March 26, 2008
Grants to Teachers
Contact: Susan Esau, Executive Director, 330-2790 or sesau@usd497

Thanks to $23,000 in Teacher Innovation Grants from the Lawrence Schools Foundation, 43 Lawrence teachers will be implementing new projects to enhance the curriculum when they return to school in the fall for the 2008-09 school year. Without the Foundation’s support, many teachers wanting to try creative and challenging projects to help students learn particular skills or information often pay for supplies and materials out of their own pockets.
“The Foundation wants to support our outstanding teachers in any way we can,” said Paige Hofer, President of the Lawrence Schools Foundation Board of Trustees. “One way is to provide them with resources for their innovative ideas for improving teaching and learning in the classroom.”
The Foundation approved funding for a total of 17 innovative projects and technology at 12 different schools in the district.  Joyce Collins, Southwest Junior High, will use her $700 Foundation grant to purchase culinary novels to integrate into the FACS (Family and Consumer Sciences) curriculum.  Other grants will support a public sculpture project, employment training for students in the community transition program, a healthy cooking unit for preschoolers, a summer library and math program, visual reading aids for kindergartners, state-of-the-art technology tools for many classrooms, and more.
A list of the 2008 Teacher Innovation Grants is included with this news release (click here to see full list).
The Lawrence Schools Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that raises money to enrich the education of the students in the Lawrence Public Schools.  The Foundation seeks to promote and enhance effective early childhood education, innovative teaching and learning opportunities, recognition of outstanding educators, and encouragement of student achievement.
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