey for materials to create a robotics and coding class for all students at US Jones Elementary.
Westside Elementary School
• $2,613 to Mary Lilian Roberts for mini iPads and applications to enhance therapy sessions for speech/language students and improve their communication skills.
• $508 to Gabrielle McVay for supplemental math and science materials for kindergarten.
• $1,179 to Sarah Chelsea Morgan for additional STEM kits to be used to teach science in 1st grade.
• $1,191 to Lori Giles for library books to enhance the Westside reading curriculum.
The Demopolis City Schools Foundation is an independent nonprofit established in 1993 to encourage private charitable support of the Demopolis public school system. Governed by a 33-member Board of Directors, the Foundation has provided more than $1,100,000 in classroom grants since its inception.
For more information on being a part of the Demopolis City Schools Foundation, visit www.demopolis.org. The organization is also on Twitter as @demopoliscsf and Facebook at DemopolisCitySchoolsFoundation. Donations to benefit local schools and classrooms are welcome at any time.