Warren County Educational Endowment awards $44,411.74 in grants to Warren County Public Schools

The Warren County Educational Endowment awarded 10 grants this week, totaling $44,411.74, to the Warren County Public School System. Grants were awarded for the following projects:

• Breath of Life – Jane Baker/WCHS, SHS, and BRTC – $3,040.00 – The grant will be used to purchase adult manikins with CPR rate monitors for Sports Medicine and Nurse Assistant classes. CPR training and certification testing is now required for Sports Medicine and Nurse Assistant students. Neither high school has the proper equipment, and the adult manikins at the Tech Center no longer meet required specifications. The ability for the schools to provide their own CPR Trainers with equipment will cut costs of outside parties providing these services.
• Guitar Methods Course – Beth Whitney/Warren County High School – $4,933.79 – The goal of this project is to establish a guitar program at Warren County High School. Skyline High School already has a guitar program, so this would extend the opportunity to all high school students in the county. It would also expand on the ukulele and guitar programs at some of the county elementary schools. A guitar program would give students a new opportunity to expand their higher-level creative-thinking skills.
• Interact Streamer: Removing Communication and Learning Barriers– Amiira Lanterman/WCPS Special Services – $3,900.00 – The project will provide real-time access and improved academic success for students with barriers to communication and classroom instruction. Interact-Streamer is a streaming speech to text captioning system; as the teacher speaks, there is an instant “transcript” available for the student to follow along with the lecture in real time. Interact-Streamer provides a voice to students who need it; as the student types, there is an instant text-to-voice “dictation” for the rest of the class to hear. Interact-Streamer is a translator that directly translates conversations to and from a variety of foreign languages. Interact-Streamer requires a website, teacher microphone and USB receiver (all included in annual subscription). The WCPS Chromebooks are compatible with this system.
• Keeping Fit with Chromebooks – Sarah Putnam and Betsey Walker/ Warren County High School – $1,299.95 – This grant will fund a resource for students and faculty to encourage physical well-being while also enriching their minds through reading a book and/or completing work for class on their Chromebooks. This resource will also provide an opportunity for those students who might not participate in extracurricular physical activities to maintain physical well-being.
• Plickers – Jessica Ryan/Ressie Jeffries Elementary School – $1,688.00 – The funding will provide 4th grade teachers the opportunity to implement Plickers effectively in the classroom to enhance learning opportunities and engagement for all. Plickers is an interactive tool that is used within the classroom to collect real time data on formative assessments. The program was created by a teacher and provides students with an interactive approach to assessment. Students use Plicker cards to respond to teacher prepared questions. Plickers is an effective tool in the classroom and provides students with the opportunity to respond in an engaging way.
• The SELf Project (Social Emotional Learning to help the SELF) – JoAnna Martin/Social Services – $4,900.00 – The goal of The SELf Project is to foster a supportive foundation which promotes social and emotional competencies for adults and students. Social emotional skills are essential for students to thrive in school and in the world. The SELf Project provides an innovative approach to promote the five competencies of Social Emotional Learning (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making). Support for delivering SEL content will be provided in two ways. On a larger level, elementary schools will be given Mindfulness Bins which will contain lessons and resources on mindfulness for teachers to easily implement mindfulness-related activities into their classrooms. In addition, there will be a focus on one classroom to pilot a more intensive option. The SELf Project combines an evidence-based curriculum and restorative practices as well as teacher self-care support systems to ensure that teachers are confident and able to successfully deliver a level of high quality SEL instruction. Supporting the teacher and providing encouragement for self-care is the most critical aspect of this project.
• I.G. (Boys Into Gentlemen) H.O.P.E. (Helping Others Pursue Excellence) – Shane Goodwin/ E. Wilson Morrison Elementary School – $5,650.00 – The project will instill leadership and service qualities in fourth and fifth grade students that will positively contribute to the local community and beyond. The goal for the project is to provide at-risk fourth and fifth grade boys and girls with a road map for a successful future in our community and beyond. The program for girls is called Helping Others Pursue Excellence (HOPE) and our boys program is called Boys Into Gentlemen (BIG). The project aim is to introduce students to opportunities that provide leadership development, emotional support systems, career exploration, networking opportunities, and community service opportunities.
• Customized Project Line in a School Store – Richard Gardner/Warren County High School – $6,000 – This project will have students participate in a Work-Based Learning experience through applications in a school-based enterprise (school store). By purchasing a Roland Direct to Garment Printer, the WCHS DECA’s school-based enterprise will be able to custom print school club and team apparel and cloth accessories. This will enable marketing students to explore and learn marketing concepts, such as product development, promotion, distribution, product acquisition, financing, and pricing, through a “hands-on” approach. Further CTE and Workplace Readiness Skills such as: demonstrating creativity and innovation; demonstrating critical thinking and problem solving; demonstrating customer service skills; collaborating with team members; and experiencing aspects of planning, management, financial responsibility, and technical and production skills required of workers within an industry/organization.
• Reducing the Ecological Footprint of Warren County – Kara Lewallen/Skyline High School Green Team– $3,000 – This project will provide every Warren County Kindergarten student with an organic, fair-trade, reusable grocery bag and a true story book about an animal that has suffered due to human plastic waste in our waterways. By providing the organic, fair-trade, reusable bags, we hope to encourage students and their families to make the shift to a more environmentally sustainable way of shopping. Plastics in the ocean and our bloodstreams are problems we can try to help solve by effective communication about the issues and collaboration among our students, school system, and local businesses.
• Patient Care Technician – Jane Baker/BRTC – $10,000 – This project will provide Nurse Assistant students additional training to become Certified Patient Care Technicians, Certified Phlebotomy Technicians, and Certified EKG Technicians. Patient Care Technician will be offered as an occupational course after the completion of Nurse Aide at the 12th-grade level. It emphasizes the study of nursing occupations as related to the healthcare system. Students will study normal growth and development, simple body structure and function, and medical terminology and will be introduced to microbes and disease. Upon completion of the course, students will master skills performing EKGs, basic medical, lab and exam procedures, drawing blood, and providing basic patient care. Students will be eligible to take the National Certification exams to become a Certified Phlebotomy Technician, Certified EKG Technician, and Certified Patient Care Technician.

