Clark-Pleasant students will be able to work with robots, read novels in Spanish and French and get special recognition for academic honors when they graduate now that 14 teachers and counselors had their wish lists approved.
About 40 teachers wrote applications for a total of $10,000 in grants, and 14 were selected by the Clark-Pleasant Education Foundation. The money, from Ray Skillman Fiat in New Whiteland, will allow educators to enrich their classrooms and give students experiences they would not have otherwise had.
The grants given out cover a range of requests, from medals at graduation for students who earn academic honors or technical honors diplomas to robots for the introductory science class to novels in Spanish and French for foreign language students.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryMath students at Whiteland Community High School will have a chance to take the American Mathematics Competition exam now that grant money was given to proctor the exam at the high school, said Tim Fish, math teacher at the high school.
Fish applied for the grant to give math students who wanted to take the challenging exam the chance to do so. Students who do well on the exam may qualify to be a Math Olympiad, earning statewide and national awards. Scholarship money may also be awarded to students who rank nationally with their scores, Fish said.
Teachers in almost every school in the district earned grants to fund special and creative projects in their classroom, Clark-Pleasant Education Foundation executive director Kim Lee said.
Committee members used a rubric to decide which applications should receive the money.
Kate Smola, a chemistry teacher, received money for molecular model kits to be used in multiple classes.
The kits will allow students to touch and feel chemical reactions that are too small for them to actually see, she said.
“This will put the physical side in their hands,” she said.
Band students will be able to hear how to tune individual notes when their teacher, Pete Sampson, uses the Yamaha Harmony Director during his classes. Sampson researched the instrument and thought that it would be a great tool for his classes, he said.
“I have heard nothing but wonderful things about it,” he said.
The grants were awarded to teachers in their classrooms on Monday.
