Foundation sends out 'prize patrol'

If Monday morning seemed a bit loud and raucous at some of our school sites, it wasn’t because students were struggling to settle down after the Thanksgiving holiday. In fact, it was a visiting busload of adults. Accompanying them was a handful of secondary students: three pom-pom-wielding high school dancers, along with two drummers, to be exact.

The occasion was the official presentation of grant awards from the Clovis Municipal Schools Education Foundation to teachers at their school sites. Self-dubbed the “Education Foundation Prize Patrol,” this enthusiastic group was made up of current and former school administrators, staff, and CMS Education Foundation and school board members.

The highlight of the group, however, was undoubtedly the secondary students accompanying the Prize Patrol, whose festive performances truly enhanced the event. Clovis High School uniformed Wildcadette dance team co-captains led the way, followed by CHS band drummers. This entertainment squad included, respectively: seniors Tanner Geisler, Valon Smith, and Veronica Lopez; percussionists, James Dupree, senior, and Stevanna Shirley, junior.

The purpose of the Education Foundation grants is to provide an opportunity for teachers interested in pursuing creative and innovative educational solutions outside the scope of regular available funding. Grant applicants exert considerable effort to pull together the research, data, and justification needed for the grant application, and all should be congratulated on their efforts in undertaking the process to benefit students.

The Education Foundation grant review committee was pleased to report that this year’s grants were of particularly good quality. This year’s grant awardees are:

• Parkview Elementary Principal Mandy Carpenter and teachers, Shannon Arredondo, Carrie Geisler, and Debby Nygren for “Exceeding Common Core with Kagan” (kindergarten-fifth grades). Also, a second grant was awarded to Parkview teachers Lindsay Prichett, Valerie Nippert and Allison Craig for their project, “Green Team Solar Energy Investigations” (k-5).

• Yucca Middle School Principal Loran Hill and Instructional Coach Kristi Sparks for “Intro to Multimedia Presentations” (6-8).

• Mesa Elementary Principal Julie Howell and teachers Kathryn Gonzales, Marycris Putz, Jessica Bender, Cindy Wall, Cynthia Vinson and LeeAnn Christenson for “Transforming Classroom Practice with Technology” (k-5).

• Barry Elementary Principal Kari Lemke and teachers Sara Williams and Christy Hughes for “Bringing Technology to Elementary Classrooms” (5).

• Los Niños Principal Jeremy Martin and Speech and Language Pathologists Melissa Pacheco and Morgan Reinhold for “Communication Counts!” (pre-K).

• Student Support Services staff Heather Agan, liaison; Tammy Fellows, counselor; and Petie Davis, teacher for “Student Magazine Library.”

• Lincoln Jackson Principal Jeremy Martin and Speech and Language Pathologists Kimberly Clark and Donna Wilson for “Communication Counts!”

All of these were presented with giant, over-sized checks in the midst of the fanfare, and congratulations offered by everyone. A distinct fringe benefit at many of the school sites was the arrival of the surprised teacher(s) who brought their classes along with them to receive the grant award. The expressions of the students — little faces marveling, alight with a sense of triumph at the celebration — were utterly priceless.

A perfect beginning to the holiday season.

Cindy Kleyn-Kennedy is the instructional technology coordinator for the Clovis Municipal Schools and can be reached at [email protected]