Leading up to the holiday break, teachers have been working hard to prepare grades and hold conferences with parents. They’ve had unusual challenges like holding these meetings virtually and trying to assess student work based on limited or no time in the classroom. But, some teachers have found time to take even an extra step for their students by crafting innovative projects to welcome their students back in the new year.
A dozen teachers from the Brunswick School District will receive over $14,000 in funding this winter from the Brunswick Community Education Foundation. The foundation is an independent non-profit organization committed to supporting preK-12 students and teachers in Brunswick’s public schools.
This has certainly been an unusual year. When the year began, students were in school in person five days a week. But, come spring, things changed quickly. School staff had to adapt quickly to meet the needs of their students and that sometimes resulted in a need for additional funding. The foundation initially responded in March by helping the district to purchase 50 laptops for students adjusting to working remotely.
Several requests from teachers followed that initial grant, which led to the foundation’s first official Emergency Grant cycle in May. These emergency grants had a simpler application and ensured a fast turnaround time to get funding out to teachers quickly. The 12 projects funded in that cycle totaled over $16,000 and ranged from take-home supplies to online science resources to the purchase of emotional support tools.
Come fall, the need for an additional opportunity for teachers was clear.
“Our usual grant cycle provides funds in March, but this fall we realized that teachers had new ideas and students with needs that couldn’t wait,” said the foundation’s president, Becky Wilkoff. “Thanks to our generous supporters, we were glad to be able to offer another round of emergency grants before the end of 2020.”
Again, the amount of time and effort that teachers invested in crafting new opportunities for their students was impressive – this time, perhaps even more so as the latest grant opportunity happened just before the holiday break. These projects will start in the new year at Kate Furbish Elementary, Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary, the Region 10 School, and Brunswick Junior High.
Students will enjoy enhanced movement breaks thanks to a grab bag of new equipment, building at-home STEM projects that align with their curriculum, and hearing from inspiring authors virtually. The foundation plans to offer additional grant opportunities for Brunswick School District staff in February and April.
In a normal year, the foundation grant awards are announced each spring with a festive gathering at the Brunswick Junior High library. This year, this article and the foundation’s other online outreach have to suffice as a quiet pre-holiday celebration of the teachers who have received the latest round of grants.
There will be no group photo and Q&A sessions, but we want to make sure that these teachers will be celebrated all the same. Thank you to all who have been involved in these grants, including those who have financially supported The foundation. Please consider adding your support if you are able at www.brunswickcef.org.
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