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Worm Farming 101
Angela Burchett
ID-2426
School Name:Seacrest Country Day School - Lower School
Cartoonist Gary Larson once said this about worms:
"The message is not so much that worms will inherit the Earth, but that all things play a role in nature, even the lowly worm."
The Seacrest Lower School has an empty worm bin that needs soil and worms so students can become resident "worm farmers" and learn firsthand how the lowly worm plays an essential role in the ecosystem. This grant proposal requests the supplies and book resources needed, along with 200 worms, to launch a Worm Farming 101 initiative for the Seacrest Lower School.
The Seacrest Country Day School Worm Farming 101 program is a hands-on learning activity in which Lower School students care for a worm bin as “worm farmers.”
Using non-fiction book resources, along with fun fictional worm tales, students will gain background knowledge about how the lowly worm plays a key environmental role. Worm farming teaches students about composting, waste reduction, biology, responsibility, and the natural cycle of decomposition, making it an excellent STEM and environmental education tool.
This project involves setting up the worm bin housed in the Early Childhood Garden with bedding, feeding the worms organic food scraps like fruit and vegetable peels, and regularly harvesting the resulting worm castings to fertilize plants. Students will use countertop compost bins to collect food scraps. Students will share responsibility for transferring food scraps to the worm bins each day and keeping the worms moist and cool. Additionally, students will collect “worm tea” when watering the worm bin. They will use this “worm tea” to water the plants growing in the garden, providing additional fertilizer and deepening their understanding of the many ways worms help the environment.
Worm Farming 101 will be an ongoing, integrated, collaborative project available to all Seacrest Lower School students. As worm farmers, students learn more about worms and develop the essential Seacrest Core Values of responsibility, cooperation, curiosity, and respect for each other and all living things.
Through participation in this Worm Farming 101 project, Seacrest students will build environmental awareness, STEM knowledge, and practical life skills, including personal responsibility and socio-emotional development. Students will learn about waste reduction, soil health, ecosystems, and the responsibilities of caring for living creatures, supplementing their understanding of scientific concepts and processes. Additionally, students develop collaboration, problem-solving, and scientific observation skills through hands-on activities like designing habitats, collecting data, and using the worm-produced compost.
Using Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm (www.unclejimswormfarm.com) as a support resource, the school will purchase the initial worm kit through this site using the school’s tax-exempt credit card. Shipping is complimentary. The school will purchase the remaining supplemental items via Amazon using the school's account. The purchases will be tax-exempt, and shipping fees will be waived.
The goal of this project is to provide the materials and resources needed to launch the
Servant Leadership elective, a new middle school course built around a simple but
transformative idea: true leadership begins with a servant's heart. This funding will directly
equip students to practice leadership in three concrete, ongoing roles within our school
community — operating the Middle School store, welcoming new students, and mentoring
our youngest Warriors. Rather than teaching leadership as an abstract concept, this elective
gives students real responsibility and real opportunities to serve, while anchoring every task
in the biblical call of Colossians 3:23–24: to work at everything with all their heart, as for the
Lord.
Throughout the semester, students enrolled in the Servant Leadership elective will rotate
through and take ownership of three primary leadership roles:
• Operating the Middle School Store — students will manage inventory, handle transactions,
create signage, and practice responsibility and customer service in a real, functioning role.
• Welcoming New Students — students will assemble welcome kits, greet incoming students,
and help them feel oriented and cared for from their very first day.
• Mentoring Younger Students — students will visit younger classrooms, lead small kindness
initiatives, and serve as consistent, positive role models for our youngest Warriors.
In addition to these three roles, students will write and distribute encouragement notes
across campus, help build and maintain a schoolwide "Kindness Wall," and participate in
regular class discussions connecting their leadership experiences back to biblical principles
of humility, service, and character. Students will reflect on Colossians 3:23–24 and related
passages throughout the semester, considering how even small, everyday tasks —
restocking a shelf, writing a note, greeting a new student — can be done with excellence and
sincerity as an act of worship.
This project benefits students at every level of our school community:
• Participating students grow in responsibility, communication, and follow-through by taking
ownership of real leadership roles rather than hypothetical ones.
• Participating students develop character and humility, learning that genuine leadership is
measured by service to others rather than recognition or status.
• New and younger students experience a stronger sense of belonging and welcome,
supported by peers who are specifically equipped and resourced to notice and care for them.
• The broader school community benefits from a visible, sustained culture of kindness and
encouragement, modeled consistently by student leaders rather than a single event or
initiative.
• The school builds a pipeline of trained student leaders who carry these servant-leadership
habits forward into future grades and roles within the school.
The requested funding of $293.19 provides the physical materials students need to carry out
each of the roles described above. Without these supplies, the Servant Leadership elective
could teach the concept of servant leadership, but students would have no tangible way to
practice it. Funding is organized into six categories, each tied directly to a specific student
activity:Encouragement and note-writing supplies (cards, sticky notes, stickers, pens, and
envelopes) allow students to consistently create and distribute tangible acts of kindness
throughout the school. Materials for welcoming new students (folders, pencils, bookmarks,
and gift bags) let students assemble a genuine welcome kit rather than offering only a verbal
greeting. Supplies for mentoring younger students (recognition tickets, small treats, and Bible
verse bookmarks) give students concrete tools for their classroom visits and kindness
initiatives. Inventory and operational materials for the Middle School store (merchandise, a
cash box, and signage) are essential to actually running the store as a functioning leadership
role rather than a simulated one. Classroom and community-building materials (the Kindness
Wall kit and a framed copy of Colossians 3:23–24) create a visible, lasting reminder of the
elective's mission within the school. Finally, recognition materials (certificates and a custom
stamp) allow the program to affirm and celebrate students' growth in servant leadership over
the course of the semester.
Our school recently moved to a new campus, and while the grounds hold great potential, students currently have no outdoor, hands-on science option and no way to connect classroom learning to the natural world around them. This project establishes a Gardening Club that gives students in grades 4–8 the chance to plant, tend, and harvest real crops right on campus.
The club addresses three needs at once: it gives students a hands-on science experience our new campus doesn't yet offer, it builds practical life skills (planning, patience, responsibility, nutrition) that carry well beyond the classroom, and it nurtures a sense of wonder and gratitude for God's creation — a core value of our school's mission. Southwest Florida's growing season makes this an ideal, low-cost way to bring life science outdoors.
This project directly supports Florida's science standards for life science, including:
SC.4.L.16.4 – Compare and contrast the major stages in the life cycles of Florida plants
SC.4.L.17.2 & SC.4.L.17.4 – Explain how energy moves from producers through the food chain, and how plants and humans impact the environment
SC.5.L.14.2 – Compare and contrast the function of plant structures (roots, stems, leaves)
SC.5.L.17.1 – Compare adaptations that help plants survive in their environment
SC.7.L.17.1–17.3 – Explain the roles of producers and consumers, relationships among organisms, and limiting factors in a local ecosystem
Because our school integrates faith throughout the curriculum, the club also ties directly to our school's priority of forming students spiritually and character-wise — students will explore stewardship of creation (Genesis 2:15) and reflect on patience and gratitude as they wait for what they've planted to grow.
The Gardening Club will meet weekly, before school, from early October through late February, in 35–40 minute sessions timed to Southwest Florida's cooler growing months. The club sponsor will check on the garden during the winter break so plants are cared for continuously.
Each session blends hands-on garden work with instruction:
- Students will learn to plant, water, prune, and harvest a variety of crops suited to our SW Florida growing season
- They'll use real garden tools (shears, pruners, trellises) and track their plants using markers and simple growth logs
- Students will taste what they grow and share the harvest with the broader school community, connecting their work to nutrition and generosity
- Lessons will fold in Florida-specific plant science (life cycles, plant structures, ecosystems) alongside a faith-based thread on stewardship — the idea that we are called to tend and care for what God has entrusted to us, and that ultimately He is the one who makes things grow (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)
The garden will live in raised, movable GreenStalk planters placed near the school's main entrance, so the club's work is visible and enjoyed by the whole school community — students, families, and visitors — every time they arrive on campus. The planters can be relocated ahead of severe weather, protecting the investment.
