WCCF Announces D. Jack Mahuron Education Fund and Elliott Family Fund Recipients.

Submitted by The Washington County Community Foundation

The D. Jack Mahuron Education Fund was established at the Washington County Community Foundation to encourage educators and staff to teach in innovative ways. This year, the fund has awarded several teachers in the county school corporations approximately $9,000.00.

Bradie Shrum students in grades 3-5 will have the opportunity to join a new after-school Media Club due to a combined effort of Emily Johnson and Crystal Mikels. The media club will work with green screen production as well as drones to expand students’ creative and technical opportunities.

Kayla Moore’s East Washington Elementary School PreK and K classes will benefit from a grant to support sensory room integration, expanding current support resources and equip them with the tools they need to regulate, access appropriate sensory input, and succeed socially and academically.

West Washington first grade students in Angela Record’s classroom will have a new flexible learning environment adapting to the needs of all students while providing calming sensory stimulation by introducing flexible seating options.

Sarah Temple’s West Washington Elementary School classroom will receive new microphone headsets to accommodate speech-to-text when writing long prompts.

Students in Ronda Eiler’s East Washington Elementary classroom will have access to sensory regulation seating options designed to meet the diverse needs of students and support self-regulation.

West Washington High School Science Teacher, Kristin Messmore will be utilizing Linktor and LEGO manipulatives to build chain reaction models with an engaging hands-on way to explore core concepts of physical science by allowing them to build, test, and refine systems that demonstrate energy transfer, forces and motion, and cause and effect relationships.

Students at Salem Middle School will be seeing an additional Gaga Ball pit due to the combined efforts of Nick Roby, Michelle Stancombe, and Jessica Morgan. The after-school Construction Club will assist in building the pit which, when finished, will also be available for public use.

Charles Madden’s East Washington Middle School Classroom will be reinforcing turn-taking and cooperative play, while utilizing problem-solving strategies in an engaging and challenging activity through headphones and light reduction covers to help with sensory overload.

West Washington Elementary School teacher, Adrienne Baker, will be using an online reading and vocabulary platform for Special Education students, allowing them to read on grade level.

Leah Stewart’s Salem Middle School class will be joining with the STEAM lab to first read, “Balloons Over Broadway”, and then create their own balloons with robotics to carry the balloons in a parade in the SMS auditorium.

East Washington Middle and High School Band students, taught by Matthew Lindley, will connect with the creative process of music-making by joining the commissioning consortium for new work. This allows the ensembles to share in the world premiere of a significant new composition while having a discussion with a composer.

Jenisa Collier’s Bradie Shrum Elementary classroom will be exploring a new reading curriculum, providing them with new and exciting independent learning station in order to become better readers.

Madeline Dupin’s Eastern High School Special Education classroom will use tools to create a supportive, engaging, and well-structured learning that will address the areas of organization, sensory regulation, communication, and academic engagement.

Students in Melissa Nicholson’s West Washington Elementary classroom will be completing a heritage project involving novel study, STEM activity, and family involvement by reading a story about a girl making a pilgrimage from Russia.

Preschool, Kingergarten, and First Grade students at East Washington Elementary school will be learning student leadership, social and emotional skills, and life skills with the purchase of classroom sets of “7 Habits of Happy Kids” Anna Endris is leading this project.

East Washington Elementary students will now be balancing success with a new balance beam, creating opportunities for students to strengthen both mind and body through purposeful movement.

Lisa Redmiles’ Salem High School math students will be focusing on their product sum as a refresher for Algebra classes through a new product sum game.

East Washington Elementary School second grade students will be receiving Scholastic books to complete and keep at home so they can expand their love of reading while involving their families. Stacy Richardson is leading this project.

Jenna Motsinger’s East Washington Elementary classroom will be utilizing STEM manipulatives and books to apply their knowledge of the research process by writing Zoo Animal Research Reports and creating shoebox habitats for their selected zoo animals.

Middle and High School Art students at East Washington will be expanding their creative horizons under the direction of teacher, Laura Temple. The grant will be used to provide students the materials they need to experiment with various styles of art while exploring different mediums.

Washington County Community Foundation is a nonprofit public charity established in 1993 to serve donors, award grants, and provide leadership to improve Washington County forever.