Twenty South Pasadena Unified School District teachers have won mini grants supported by the South Pasadena Educational Foundation.
SPEF awarded $9,200 in grants to the following teachers and schools (for a full description of what the grant will fund, please see the attached PDF):
Monterey Hills School
Dawn Yang (first grade) for ‘Reading for Success’; Nan Freitas (Kindercare and extended day) for ‘Outdoor Classroom- using science and math’.
Arroyo Vista Elementary
Fourth grade teachers won for ‘Tandalay Physical Education Program’
Marengo Elementary
Third-grade teacher Lisa Robinson won for ‘Apples for the Students’.
South Pasadena Middle School
Seventh-grade teacher Lindsey Mercer for ‘Tel History Alive!’
South Pasadena High School
Howard Crawford (grades 9-12) for ‘String Instrument Improvement’; Rouzanna Berberian for ‘Artwork Inspired by an Artisit/Artist Movement’, and Don Wielenga for ‘Urban Sustainability’.
The SPEF Mini-Grant program is also awarding Arroyo Vista Elementary $3,000 from the Mike Klein Fund for 20 microscopes. Through the Mike Klein Fund, SPEF is able to provide grant money for science and math programs.
In a prepared statement, Sharon Reed, the Arroyo Vista teacher who applied for the microscope grant wrote that thanks to the grant, "Students at Arroyo Vista are going to be highly engaged as they develop their natural curiosity about the world they live in, possibly igniting the spark that turns someone on to an area of learning that will stay with them as they journey through life.''
This is not the first time SPEF has offered grants to teachers.
Back in the 1990’s, SPEF provided more than $200,000 to support unique activities for students. In 2000 the program was shelved as the district’s needs changed. But 2013 offers the revamping of the mini-grant program, which will continue to be run in conjunction with the foundation’s other activities.
For more information about the grants please email SPEF at info@spef.com or call (626) 441-5810 ext 1163.
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