Importantly, this club is designed as Phase 1 of a longer-term vision. Starting with a small, manageable club (4–12 students in grades 4-8) lets us build know-how, establish routines, and test out what grows well in our specific location before scaling up. If successful, we intend to pursue in-ground raised beds that would allow us to offer an elective class for middle school students as well as garden-based lessons for elementary school students throughout the year — expanding this project's reach toward our full student body of roughly 170+ students over time.
By the end of the club, students will be able to:
- Start, maintain, and harvest a home garden — a life skill that extends well beyond the club itself.
- Identify what different plants and crops grow well in our Southwest Florida climate and why.
- Practice patience and mindfulness, developing an appreciation for slowing down and being grateful for growth that can't be rushed.
- Articulate a growing appreciation for God's creation and their role in caring for it
We will measure success through:
- Photo documentation of the garden and student work throughout the club's run.
- Actual harvest yield — what was grown, and how much was harvested and shared with the school.
- Plant growth measurements, tracked by students on their garden markers/logs over the course of the season.
- Together, these give us both a qualitative and quantitative picture of the club's impact, and create a simple baseline we can build on if we move into Phase 2 (in-ground beds for elective courses and garden-based lessons).
Every item in our budget is garden equipment directly used by students each session — planters and trellises to grow in, shears and pruners for students to safely tend and harvest their own plants, markers so each student can track their own crop, and movers so the planters (and the students' work) are protected from extreme weather rather than lost. Two 5-tier vertical planters give a small club (4–12 students) enough individual growing space to each take ownership of part of the garden, while keeping the footprint small enough to sit prominently near the school's main entrance. This is a one-time equipment investment: the planters and tools will be reused each growing season as the club (and hopefully the broader gardening program) continues in future years. The seeds and seedlings for this season have already been promised as a donation to the school.
1364
Garden Shears x 2
64
Garden Pruner x 2
64
GreenStalk Trellis – Set of 3 x 4 sets
224
GreenStalk Seed House – Set of 6 x 2 sets
24
Wooden Plant Marker – Set of 100 x 1 set
10
GreenStalk Mover x 2
160
GreenStalk Garden Lid, Stunning Stone x 2
72
5-Tier GreenStalk Original Vertical Planter, Evergreen x 2
596
3 bags of potting soil + 1 bag of compost per planter, x 2 planters
The goal of this project is to provide our Exceptional Student Education (ESE) and English Language Learning (ELL) students with individual headphones to eliminate distractions and create an ideal environment for learning. By providing access to headphones, we can increase student engagement, improve focus, and maximize the effectiveness of our school's educational software programs.
The requested set of headphones will be integrated daily into our curriculum to create a differentiated and focused learning environment. During daily independent learning rotations and weekly assessments, students will use the headphones to eliminate classroom noise, allowing them to focus without distraction. Students will utilize their headphones to listen to audiobooks, read-aloud programs, hear digital math and science simulations, and focus on assessments. This will enable students to hear directions repeated, pronunciation of new words, and modeled fluency which will contribute to improved comprehension. English Language Learners (ELL) and students with specific learning accommodations will be able to utilize text-to-speech software to access grade-level curriculum independently. Headphones will provide every student the opportunity to take ownership of their learning, build confidence, and provide equal access to educational programs.
As our curriculum shifts towards daily computer-based learning and state assessment preparation, students use a variety of educational software to support their learning. Without headphones, the overlapping audio creates a loud, distracting environment that makes it difficult for students to focus on learning. Headphones will allow students to engage privately with their digital lessons, support our language learners with pronunciation software, and improve daily focus. Thank you for supporting our technology needs.
This budget will include a bulk set of wired headphones. Our low-income students often come to school without headphones or they are broken. This grant would allow our students to have a pair of working headphones for their technology needs.
As we move forward with our Science of Reading focus and instruction using the CKLA program, we would like the opportunity for parents to have quality reading material for their first graders at home. We often have feedback from our parents that they would like books that support what we are teaching in our classrooms. The goal of the project would be to have students in all grade one classes have access to books which they could decode and share at home with their parents.
The students would have the opportunity to read phonics based readers in class and then take these home to share with their parents. Teachers and/or students would select books to be sent home weekly. The parents would then be able to see what skills the students have been learning in class and they would be able to understand and support this learning at home.
This grant would benefit all students currently in grade one as the books support the most basic readers to more fluent first graders.
These books are supplemental in nature and therefore require additional funding not in our regular school budget. If this grant is fully funded, all first graders and their families would be positively impacted with additional reading material.
358.00
Primary Phonics Complete Classroom Package
$179.00
Primary Phonics Complete Classroom Set
$179.00
Building Tomorrow's Problem Solvers Through Hands-On STEM
The Engineering Innovation Lab aims to establish an interactive STEM makerspace for students in grades 1 through 5, enabling them to apply engineering design principles through hands-on construction, testing, teamwork, and problem-solving. By integrating authentic engineering experiences with classroom instruction, this initiative enhances mastery of Florida Science Standards while cultivating student creativity, critical thinking, resilience, and inventive problem-solving.
Embedded directly into the elementary science curriculum, the Engineering Innovation Lab will engage around 120 students across grades 1 through 5 in continuous, standards-aligned engineering design challenges.
Students will apply the engineering design process throughout the school year as they collaborate on hands-on STEM investigations—asking critical questions, brainstorming solutions, prototyping, testing, analyzing outcomes, and refining their models.
Students will utilize a variety of high-quality engineering materials, including:
-KEVA Planks for structural engineering and stability challenges
-K'NEX building systems for mechanical engineering and simple machines
-Magna-Tiles for geometry, architecture, and structural design
-LEGO® Education engineering sets for robotics concepts, forces, motion, and engineering design
Examples of engineering challenges include:
-Designing bridges capable of supporting increasing amounts of weight
-Building earthquake-resistant towers
-Engineering boats that maximize buoyancy
-Constructing wind-resistant structures
-Designing habitats that meet the needs of living organisms
-Creating machines that transfer energy or motion
-Developing solutions to environmental and community problems
Through hands-on trial and iteration, students will document every step of their engineering journey—evaluating outcomes, learning from setbacks, and refining their solutions. This reflective, practice-based approach brings core science principles to life while fostering creative thinking, perseverance, and inventive problem-solving.
Through authentic, hands-on engineering experiences, the Engineering Innovation Lab empowers students to move beyond passive understanding and actively apply scientific concepts.
By participating in inquiry-driven engineering activities, learners discover the excitement of problem-solving and that setbacks are key opportunities for growth.
Key student outcomes include:
-Engaging in hands-on tasks to put grade-level science principles into practice.
-Tackling real engineering challenges to cultivate critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.
-Fostering resilience through iterative design testing and revision.
-Enhancing collaborative and communication skills via team projects.
-Strengthening spatial reasoning, design thinking, and overall creativity.
-Developing self-assurance as creative problem solvers.
-Establishing a strong foundation in STEM to prepare for advanced studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The requested $1,800 grant will fund the creation of an interactive Engineering Innovation Lab serving grades 1–5. Capital will be allocated primarily toward resilient, multi-use STEM supplies, enabling students to undertake diverse engineering design initiatives throughout the academic year.
Funding will provide approximately 120 students in grades 1–5 with access to high-quality, reusable engineering materials that directly support science and engineering standards. Rather than completing a single STEM activity, students will use these resources repeatedly throughout the year to ask questions, define problems, design solutions, build prototypes, test their ideas, analyze results, and redesign based on evidence.
The variety of materials will allow engineering challenges to grow in complexity as students progress through the elementary grades. Younger students can begin by exploring how shapes, materials, and structures work together, while older students can tackle increasingly sophisticated challenges involving forces, motion, energy, stability, simple machines, environmental solutions, and structural engineering. Because the primary materials are durable and reusable, this grant will create a sustainable Engineering Innovation Lab that will benefit students for many years and make engineering an ongoing component of the grades 1–5 science program.
