Comanche teachers benefit from grants

Comanche Public Schools teachers took advantage of funding resources made available through the partnership between the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the website DonorsChoose, which provided up to $800 to an educator’s project. Eligible project requests were funded on a first-come, first-serve basis and available funds were expended within hours of the program opening. Projects funded covered a diversified range from technology to hands-on experiences.

The total dollar amount of funded classroom projects equaled $11,374.63.

Superintendent Julie Bills said DonorsChoose began delivering resources to teachers’ classrooms this past week and the district is excited to see the positive impact these resources have on student learning.

Annetta Garlinger, a second grade teacher at the elementary school, was one of the 13 teachers to receive funding.

Garlinger’s project was titled, “Flexible Seating: The Way to Creativity,” which funded an iPad stand, flexible seating (five wobble cushions, five paddle out bean bag chairs, five yoga ball chairs and five portable floor desks)

“Flexible seating allows students to take charge of their learning and make the choices that work best for them,” Garlinger said in her grant request. “During independent work times they choose a location in the classroom that works for them…My students are noticeably more engaged in their work and less disruptive when they are given a choice of where to work.”

The total cost of Garlinger’s project was $1,046. The Oklahoma Department of Education paid the bulk of the price and a private donor took care of the rest.

High School

n Jeri McCauley - “I Came, I Saw, I Captured,” which provided students with Cameron EOS Rebel T7 digital camera and additional lenses, tripod, and accessories.

n Melinda Rice - “US History Classroom Library,” which consisted of classroom sets of The Jungle, Dreamland Burning, The Girl in the Blue Coat, and Warriors Don’t Cry.

n Amy Miller - “More Than Just Academics,” items for Special Olympics such as cornhole bags, bocce set, and turbo javs. Classroom items including money counters, a book to help students write resumes and learn job skills, binders for the cookbooks, fraction tiles and dry erase markers, along with file folders and earbuds.

n Lynsdey Miller - “Alternative Seating for Virtual Students,” which included two ergonomic seating options for students to help them feel more comfortable in their learning environment and give them options to allow them to relax and learn in a way that works best for them.

n Sara Lemons - “Meet Me at the Barre,” provided a class set of ballet barres to use for the dance program.

Elementary School

n Gina Hamovitz -” Solved: The Case of the Distance Learning Disaster,” which included an iPad stand and document camera to assist with virtual learning days. Also requested were whiteboards, dry erase pockets, I Can Read readers; full set, phonics flipbooks, distance learning perfect pairings.

n Dilynn Hare - “Projecting Manipulatives,” which provided a Lumens DC 193 document camera.

n Annetta Garlinger - “Flexible Seating: The Way to Creativity,” funded an iPad stand, flexible seating (including 5 wobble cushions, 5 paddle out bean bag chairs, 5 yoga ball chairs, 5 portable floor desks)

n Charlesa Willson - “Making Learning Fun,” provided literacy/math games.

FAME

n Ina Percival - The Gift of Growing,” raised planter box, seed tray kits with 200-cell, garden seeds vegetable variety pack for planting, garden hose, and garden tool set.

Middle School

n Kallie Ogletree- “Rocking Readers Even During Pandemic Times,” provided 3 novel sets and classroom supplies.

n Debbie Strickland - “Middle School Makeover,” provided flexible seating and classroom supplies.

n Megan Robbins - “Creating a Classroom Escape,” provided flexible seating, lap desks, class sets of novels, headphones, and classroom supplies.

Several Comanche teachers have innovative projects still in need of funding. For those interested in helping fund these remaining projects visit the DonorsChoose website (www.donorschoose.org) and type in Comanche Public Schools to view these projects.

“(Comanche) students will benefit and the teachers are excited to begin utilizing these new learning opportunities,” Bills said.