D60 EDUCATION FOUNDATION AWARDS TWO GRANTS

As the mission of the Pueblo School District 60 Education Foundation centers around enriching and improving the overall quality of life in our community through investments in educational programs, the Foundation annually awards grants to those teachers whose projects and/or educational concepts best reflect this.

 

This year, the Foundation received more than 20 grant applications, selecting several for funding.

 

From Central, chemistry teachers Janette Ackerman and Jamie Withnell received 100 scientific calculators.

 

From East, E-sports coach Michelle Garcia received a cache that includes several Nintendo Switch devices, games and accompanying items, and ESS teacher Jeremiah Blaha received books, board games and accessories related to financial literacy.

 

“This is my fourth year running E-sports, and they’ve added a bunch of Nintendo Switch games, which is why we asked for these,” Ms. Garcia said. “This year, I have a lot of freshman, who hopefully will be with me for four years.

 

“We appreciate the Foundation’s support very much, and my students are going to fall in love with this stuff, so thank you.”

 

Mr. Blaha said a total of four educators worked on the Foundation application, with a goal of obtaining materials to facilitate basic finance and money management instruction for students with special needs.

 

“We hope to get kids interested in what is perhaps the most important life skill: money management," he said.

 

In Central’s chemistry classes, not all students have scientific calculators, which inspired the instructors to apply for a grant.

 

“We wanted the calculators to all be the same, which will make it that much easier to teach them how to use the devices,” said Mrs. Ackerman. “And without the help of the Foundation, we would have not been able to obtain them.”

 

Dr. Henry Roman, president of the Foundation, said the successful applications displayed a “creativity and uniqueness” that garnered the Foundation’s attention.

 

“The purpose of the Foundation is to fund those projects that otherwise are not funded by the General Fund,” Dr. Roman said. "And these applications fit the criteria of being creative and unique."

 

For the first time, the Foundation this year hosted a fundraising cornhole tournament, with a fundraising breakfast planned for early 2023.

 

“We want to thank the generosity of our community and the various business organizations that contribute to the Foundation,” Dr. Roman said. “We even had some non-profits, like the Rotary Club, donate as well.

I think that everyone sees the value in looking outside for box for creative and innovative ideas to help our students improve their achievement.

 

“And that’s what we are going to continue to do.”