1800
KEVA Planks – classroom building sets for structural engineering, bridges, towers, and design challenges
400
K'NEX Education Sets – building materials for exploring structures, simple machines, forces, motion, and mechanical design
350
Magna-Tiles – classroom sets for structural design, architecture, geometry, and creative engineering challenges
350
LEGO® Education Sets – reusable materials for engineering design, mechanisms, forces, motion, and problem-solving challenges
550
Storage & Organization – durable bins and containers to organize materials for student teams and engineering stations
100
Engineering Challenge Supplies – supplemental consumable materials for prototyping, testing, and improving student designs
50
Keys to Success: Building Musical Opportunities for Every Student
Teressa White
ID-2590
This application has been fully funded
Thank you to everyone who supported this submission. Please consider directing your support to another open application.
The purpose of this project is to purchase three additional xylophones for the music classroom at Tommie Barfield Elementary School. While our school recently received grant funding to replace several aging instruments, the current inventory of xylophones is still insufficient to provide a balanced and complete instrumental experience for students. Many of our existing instruments have deteriorated due to age and exposure to Florida's climate, creating a need for additional high-quality wooden bar instruments. Adding three xylophones will ensure that more students have consistent, equitable access to instruments during class activities and performances.
This project directly supports music learning goals across all grade levels. Students are expected to perform on instruments independently and in ensembles, developing skills in rhythm, pitch, technique, listening, and musical collaboration. With additional xylophones available, students will have more opportunities for hands-on learning, active participation, and meaningful ensemble experiences that strengthen both musical understanding and performance skills.
The project also aligns with Tommie Barfield Elementary School's commitment as a Lighthouse School, where student leadership is a key priority. In the music classroom, students build leadership skills by taking responsibility for their individual musical parts, collaborating with peers, encouraging one another, and working together toward a common performance goal. Increasing access to quality instruments allows more students to actively participate in these leadership opportunities, fostering confidence, teamwork, communication, and mutual support. By expanding our xylophone inventory, this project will enhance music instruction while supporting the school's mission of developing capable, collaborative student leaders.
Students in all grade levels at Tommie Barfield Elementary School will use the xylophones as part of their regular music instruction throughout the school year, with students in grades 2 through 4 using them most frequently. The additional instruments will allow more students to actively participate in music-making experiences at the same time, ensuring that every child has opportunities for hands-on learning rather than waiting for a turn. Students will perform rhythmic patterns, melodic accompaniments, ostinatos, and ensemble pieces while learning to listen, cooperate, and contribute to a group performance.
This project meets the needs of our students by providing greater access to quality instruments and creating a more balanced Orff ensemble experience. Learning through active music-making helps students develop musical skills, confidence, creativity, and teamwork. By increasing the number of xylophones available, students will have more opportunities to engage directly in lessons and experience success as performers.
Instruction will be based on both the Kodaly and Orff approaches to music education. Through the Kodaly method, students develop musical understanding through singing, listening, and vocal exploration before transferring those concepts to instruments. Through the Orff approach, students learn through speech, movement, singing, percussion, and instrumental performance. These strategies provide multiple ways for students to engage with music concepts and allow all learners to participate meaningfully.
Student participation is closely connected to classroom instruction and state music standards. As students learn concepts such as steady beat, rhythm, melody, form, and ensemble performance, they apply those skills directly by playing instruments independently and in groups. Every student is encouraged to participate, and students rotate among instrument types and musical parts so they can experience different roles within the ensemble. This approach promotes musical growth while fostering collaboration, responsibility, and leadership skills as students work together to create a successful musical performance.
The addition of three xylophones will provide significant benefits for students by increasing opportunities for active participation, skill development, and performance. As students gain more access to high-quality instruments, they will become more confident and proficient performers. They will develop stronger skills in rhythm, melody, technique, and ensemble playing while becoming comfortable performing a variety of musical parts and roles within an Orff ensemble. Increased practice opportunities will allow students to deepen their understanding of musical concepts and apply them more successfully during classroom performances and assessments.
I expect students to demonstrate improvement in both their individual performance skills and their ability to work collaboratively as members of an ensemble. Because more instruments will be available, students will spend less time waiting for turns and more time actively engaged in music-making. This increased hands-on practice will support higher levels of achievement and musical growth for all learners.
The success of this project will be measured through classroom assessments, teacher observations, and performance opportunities. Students will be assessed on their ability to accurately perform rhythmic and melodic patterns, maintain a steady beat, demonstrate proper playing technique, and successfully perform their assigned parts within an ensemble. I anticipate that increased access to instruments will lead to stronger assessment results and greater student confidence when performing.
Evidence of the project's impact will include student performance assessments, classroom observations, video recordings of student performances, and opportunities for informal "mini performances" that showcase student learning. These recordings will be included in my professional portfolio and shared with our district Fine Arts Director as documentation of student growth and achievement. In addition, school administrators regularly observe music instruction and student performances, providing further evidence of student engagement and progress. Ultimately, this project will be considered successful when all students can confidently perform the musical parts they are taught on a variety of bar instruments, demonstrating both musical proficiency and the collaborative skills that are essential to ensemble performance.
Funding from Champions for Learning will be used to purchase three high-quality Orff bar instruments: a Sonor Global Beat Bass Xylophone ($995), a Sonor Global Beat Alto Xylophone ($520), and a Sonor Global Beat Soprano Xylophone ($400). These instruments will expand and strengthen our current classroom instrument inventory, creating a more balanced ensemble for music instruction and performance.
The addition of these three wooden bar instruments will provide students with increased opportunities to actively participate in hands-on music-making experiences. A balanced set of bass, alto, and soprano instruments is essential for teaching students how the different musical parts work together to create a complete ensemble sound. Students will use these instruments to develop skills in rhythm, melody, listening, cooperation, and performance while learning to play both individually and as part of a group.
All students at Tommie Barfield Elementary School participate in lessons involving Orff bar instruments, with the instruments being used most frequently by students in grades 2 through 4. The additional xylophones will allow more students to play simultaneously, increasing engagement, practice time, and access to quality instruments.
Approximately 455 students in Collier County Public Schools will directly benefit from this project each year. Through the generosity of this funding opportunity, students will have access to durable, high-quality instruments that support meaningful musical experiences, strengthen ensemble performance skills, and promote the confidence, collaboration, and leadership skills that are central to the mission of Tommie Barfield Elementary School.
1915
Sonor Global Beat Bass Xylophone
995
Sonor Global Beat Alto Xylophone
520
Sonor Global Beat Soprano Xylophone
400
Champions For Learning - LJ MacCarthy
Decodable Readers for students with dyslexia - nonfiction
Educational Pathways Academy (EPA) is a school that specializes in educating students with language-based learning disabilities, primarily dyslexia. Our academic program is intentionally designed for students who learn differently, providing evidence-based literacy intervention alongside a comprehensive educational experience. A cornerstone of our literacy program is explicit, systematic, multisensory reading instruction based on the Orton-Gillingham approach and the Science of Reading.
The goal of this project is to give our students access to new and interesting reading material that focuses on high-interest nonfiction topics. The Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE) has released a new set of nonfiction decodable readers that will provide students with engaging, age-appropriate reading materials that directly align with the phonics skills they are learning in the classroom. These carefully controlled texts allow students to practice previously taught phonics patterns and irregular “red words,” eliminating the need to guess at unfamiliar words and helping students develop accurate decoding skills, automaticity, fluency, and confidence.
For students with dyslexia, controlling the complexity of text is particularly important. IMSE decodable readers introduce phonetic concepts systematically, allowing students to strengthen one skill at a time without becoming overwhelmed by text containing patterns they have not yet learned. This approach supports proper orthographic mapping and helps students become increasingly accurate, confident, and independent readers.
The nonfiction format provides an additional benefit by allowing students to build background knowledge and academic vocabulary across content areas while practicing essential literacy skills. Providing students with opportunities to successfully apply their reading instruction to interesting, real-world topics helps build reading confidence while enhancing learning in science, social studies, and other academic subjects. Ultimately, this project will strengthen foundational literacy skills while giving students greater access to learning across the curriculum.
Students will use the IMSE nonfiction decodable readers as part of their daily literacy instruction, providing meaningful opportunities to apply the phonics and decoding skills they are learning through EPA’s multisensory approach. While reading a physical book is primarily a visual task, these readers are designed to integrate with the hands-on, multisensory strategies already used throughout a comprehensive IMSE reading lesson.
