Foundation Awards Over $7,900 in Grants

The Flour Bluff ISD Foundation for Educational Excellence, Inc. surprised three teachers and one campus at Flour Bluff ISD today when they awarded $7,950 in teacher and campus grants. “I love the look of surprise on their face, said Treva Bedwell, foundation vice-president. It is always a treat to see the excitement in the classrooms when we surprise the teachers with their grant money.”

This foundation is in its third year of operation and has raised over $90,000 so far. The foundation’s mission is to give money to campuses and teachers by promoting quality education by establishing, supporting and enhancing programs not otherwise funded by the Flour Bluff Independent School District. Teachers write grant proposals detailing their ideas. A foundation committee then determines which ones will be funded. “We are so thrilled and grateful to have the Flour Bluff ISD Foundation for Educational Excellence. This great group of community leaders work hard in their fundraising efforts to allow teachers the opportunity to implement new and exciting programs in the classroom that otherwise would not be funded by the district budget,” said Dr. Julie Carbajal, Superintendent.

A campus grant was awarded to FBISD Elementary (Lynda Falconer) in the amount of $2,200 for a two week intensive reading and math tutorial session during the summer for 40 students in third and fourth grade. These students will benefit by receiving that extra help before the start of the school year. Teacher grants were awarded to: Jeanette Elliott and Tracy Bunjnoch, kindergarten teachers in the amount of $3,950 to purchase materials to create a fine arts lab that would allow student to rotate through and utilize a wide array of art materials; Bill Prather, junior high science teacher was awarded $1,800 to create a First Lego League (FLL) team to research and build an autonomous robot using engineering concepts based on a challenge theme of a real-world problem.