Junior League of Dallas Gives Grants to DISD Teachers, Educators
The Junior League of Dallas, along with presenting sponsor Texas Instruments (TI), awarded 50 Dallas Independent School District educators with grants of up to $2,000 each through the annual Grants for Innovative Teaching program.
The JLD signature project has awarded $1.8 million to Dallas ISD educators and is designed to encourage excellence in education by funding special projects addressing: reading and literacy enrichment; diversity; special education; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); or arts and cultural enrichment across one or more grade levels.
This year, $89,359 was distributed to fund deserving educators’ winning projects.
Sponsors included TI, Agnes Cluthe Oliver Foundation and Hillcrest Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Co-Trustee.
“Now in its 27th year, this Signature Project encourages excellence in education by providing funding for special projects that otherwise would not be possible within school budgets,” said Sarah Barnes, the 2018-2019 GFIT Chair. “The Grants For Innovative Teaching program is one of the most rewarding projects for The Junior League of Dallas because we get to follow along and see the impact that these projects have on the schools, educators and students.”
Some of the grants selected include Wonderful Sparks, Rover Explore, Hands on for Deaf Hands, Learning Computers Inside Out and Fun and Function in a Sensory Room.
Wonderful Sparks, is a program designed by educator Jessica Bell, which will take Booker T. Washington High School’s metalworking program to the next level by allowing 10th – 12th grade Visual Art Sculpture students to work in groups to create large-scale metal sculptures that incorporate technology, engineering, the arts, and math.
Project Rover Explore transforms and affords a diverse, interactive, cooperative and hands-on learning opportunity for students and teachers in today’s classrooms and beyond with the TI- Innovator Rover, Hud, and External Battery.
The goal of Hands on for Deaf Hands, designed by Bobby White of Woodrow Wilson High School, is to allow Deaf Education students to prepare and serve coffee to teachers every weekday morning. This will allow the students the opportunity to gain hands-on work experience while learning key money management, inventory control, and self-esteem skills.
W.T. White High School’s Dwayne Dorsey created Learning Computers Inside Out, a project that aims to provide high school students with a holistic understanding of computers through hands-on experience in assembly and disassembly of computer components, servicing, troubleshooting, maintenance, software installation, coding, and more.
During Fun and Function in a Sensory Room, led by Stephanie Gardner of Jerry R. Junkins Elementary School, teachers will set up a sensory classroom with specialized equipment to help all students with emotions, senses, fine and gross motor skills. The grant funds will allow for interactive equipment that will provide a multisensory experience with visual, auditory, tactile vestibular and gross motor activities.