Before reading, students will participate in “Get Ready to Read” activities, reviewing and decoding target words and phrases before encountering them within full sentences and connected text. Students will also use familiar multisensory strategies, such as highlighting targeted phonics concepts and color-coding irregular “red words,” reinforcing the connection between sounds, letters, words, and meaning.
As students progress through each book, teachers will incorporate reading aloud, repeated reading, comprehension questions, discussion, and writing prompts. These activities will allow students to practice decoding, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and written expression while reinforcing skills taught during direct literacy instruction.
Because the decodable readers feature nonfiction topics, students will simultaneously gain background knowledge and vocabulary that support learning across content areas. The books will be incorporated into daily lessons, allowing students to move from explicitly learning a literacy skill to successfully applying that skill in authentic text. This connection between direct instruction and successful independent reading is especially important for students with dyslexia as they build greater accuracy, fluency, independence, and confidence as readers.
Students are expected to demonstrate measurable growth in decoding, reading fluency, and reading comprehension as they use the IMSE nonfiction decodable readers as part of their daily literacy instruction. Regular practice with text that aligns directly with previously taught phonics concepts will give students opportunities to apply their skills successfully, build automaticity, and become more confident and independent readers. The nonfiction content will also strengthen vocabulary and background knowledge across academic subject areas.
Student progress will be measured through weekly benchmark assessments, including timed readings that track words read correctly per minute using decodable text. This will allow teachers to monitor individual growth in fluency and determine whether students are successfully applying the decoding skills taught during instruction.
Evidence of impact will include weekly benchmark assessment results, frequent teacher progress monitoring and observation, student performance during daily reading activities, and anecdotal feedback from parents. Together, these measures will provide both quantitative and qualitative evidence of students’ growth in reading skills, independence, and confidence.
Grant funds will be used to purchase Decodable Nonfiction Readers, Sets A, B, and C, providing each of eight students with access to all three reading levels. Each set costs $68, for a total of $204 per student. The total cost for eight students is $1,632 ($204 × 8 students).
Educational Pathways Academy serves students with language-based learning differences, primarily dyslexia. In addition, a high proportion of students also have ADHD. Our school’s literacy intervention model is structured around an evidence-based approach, and we are always seeking ways to fully engage our students in their learning journey. I have designed a classroom learning tool specifically with the needs of my students in mind. The goal of this project is to create an interactive classroom obstacle course that combines reading fluency practice with purposeful physical movement. This project will provide an engaging, multisensory approach to strengthening both literacy skills and physical development.
I have designed an easy-to-assemble obstacle course that students can move through while completing targeted reading activities. By pairing literacy instruction with movement, the project is designed to meet the needs of kinesthetic learners while supporting focus, engagement, and retention. The physical components will also target core strength, coordination, and fine and gross motor development.
The project specifically addresses the need for movement-based, multisensory instruction for students with dyslexia and ADHD. Reading can require significant concentration and stamina for students with learning differences and can sometimes be associated with frustration or anxiety. Incorporating structured movement creates a lower-stress, high-interest environment in which students can practice essential reading skills while remaining physically engaged.
This project closely aligns with EPA’s Multisensory priorities by integrating physical movement directly into reading instruction, supporting EPA’s specialized approach for students with dyslexia, ADHD, and language-based learning differences.
Students will actively participate in an interactive obstacle course that combines physical movement with targeted literacy practice. At key points throughout the course, students will pause to read sight words, decodable sentences, or short passages, allowing them to practice reading fluency in an active, multisensory environment.
The project will meet the needs of students with dyslexia and ADHD by providing a structured opportunity to learn through movement. The obstacle course will reinforce skills already being taught during literacy instruction while providing physical activity that supports engagement, focus, coordination, and task stamina.
The project will utilize multisensory, structured literacy strategies to combine evidence-based reading instruction with active physical movement:
Explicit & Systematic Phonics Integration: Instruction will use decodable text, sight word mastery drills, and targeted phonemic awareness tasks integrated directly into physical activity stations.
Multisensory Learning Modalities: Students will engage visual, auditory, and kinesthetic pathways simultaneously. Ex: decoding a target word card before completing a physical movement sequence which reinforces learning and retention for struggling readers.
Active Engagement & Fluency Building: Combining physical movement with oral reading practice will increase student engagement, provide a lower-stress opportunity to practice challenging skills, and promote automaticity in word recognition and oral reading fluency.
Physical Skill Development: Obstacle course activities will incorporate movements that strengthen core stability, balance, coordination, and fine and gross motor skills.
Student participation in the obstacle course will directly reinforce core classroom instruction by transforming literacy practice into an active, multisensory experience. Reading activities can be adjusted to align with the phonics patterns, sight words, and fluency skills students are currently learning, allowing teachers to use the obstacle course as an engaging extension of daily literacy instruction.
By integrating movement with targeted reading practice, the obstacle course is expected to produce meaningful improvements in both literacy skills and student engagement. Expected benefits include:
Increased Sight Word & Skill Word Automaticity: Students will more quickly and accurately recognize targeted words and apply phonics skills during reading.
Measurable Growth in Oral Reading Fluency: Students will increase reading fluency, measured in words correct per minute and through weekly skill assessments.
Sustained Engagement & On-Task Behavior: Incorporating purposeful movement into literacy practice will help students maintain focus, increase task stamina, and remain actively engaged.
Reduced Learning Anxiety & Improved Confidence: The obstacle course will provide a fun, lower-stress environment for practicing skills that can be challenging for students with dyslexia, helping students become more willing and confident readers.
Physical Development: Students will strengthen coordination, balance, core strength, and fine and gross motor skills through structured movement activities.
The project will be considered successful when students demonstrate enthusiasm, active participation, increased willingness to tackle challenging reading tasks, and measurable growth on weekly literacy assessments. I will monitor students’ fluency scores, reading accuracy, engagement, task stamina, and confidence throughout the project.
Weekly assessments will provide measurable evidence of growth in reading skills and fluency, while teacher observations will document changes in participation, focus, and willingness to read. An additional indicator of success will be students looking forward to reading and actively engaging in literacy practice on obstacle course days.
Ultimately, the project will provide students with another way to practice challenging literacy skills in a format that recognizes and responds to the different ways they learn.
I will use grant funds to purchase the items needed to create my classroom's obstacle course: Indoor stepping stones, a balance beam, and a tunnel.
The overall purpose of this project is to expand and sustain a hands-on agricultural initiative by equipping our classroom with a mobile raised garden bed on wheels, soil, and targeted grow lighting (including lighting for an existing hydroponic unit). Over 200 students will actively participate in the full lifecycle of plant growth—from selecting crops to harvesting—fostering real-world life skills, self-sufficiency, and cross-curricular collaboration.
Many students lack direct experience with food systems, agricultural care, and practical self-sufficiency skills. This project addresses the need for experiential, tactile learning opportunities that connect classroom concepts to everyday life. By introducing mobile and indoor hydroponic growing equipment, we eliminate seasonal and structural limitations, ensuring that over 200 students—regardless of background or prior experience—gain consistent access to hands-on learning and fresh, homegrown produce.
• Primary Learning Goal: Students will master essential life skills in gardening, resource management, and sustainable food production through active planning, planting, routine care, and harvesting.
• Academic & Life Skill Standards: This project addresses practical life science concepts (plant lifecycles, photosynthesis, and nutrient needs) alongside CTE (Career and Technical Education) standards related to food preparation, resource planning, and community sustainability.
• Targeted Outcomes:
1. Skill Acquisition: Participating students will learn to independently select appropriate vegetables and herbs, plan crop rotation, and carry out routine maintenance (watering, feeding, and light management).
2. Interdisciplinary Impact: Harvested produce will directly support partner programs, including culinary classes (incorporating fresh ingredients into everyday meals and meal planning) and special education classes (using organic ingredients to craft pet treats).
3. Measurable Success: Success will be evaluated by successful yield harvests shared among classroom members and interdisciplinary programs, as well as student-led execution of the full planting-to-harvest cycle.
