DCSF awards over $58,000 in classroom grants to DCSS [PHOTO GALLERY]

Published 2:11 pm Monday, October 7, 2019

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Every year, over 250 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 $1,300,000 since 1993.

For fall 2019, the 33-member board of the Demopolis City Schools Foundation is excited to announce that $58,273 in classroom grants will be awarded. These grants will be put to immediate use at ALL schools in the Demopolis City School System – Westside Elementary, US Jones Elementary, Demopolis Middle School and Demopolis High School. 

“Our grants this year exemplify our strategic approach to grant making within the school system and focus on teacher-led ideas. From expanding MakerSpace activities that will encourage creative thinking to extending the LEGO education program to 3rd grader US Jones, our teachers are building future problems solvers,” shared Sarah Chandler Hallmark, the President of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

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“We have grants of all sizes this year too, and they cut across all areas of the school – from introducing archery in the Demopolis Middle School PE Department to tubas and euphoniums for their band program, we want each child in our rural system to have the resources necessary to explore his or her interests and be ultimately be successful citizens.”

“We had grant requests of over $89,000 this fall and the committee had to make some hard choices about what projects to move forward.  I want to thank our donors who trust the Foundation each year to research, evaluate, and invest in these grants to make the biggest impact on all of our children’s futures. We look forward to another round of grants in the Spring,” concluded Amanda Barnes, Executive Director of the Foundation.  For more information about how you can donate to the Demopolis City Schools Foundation, visit www.demopolis.org.

Following are the grants awarded.

Demopolis High School

• $8,000 to Stacy Chandler for a set of Chromebooks and a cart for the science department

• $680 to Jenn Tate for a potter’s wheel, clay and sculpting tools for the art programs at the middle and high school

• $8,709 to Meggin Mayben in support of the A+ Computer Science Coding and Robotics classroom

• $8,000 to Jill Tutt for a set of Chromebooks and a cart for the English Department

• $3,249 to Lisa Lawrence for books and a Matter and Form 3D Scanner & Printer

• $1,671 to Charles Jones for monitors, keyboards, and mice to turn existing Chromebooks into workstations for drafting and design

Demopolis Middle School

• $594 to Jackie Tripp for Apple Pencils to be paired with the iPads the DMS math teachers received through the Fall 2018 Classroom Grant process

• $4,094 to Jesse Bell for the purchase of basic archery equipment in order to incorporate archery into the middle school physical education curriculum

• $7,600 to Alaric Castleberry to purchase low brass instruments (tubas and euphoniums)

• $2,000 to Ginger Godwin for hardcover and eBooks for the library

US Jones Elementary

• $800 to Jannalee Duke for six breakout kits along with access to the Breakout EDU platform

• $6,999 to Julie Harrison to introduce Lego Education at USJ and continue the program from second grade (a 2017 Classroom Grant)

• $2,000 to Emily Windham for funds to purchase technology equipment for checkout by teachers at the library

Westside Elementary

• $285 to Laurice Thomasson for classroom books to help expand students’ imagination and learning

• $1,592 to Kristina Kallhoff to create a MakerSpace environment for students to engage in science, engineering and exploratory learning

• $2,000 to Andrea Johnson to purchase chapter books for the Westside Library for higher level readers

For more information on the DCSF, follow them on Twitter at demopoliscsf and on Facebook at DemopolisCitySchoolsFoundation.

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 $1,300,000 in classroom grants since its inception.

(This article originally appeared in the Wednesday, October 2 issue of the Demopolis Times.)