Grant Dollars Fund School Projects in Turner
Share
Tweet
Superintendent of Turner Public Schools (TPS), Tony Warren, received notification last month that the school district is the recipient of five grant awards. These funds will not only fill educational gaps but enrich learning for students of this small, North Central Montana community.
The first, a Humanities Montana Grant, will provide funds for Annishinaabe artist and cultural consultant Louise Ogemahgeshig Fischer to visit the school in September 2020. In her presentation, “Living with the Land,” Fischer will not only describe the American Indian struggle for survival in often harsh conditions and the people’s triumph over hardships but will share many of their spiritual and creative achievements.
According to Warren, this inspiring talk enhances understanding of how the Indian peoples lived. Fischer, an artist who was raised in a traditional Indian environment, has been sharing traditional knowledge for the past thirty years.
Another grant, a Local Community Grant from Walmart, was awarded on June 10. It will finance Physical Education/weight room equipment, which was ordered from Valor Fitness on July 1.
Funded on June 30, a Triangle Communication Technology in Education Grant will enable the school district to purchase additional documentation cameras to assist teachers in their educational efforts.
“These grant dollars will mean that every teacher at TPS will now have a document camera,” Warren reported.
A document camera with a projector can do the jobs of an overhead projector, a scanner, a digital camera, chart paper, and, often, even an interactive whiteboard. It also saves on printing costs. Instead of making multiple copies of a science quiz or an essay writing prompt, the teacher can place the original under the document camera and project it for the whole class to see.
On June 24, Warren submitted a project appeal to DonorsChoose: “Help me give my students physical education equipment that will help enhance their educational experience at our school,” he wrote.
“In fewer than five days, the district’s first ever DonorsChoose project was fully funded,” Warren enthusiastically reported. “I wish to thank everyone who generously gave toward this project. Their support helps put much needed materials directly in the hands of our students.”
In writing his appeal, Warren described the unique population of children and families who comprise TPS. “We are a small, rural school of 73 students in grades K-12, serving those who choose to live the remote lifestyle in rural America. Our district offers comprehensive educational courses, as well as multiple co/extracurricular activities for all students. We provide small class sizes and dual college credit in conjunction with the Montana University System. The district and the Board of Trustees are strongly committed to equal access and treatment for all students, families, employees, and the general public.
“Our district strives to promote an active and healthy lifestyle for all of our students. The materials and supplies requested each have a specific educational purpose. We just need your help getting the products through our door! The proposed project will provide access to enhanced physical education offerings that the district normally does not pay for out of its general budget. By donating to this project, you will help ensure that all of our students have access to the improved physical fitness resources they need to enable them to have an optimal learning experience,” he wrote.
On his submitted equipment list, Warren requested and received funding for a Solo Assist Basketball Trainer, a Heavy Weight Control Training Basketball, a Basketball Dribble Stick, various exercise balls, a Memory Maze for team building, and other related equipment and supplies for promoting physical activity.
A cross between a startup business and a schoolhouse, DonorsChoose is a community of donors that funds classroom projects. The charitable program was launched in 2000, after Charles Best—a teacher at a Bronx public high school—sketched out a website where teachers could post classroom project requests and donors could choose the ones they wanted to support. Today, the charity is open to every public school in America. The organization’s mission is to “make it easy for anyone to help a classroom in need, moving us closer to a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.”
Finally, the Montana Masonic Foundation (MMF) selected TPS for a grant totaling $2,137.08. With these grant monies, the school district purchased a double-sided mobile book display, a multimedia cart and jumbo-sized wooden puzzle for their library, classroom novel sets for grade 7-12 students, and various library books representing a wide range of Montana History and Culture topics.
“These items will benefit our entire student body. Additionally, the Montana History and Culture books are available for checkout by staff and community members alike,” Warren explained.
The MMF Educational Grant Program is designed to assist under-funded public school system programs such as music, drama, science, and libraries. According to the MMF, their Educational Grant Program is intended to help with those needs in district general budgets or areas of student enhancement or learning that often suffer cut-backs or experience start-up concerns.
Warren expressed pleasure in the benefactor status of Turner Public Schools. “We actually received the Montana Masonic Foundation grant in January. Our students will benefit from this overwhelming generosity. I am very excited about these outside funding sources to help the district,” he said.