This project aligns directly with core school and district priorities:
1. Hands-On & Experiential Learning: Moves learning beyond textbooks by providing interactive, practical experiences that build engagement and critical thinking.
2. Cross-Curricular & Inclusive Collaboration: Connects general education, culinary, and special education programs, fostering an inclusive school culture centered around shared community goals.
3. Life Skills & Career Readiness: Equips students with functional, real-world skills—such as sustainable living, meal planning, and basic agriculture—that promote long-term independence and environmental awareness.
Project Budget & Line-Item JustificationVendorItem DescriptionQtyUnit PriceTotal PriceAmazon.com33.7" Elevated Raised Garden Bed with Wheels1$99.00 $99.00Amazon.com
180W T8 Grow Lights (Set of 4)1$60.00 $60.00Amazon.com
Burpee Organic Potting Soil for Food (9 qt)2$15.00 $30.00Amazon.com
Drip Irrigation System1$90.00 $90.00Amazon.com
EXO.comTower Light Kit (for Hydroponic Unit)1$199.00 $199.00EXO.com
2" Plant Propagation Kit1$25.00 $25.00EXO.com
Hydroponic Grow Block1$20.00 $20.00EXO.com
Hydroponic Grow Plugs1$20.00 $20.00EXO.com
Hydro Pebbles (2.5 lbs)1$26.00 $26.00EXO.com
TOTAL$569.00
Budget Justification:Mobile Planting & Substrate ($129.00): The elevated raised bed on wheels ($99) provides accessible, mobile planting options for diverse classroom layouts and outdoor spaces. The organic soil ($30) ensures edible plants receive safe, rich nutrition.Lighting & Climate Control ($259.00): The 180W T8 grow lights ($60) and EXO Tower Light Kit ($199) supply the necessary spectrum and intensity to sustain year-round indoor growth across soil and hydroponic setups regardless of seasonal weather.Irrigation & Propagation Supplies ($181.00): The automated drip irrigation system ($90) teaches efficient water conservation, while the propagation kit, grow blocks, grow plugs, and hydro pebbles ($91 total) enable students to execute every stage of plant development from seed germinating to final harvest.
569.00
33.7"h Elevated Raised Garden Bed with wheels (WTFGO store on Amazon)
99.00
4' T8 180W Grow light 4-pack (Amazon)
60.00
EXO grow block (from EXO.com)
20.00
Grow Plugs (from EXO.com)
20.00
Tower Light kit (from EXO.com)
199.00
2.5 lbs. hydro pebbles (from EXO.com)
26.00
2" plant propogation kit (from EXO.com)
25.00
2 Burpee 9-qt. organic potting soil for food (from Amazon)
The goal of this project is to motivate students to earn industry certifications and recognize them for their hard work. Students will spend class time throughout the school year learning, studying, and preparing for certification exams in areas such as Entrepreneurship, Project Management, Health Sciences, Engineering, Criminal Justice/911 Dispatch, Adobe, and Accounting.
Students will earn points for each certification they pass and can use their points to redeem Lely-themed rewards such as engraved keychains, phone card holders, and water bottles.
Throughout the school year, students will dedicate class time to learning the content and developing the skills needed to successfully complete multiple industry certification exams. Teachers will provide instruction, practice, review, and opportunities for students to prepare for certifications in areas such as Entrepreneurship, Project Management, Health Sciences, Engineering, Criminal Justice/911 Dispatch, Adobe, Aviation, and Accounting. Students will be encouraged to pursue multiple certifications, allowing them to build a collection of industry-recognized credentials and strengthen their college and career readiness.
To recognize students for their hard work and achievement, students who successfully earn industry certifications will receive points based on the number of certifications they complete. Students can redeem their points for Lely-themed rewards, including customized lanyards, engraved card holders, and water bottles.
The Digital Design class will support the project by using an engraver to personalize the rewards. Students will spend class time designing, programming, and producing the engraved items, providing an authentic opportunity to apply their digital design and technology skills to a real-world project.
This project will create a positive cycle of learning and achievement. Students will be motivated to use their class time throughout the year to prepare for and earn multiple certifications, while Digital Design students gain hands-on experience producing meaningful products for their peers. By celebrating certification success, the project will encourage students to continue pursuing credentials and developing the skills needed for future careers.
This project benefits students by encouraging them to take ownership of their education and actively pursue industry certifications that can strengthen their college and career opportunities. Students will have dedicated class time throughout the school year to learn, practice, and prepare for multiple certification exams, allowing them to build knowledge and skills beyond a single course or subject area.
The rewards program provides students with a tangible way to celebrate their accomplishments. By earning points for each certification they successfully complete, students are encouraged to challenge themselves to earn additional credentials and see their hard work recognized. The Lely-themed rewards create a sense of achievement, school pride, and motivation while reinforcing the value of earning industry-recognized certifications.
The project also benefits Digital Design students by providing an authentic, hands-on learning experience. Students will use their design, programming, and engraving skills to create actual products for their peers. This allows them to practice skills in a real-world setting, understand the production process, and see how their classroom learning can be applied to a meaningful project.
Most importantly, the project helps create a culture where achievement, persistence, and career preparation are celebrated. Students gain confidence from successfully completing challenging certifications, build credentials they can carry into their future, and are encouraged to continue learning and pursuing additional opportunities.
Grant funds will be used to purchase blank, reusable reward items—including custom lanyards, Magsafe wallet, and water bottles—the materials needed to personalize these items using an engraving machine. The engraved items will serve as incentives for students who successfully earn industry certifications throughout the school year.
Educational Pathways Academy (EPA) serves students with language-based learning differences, primarily dyslexia. Our program is designed around the understanding that students with dyslexia are bright, capable learners who often need explicit instruction, individualized support, and opportunities to experience success in areas that have previously been challenging. Written expression can be particularly demanding for our students, making it important to provide writing experiences that are both highly structured and genuinely meaningful.
The goal of From Student Writers to Published Authors is to give my students an authentic and exciting reason to write by taking them through the complete writing process and ultimately turning their work into a professionally published book. Students will research, plan, draft, revise, edit, and illustrate their individual contributions before seeing their work combined into a real class book. The finished product gives students an authentic audience and a tangible reason to invest in the writing process.
For students with dyslexia, writing requires significant effort, support, and perseverance. This project gives that effort a meaningful purpose beyond simply completing an assignment. Knowing that their work will be published encourages students to take ownership of their writing, work through revisions, pay attention to conventions, and communicate their ideas clearly. Most importantly, it gives students an opportunity to see themselves not simply as students completing a difficult writing assignment, but as authors with something worth sharing.
The project will support Florida B.E.S.T. ELA writing standards through authentic practice in planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Students will strengthen sentence development, organization, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and written expression. The project will also integrate social studies and geography as students research and write about places around the world.
From Student Writers to Published Authors directly supports EPA’s commitment to developing confident, independent learners while strengthening foundational literacy and written communication skills. Students will receive the differentiated and structured support they need while working toward a common final product. Becoming published authors will allow them to recognize their growth, celebrate their individual strengths, and experience genuine success in an area of learning that has often been challenging.
Students will be actively involved in every step of creating and publishing their class book. Each student will research a topic, organize ideas, plan and draft their writing, revise and edit their work, and create original illustrations before preparing their final pages for professional publication. Students will take ownership of their individual contributions while working together toward the shared and exciting goal of becoming published authors.
Because many students with dyslexia find written expression challenging, the project will break the writing process into structured, manageable steps. Students will receive explicit instruction, visual organization tools, teacher modeling, guided practice, and individualized support throughout the process. Having an authentic audience and a finished book as the goal will give students a meaningful reason to persevere through the more challenging aspects of writing and revision.
Teaching strategies and instructional activities will include:
- Explicit Writing Instruction: Students will receive direct instruction in sentence development, organization, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and written expression.
- Thinking Maps & Visual Organization: Students will use Thinking Maps and other visual tools to organize research, develop ideas, and plan their writing before beginning a draft.
- Teacher Modeling & Guided Practice: The teacher will model each stage of the writing process and provide guided practice and support as students move toward greater independence.