The Endowment is a catalyst for improving the education and learning environment in Warren County Public Schools. Sometimes it takes private support of public efforts to incubate an idea or a new approach that helps students compete in a global marketplace, instills passion for life-long learning, and sparks a vision to strive for success. Programs funded by the Endowment are sponsored by our school system and are consistent with its mission and direction. They are intended to initiate sustained improvement in the fundamental capability of the school system and enhance the attractiveness of the community through the promotion of educational excellence.

Endowment President Doug Stanley stated, “The Warren County Educational Endowment maintains its commitment to its mission of helping the local school system support high level and creative programs for our children. The Board was again extremely excited to see the cooperation shown by the teachers in developing the grant proposals, many with cross collaboration of disciplines. With these ten grant awards, we feel that we have been able to provide additional tools to our dedicated teachers to continue to push innovation for our students in their Trek-to-Excellence.”

According to Interim School Superintendent Melody Sheppard, “The Warren County Educational Endowment continues to be a great partner of Warren County Public Schools. The funding provided by the Endowment enables our school system to create exciting learning opportunities for our students that otherwise may not have been possible. This year the Endowment is funding projects related to health sciences, performing arts, entrepreneurship, social-emotional learning, environmental stewardship, and accessibility. The Endowment continues to create a positive impact on our school system. We are thankful for their support.”

To date the Endowment has awarded 156 grants totaling $545,290.41. Persons interested in supporting the Endowment can contact the Endowment or make a donation at wceducationalendowment.org.