- Research & Content Integration: Students will research places around the world, integrating geography and social studies content into their writing.
- Teacher Conferencing: Individual and small-group conferences will provide targeted feedback and support based on each student's needs.
- Revision & Editing: Students will learn that strong writing develops over time as they revise for meaning and organization and edit for spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.
- Illustration & Publication: Students will create original illustrations and prepare their completed work for professional publication.
The project will be integrated directly into regular language arts and social studies instruction, rather than functioning as a separate activity. Students will apply the writing, grammar, sentence-building, vocabulary, research, and editing skills they are learning in class while connecting their work to their study of geography.
The final published book will provide a meaningful, real-world application of classroom instruction. Students will be able to see the progression from an initial idea to a polished piece of writing, and ultimately to a professionally published book they created together.
Students are expected to develop greater confidence, independence, and enthusiasm as writers while strengthening their ability to organize and communicate their ideas effectively. As they move through the complete writing process, students will build skills in sentence development, organization, grammar, spelling, punctuation, revision, and editing.
This project provides an opportunity for students to see their efforts result in something meaningful and lasting. Students will take greater ownership of their work as they make decisions about their writing, respond to feedback, revise their ideas, and prepare their work for a real audience. Most importantly, students who may have previously viewed writing as difficult or frustrating will have an opportunity to see themselves as capable writers and published authors.
Student growth will be demonstrated by comparing initial plans and rough drafts with revised, edited, and published pieces. Writing rubrics, teacher conferences, Thinking Maps, research materials, student revisions, and classroom observations will provide evidence of growth in writing skills as well as independence, perseverance, and confidence.
The completed, professionally published book will serve as a tangible representation of student achievement. Each student will be able to see not only the finished product, but the progression from an initial idea to a polished piece of writing, providing a meaningful demonstration of how much they have accomplished throughout the project.
The items I am purchasing will directly support the goals of this project by providing us with the necessary supplies to publish a book for each child at the end of the school year and culmination of the collaborative project. 21 students will benefit from this project and I will also keep a class copy of the book so that future students can be inspired by this work. I will purchase:
- 22 copies of the book my students create ($38.18 per book through StudentTreasures)
- Liene PixCut S1 Inspire Kit - All-in-One Color Sticker Printer & Cutting Machine, Thermal Dye-Sublimation Photo Printer ($346)
-
1186
22 Copies of Published Book using Studentreasures Publishing Company
Educational Pathways Academy (EPA) provides specialized, evidence-based instruction and support for students with dyslexia and other learning differences. Our goal is to help students build strong literacy skills, confidence, and independence through instruction tailored to their individual learning needs.
Goals of the Dyslexic Friendly Classroom Library:
- Expand Access to Engaging Books: Expand EPA’s dyslexia-friendly classroom library with high-interest, accessible books that students are excited and able to read successfully.
- Increase Reading Confidence: Provide more opportunities for students to experience reading success, helping them build confidence, independence, and a genuine love of reading.
- Meet Students’ Unique Needs: Address the challenge students with dyslexia face in finding books that are both accessible at their reading level and engaging and age-appropriate.
- Support Literacy Development: Provide opportunities for students to strengthen foundational reading skills, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension while applying strategies learned through structured literacy instruction.
- Encourage Independent Reading: Expand the variety of books, series, genres, and reading levels available so students can progress to new and increasingly challenging reading material.
- Support Academic Goals: Reinforce grade-level Florida B.E.S.T. ELA standards while giving students opportunities to practice reading skills through authentic, independent reading.
- Strengthen a Positive Reading Culture: Build on the success of EPA’s existing dyslexia-friendly library, where students regularly look forward to library time and demonstrate enthusiasm for choosing and reading books.
Advance School Priorities: Support EPA’s commitment to providing students with dyslexia and learning differences the accessible resources and opportunities they need to succeed academically and develop as confident, independent readers.
Last year, through a grant from Champions For Learning, I was able to offer new and exciting dyslexia-friendly books to my classroom. These books made an incredible impact on my students and generated so much excitement about reading. Students regularly asked for library time, eagerly shared their favorite books with classmates, and began asking for even more books and series like the ones they were enjoying. Seeing students who often find reading challenging become genuinely excited to choose and read a book has been especially meaningful. Their enthusiasm is the driving force behind expanding our library so they can continue discovering books that are accessible, engaging, and designed with dyslexic readers in mind.
Students will actively engage with the expanded dyslexia-friendly classroom library through independent book selection, daily reading opportunities, and teacher-supported literacy activities. Students will choose books based on their interests and reading abilities, explore a variety of genres, authors, and series, and share recommendations and reading experiences with classmates.
During classroom library time, students will apply the skills taught through structured literacy and language arts instruction to authentic reading. They will practice decoding unfamiliar words, building fluency, developing vocabulary, making connections, visualizing, and demonstrating comprehension. Students will be supported through guided reading, book discussions, reading responses, and individualized support as needed.
By providing accessible, age-appropriate, high-interest books, the project will allow students with dyslexia to experience successful and meaningful reading while progressing toward greater independence. The library will serve as a bridge between explicit literacy instruction and authentic reading experiences, helping students build confidence, engagement, and positive identities as readers.
This project will give students with dyslexia greater access to engaging, age-appropriate books that match their reading abilities, creating more opportunities for meaningful reading success. As students explore books that interest them and experience success, they are expected to build confidence, motivation, reading stamina, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension while developing greater independence as readers.
The impact will be evident through increased use of the classroom library, longer periods of independent reading, more completed books, and greater enthusiasm for reading. Students will be encouraged to recommend books to classmates, explore new authors and series, and become more willing to tackle challenging texts.
Student growth will be monitored through teacher observations, library use, reading stamina, completed books, student discussions and recommendations, reading responses, comprehension activities, and classroom assessments. Most importantly, success will be reflected in students becoming confident, enthusiastic, and independent readers who see themselves as capable of succeeding with books.
The requested dyslexia-friendly books directly support student learning by providing high-interest, age-appropriate texts that are more accessible for struggling and dyslexic readers. These books give students meaningful opportunities to apply decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills taught during structured literacy instruction while reading independently. Expanding the collection also provides greater choice, helping students find books they are excited to read and encouraging increased reading stamina and motivation. Ultimately, these resources support our goal of developing confident, successful, and independent readers. 21 students will benefit from this grant.
786.81
Pizza and Taco Blast Off
10.99
Pizza and Taco: Scariest Sleepover Ever!
10.99
Pizza and Taco: Go Viral!
10.99
Pizza and Taco: Coolest Club Ever!
10.99
Pizza and Taco: Dare to Be Scared!
10.99
Don't Trust The Nacho Hamster: Super Chip (Don't Trust the Nacho Hamster (Dyslexia & ADHD Friendly, Funny, Illustrated Chapter Books for Kids Ages 6-10))
9.99
Don't Trust The Nacho Hamster: The Pencil (Don't Trust the Nacho Hamster (Dyslexia & ADHD Friendly, Funny, Illustrated Chapter Books for Kids Ages 6-10))
9.99
Don't Trust The Nacho Hamster: Missing Homework (Don't Trust the Nacho Hamster (Dyslexia & ADHD Friendly, Funny, Illustrated Chapter Books for Kids Ages 6-10))
9.99
Don't Trust The Nacho Hamster: Too Cheesy (Don't Trust the Nacho Hamster (Dyslexia & ADHD Friendly, Funny, Illustrated Chapter Books for Kids Ages 6-10))
9.99
Don't Trust The Nacho Hamster (Don't Trust the Nacho Hamster (Dyslexia & ADHD Friendly, Funny, Illustrated Chapter Books for Kids Ages 6-10)
9.99
Pig The Pug Complete Series Set (10 Books)
150
InvestiGators Boxed Set: InvestiGators, Take the Plunge, and Off the Hook
38.97
Captain Underpants Books 1-12 Complete FULL COLOR Collection (Hardcover)
149.99
National Geographic Kids Readers, Level 2 Series, 10 Books Collection Set
64.99
National Geographic Kids Readers Level 2 Series, Collection Set of 10 Books. Volcanoes, Mummies, Planets, Penguins, Sharks, Snakes, Rocks and Minerals, Wolves, Pandas, Dolphins
63.99
National Geographic Kids Readers Series (Level 3) 10 Books Collection Set (Robots, Titanic, Skyscrapers, Amazon Animals, Wildfires, Meteors, Mars, Cats vs Dogs, Bears, Ancient Egypt)
64.99
Magic Tree House Graphic Novels Series, 8 Books
86.99
National Geographic Kids Readers Level 1 Series, Collection Set of 10 Books
To foster a sense of independence by making the media center more accessible to all of my
students
Books will be organized into baskets by subject area, series or author, making it easier for my students to independently browse for the book that they would like to read.
Creating dynamic shelving in my media center can offer numerous benefits that enhance both the functionality of the space and the experience for students and staff.
Here are some key advantages:
1. Flexibility: Dynamic shelving allows me to adjust the layout and configuration of the shelves based on changing needs. I can easily reconfigure the space to accommodate different types of materials or to reflect new themes and topics.
2. Enhanced Learning Experience: By rotating displays and creating themed sections, I can engage students with new topics and encourage exploration. Dynamic shelving can be used to highlight seasonal books, new arrivals, or special collections.
3. Maximized Space: Flexible shelving can help me make the most of my available space.
4. Encouragement of Exploration: A dynamic setup can make the media center more visually appealing and inviting, which might encourage students to spend more time exploring and interacting with the resources available.
5. Improved Accessibility: Baskets can be set at different heights to ensure that books and materials are accessible to students of all ages and abilities, including younger children or those with physical disabilities.
7. Encourages Independence: Having books displayed in baskets allows students to independently browse for books and gives them some freedom with their choices.
Overall, dynamic shelving can greatly enhance the functionality and appeal of our school’s media center, making it a more engaging and efficient space for both students and staff.
The baskets purchased will be used year after year, benefiting thousands of students. This has been an ongoing project.
The goal of this project is to create a schoolwide Glow Room that transforms student achievement into an exciting, memorable experience. The space will provide a dedicated environment where students can celebrate academic growth, perseverance, reading accomplishments, classroom goals, and other milestones while reinforcing the message that effort, growth, and learning are worth celebrating.
Students will visit the Glow Room as a class or small group to celebrate meaningful accomplishments and milestones throughout the school year. Teachers will use the space for reading celebrations, academic goal celebrations, end-of-unit achievements, and classroom incentives. Students may participate in glow-themed games, collaborative activities, creative projects, and movement-based celebrations designed to build connection and excitement around learning. The room will be a flexible resource that can be used across grade levels and subject areas.
The Glow Room will help create a positive school culture where students recognize their own growth and celebrate the accomplishments of others. For students, these experiences provide motivation, build confidence, and strengthen their sense of belonging and connection to school. Teachers will have an engaging, ready-to-use space for recognizing student effort and achievement. Most importantly, the project shifts the focus from simply rewarding high performance to celebrating growth, perseverance, progress, and a love of learning, ensuring that every student has an opportunity to shine.
Funding will be used to transform a full-size classroom into a reusable, schoolwide Glow Room. Funds will provide UV blacklights, blackout materials, fluorescent and neon decorations, glow-in-the-dark supplies, and interactive games. These durable resources will be used throughout the school year by students across grade levels for a variety of academic and schoolwide celebrations. The investment will create a long-lasting resource that can serve hundreds of students year after year while providing teachers with meaningful new ways to celebrate student growth and achievement.
Educational Pathways Academy (EPA) is a school that specializes in educating students with language-based learning disabilities, primarily dyslexia. Our literacy program is intentionally designed around evidence-based instruction and the understanding that students with dyslexia need explicit, systematic, and multisensory approaches to become successful readers.
The goal of this project is to expand our classroom library of Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE) fiction decodable books, giving students engaging opportunities to apply the phonics skills they are learning during daily literacy instruction. IMSE decodable books align with the Orton-Gillingham approach and the Science of Reading, allowing students to read text that corresponds directly with phonics patterns and irregular words they have already been explicitly taught.
For students with dyslexia, this alignment is especially important. Rather than relying on pictures or context clues to guess unfamiliar words, students learn to use their knowledge of sounds, letters, and phonetic patterns to decode words accurately. The books follow a structured scope and sequence so students are not routinely confronted with phonetic concepts they have not yet learned. This helps reduce cognitive overload and allows students to focus their attention on successfully applying developing reading skills.
Repeated exposure to familiar phonetic patterns also supports orthographic mapping and word automaticity, helping students progress from slowly sounding out words to recognizing them more quickly and accurately. As decoding becomes more automatic, students can devote greater attention to fluency and comprehension.
The fiction format adds an important dimension to the project by giving students opportunities to experience characters, stories, imagination, and the enjoyment of reading while working at an appropriate instructional level. For students who have experienced frustration or anxiety around reading, successfully completing an engaging book is particularly meaningful.
Ultimately, this project will support measurable growth in decoding, automaticity, fluency, comprehension, and reading confidence while reinforcing EPA’s commitment to providing students with dyslexia the specialized tools and instruction they need to become increasingly capable and independent readers.
Students will use the IMSE fiction decodable books as part of their daily literacy instruction, giving them opportunities to directly apply the phonics skills and patterns they are learning. While reading a physical book is primarily a visual task, IMSE decodable books are designed to integrate with the hands-on, multisensory strategies used throughout a comprehensive reading lesson. Students will actively engage with the text through reading, movement, touch, and visual coding.
For students with dyslexia, these strategies provide additional ways to reinforce the connection between letters, sounds, and words. Because the books align with the sequence of skills being explicitly taught, students can practice reading text at an appropriate level of challenge while building accuracy, fluency, comprehension, and confidence.
Teaching strategies and instructional activities will include:
- Tactile Tracking: Students will finger-trace, tap, or otherwise physically track sounds and words, reinforcing the connection between spoken sounds and written text.
- Pattern Coding: Students will highlight or color-code targeted spelling and phonics patterns in the text, drawing attention to concepts they are currently learning and reinforcing pattern recognition.
- Multisensory Reinforcement: Movement, touch, visual cues, and spoken language will be used together to reinforce letter-sound relationships and support students who benefit from learning through multiple modalities.
- Repeated Reading & Fluency Practice: Students will reread appropriately leveled text to build automaticity, accuracy, expression, and reading fluency.
- Comprehension & Discussion: Teachers will use the stories to engage students in discussion and comprehension activities, reinforcing that successful decoding ultimately leads to understanding and enjoyment of what they read.
The decodable books will be incorporated directly into daily IMSE literacy lessons, rather than used as a separate activity. Students will move from explicit instruction in a phonics concept to applying that skill within connected text. This provides an important bridge between learning how to decode individual words and becoming increasingly fluent, confident, and independent readers.
Students are expected to demonstrate measurable growth in decoding, reading fluency, automaticity, and reading comprehension as they use IMSE fiction decodable books as part of their daily literacy instruction. Regular practice with text that directly aligns with phonics concepts already taught will allow students to apply their skills successfully, become more automatic and accurate readers, and build confidence and independence.
The fiction format also gives students an opportunity to experience the enjoyment and satisfaction of reading a complete story at an appropriate instructional level. For students with dyslexia who may have experienced frustration with traditional books, repeated reading success helps increase motivation and willingness to read.
Student progress will be measured through weekly benchmark assessments, including timed readings that track words read correctly per minute using decodable text. These assessments will allow teachers to monitor individual growth in fluency and determine whether students are successfully applying the decoding skills taught during instruction.
Evidence of impact will include:
- Weekly benchmark assessment results, including growth in words read correctly per minute
- Frequent teacher progress monitoring of decoding, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension
- Teacher observations of students' confidence, independence, and willingness to read
- Parent anecdotal feedback regarding changes in reading confidence, interest, and reading behaviors at home
Together, these measures will show students’ growth as more accurate, fluent, confident, and independent readers while also helping us see something equally important: that students are discovering the pleasure of reading for enjoyment and what it feels like to get immersed in a good book.
This grant will allow us to purchase 8 sets of IMSE OG Plus Decodable Readers (sets A,B, and C Fiction). These books will be used by students in daily literacy instruction to support measurable gains and engage them in new and high-interest content. 60 students will benefit from this grant.
1632
IMSE | OG Plus Decodable Readers Set A, B, C Fiction
204
IMSE | OG Plus Decodable Readers Set A, B, C Fiction
204
IMSE | OG Plus Decodable Readers Set A, B, C Fiction
204
IMSE | OG Plus Decodable Readers Set A, B, C Fiction
204
IMSE | OG Plus Decodable Readers Set A, B, C Fiction
204
IMSE | OG Plus Decodable Readers Set A, B, C Fiction
204
IMSE | OG Plus Decodable Readers Set A, B, C Fiction
204
IMSE | OG Plus Decodable Readers Set A, B, C Fiction
The goal of this project is to provide quality, realistic, colorful images to better help ELL/LY students as well as students with special needs to make real world colored pictures connections through pictures and words. This project will also benefit students that need assistance with routines/classroom expectations and behavior plans that use visuals throughout the day for visual schedules, token boards and daily reminders.
Students that are needing ELL/LY support and students in need of visuals whether for procedures/routines or for behavior reminders and expectations will be able to have real world colored pictures to better connect them to the real world. Students that rely on token boards and visual reminders will greatly benefit from the pictures being in color to better associate them with items they are working for.
The students will be able to make connections more readily to the real world through visuals and pictures.
The budget will be used for one colored printer and 2 sets of ink to use throughout the year for the Kindergarten team. Many items will only need to be printed one time but items can be customized for more individualization as students need them.
The goal of Walking with Wonder: Our Everglades Animal Walk is to bring students, teachers, and staff together through science, reading, writing, and an appreciation for the unique natural world of Southwest Florida.
This project will transform our school campus into an outdoor learning experience where students and adults can learn about the incredible animals of the Everglades while simply walking around the school grounds. Students will become environmental ambassadors as they research an Everglades animal, share their learning through writing and art, and create a lasting resource that can be enjoyed by the entire school community.
Our goal is to help students recognize that science and literacy are not limited to the classroom. Learning can happen anywhere—including on the sidewalks and grassy walkways of our own school campus.
Each classroom will select an animal native to or associated with the Florida Everglades. The animal will be matched with the teacher's name using alliteration, creating a fun and memorable classroom identity.
For example:
Ms. Malik's Manatees
Ms. Abrantes's Alligators
Ms. Sanchez's Snail Kites
Ms. Brown's Bobcats
Ms. Carland's Crocodiles
Each class will become the "expert" on its selected animal. Students will research their animal using age-appropriate books and informational resources. Working collaboratively with their teacher, students will learn important facts about their animal, including its habitat, physical characteristics, diet, adaptations, behaviors, and role within the Everglades ecosystem. Each classroom will create a colorful, educational poster featuring: the teacher's name and classroom animal, a large illustration or photograph of the animal, interesting animal facts, information about the animal's habitat, important adaptations or characteristics,
Information about what the animal eats or how it survives, why the animal is important to the Everglades ecosystem. The project will provide students with an authentic reason to read, research, write, discuss, revise, and communicate information.
The Everglades Animal Walk
Once completed, each classroom poster will be professionally printed and mounted on durable grass stakes. The signs will be strategically placed along the grassy areas and walkways around the school campus. As students, teachers, staff, families, and visitors walk around the school, they will encounter the different Everglades animals and have the opportunity to stop and read about them. The campus will become a living science and literacy trail. A student walking to lunch might encounter Ms. Malik's Manatees. A teacher walking to another classroom might discover Ms. Abrantes's Alligators. A family member visiting the school might learn why a snail kite is an important part of the Everglades ecosystem. The signs will provide repeated, authentic opportunities for students and adults to encounter science vocabulary and Everglades knowledge throughout the school year.
The project will encourage teachers and staff to use the animal signs as extensions of classroom learning.
Students may:
Read the signs during class walks.
Compare two different Everglades animals.
Identify similarities and differences.
Write questions about animals they discover.
Keep a nature or science journal.
Research an animal they find particularly interesting.
Create additional writing based on their animal.
Practice using science vocabulary.
Discuss food chains, habitats, adaptations, and ecosystems.
Make observations about wildlife they see around the school.
The project will connect science and literacy across grade levels while creating a common experience for the entire school.
1. Strengthens Science Learning
Students will develop a deeper understanding of Everglades animals, habitats, adaptations, food webs, and ecosystems. They will learn not only what an animal is, but why that animal matters and how it contributes to a healthy ecosystem.
2. Supports Reading and Writing
Students will use authentic informational texts to research their animal and then communicate what they have learned through writing. Creating a poster gives students a meaningful purpose for reading, gathering information, organizing ideas, and writing for an authentic audience.
3. Creates a School-Wide Community
Every classroom will contribute to one larger project. Students will have the opportunity to see what other classrooms have learned, while teachers and staff become part of a shared school-wide learning experience. The project creates a sense that everyone has a place in our school's science story.
4. Makes Learning Visible
Instead of student work being displayed only inside classrooms, student learning will become visible throughout the school campus. The professionally printed signs will showcase students' knowledge and demonstrate that their work has value beyond the classroom.
5. Encourages Curiosity and Conversation
The animal signs will naturally encourage students to stop, read, ask questions, and talk about what they have learned. A simple walk across campus can become an opportunity for discovery:
"What animal is that?"
"Where does it live?"
"What does it eat?"
"Why is it important?"
"What would happen if it disappeared?"
6. Develops Environmental Stewardship
Southwest Florida students live near one of the world's most unique ecosystems. By learning about the animals that depend on the Everglades, students can develop a greater appreciation for the environment and understand why protecting natural habitats matters. The project will help students see themselves as caretakers and stewards of the natural world around them.
7. Provides a Lasting Resource
The professionally printed animal signs will remain on campus as a lasting educational resource. They can be enjoyed by current students, future students, teachers, staff, families, and visitors for years to come. The project will create an outdoor learning environment that continues to teach even when a formal lesson is not taking place.
The Lasting Impact
Walking with Wonder: Our Everglades Animal Walk will turn our school campus into a place where science and literacy are experienced every day.
Students will not simply learn about the Everglades—they will become connected to it.
They will read.
They will research.
They will write.
They will create.
They will teach others.
They will walk.
They will wonder.
And as they encounter Ms. Malik's Manatees, Ms. Abrantes's Alligators, and many other classroom animals, they will discover that the natural world is not somewhere far away.
It is right here around us, waiting to be noticed.
Funding is requested for the purchase of 55 professionally printed, weather-resistant animal signs with grass stakes, at an estimated cost of $32.98 per sign, for a total of $1813.90
Classroom teachers K-5 = 38 signs @ $32.98 each = $1253.24
IBI and ESE teachers = 12 @ $32.98 each = $395.76
Related Arts teachers = 5 @ $32.98 each = $164.90
Each sign will feature a classroom's selected Everglades animal, the teacher/classroom name using alliteration (such as Ms. Malik's Manatees or Ms. Abrantes's Alligators), student-created animal facts, and information explaining why the animal is important to the Everglades ecosystem.
The professionally printed signs will be mounted on durable grass stakes and strategically placed along the grassy areas and walkways throughout the school campus. This investment will transform the school grounds into a school-wide outdoor science and literacy trail accessible to students, teachers, staff, families, and visitors.
Poinciana Elementary utilizes a school-wide positive behavior system known as The Peli-CAN Way. This initiative is designed to establish and strengthen a unified culture of positive behavior, attitudes, and mindsets across our campus.
As part of our main goal, we seek to empower students to consistently demonstrate positive behavior and make choices that reflect our school-wide expectations. The Peli-CAN Way provides year-round guidance and reinforcement of behavioral expectations while promoting a positive mindset, personal responsibility, resiliency, and leadership.
Through a variety of incentives and recognition opportunities, students are positively acknowledged for demonstrating expected behaviors, making responsible choices, showing perseverance, and serving as positive role models for others.
By implementing The Peli-CAN Way consistently school-wide, we anticipate a decrease in discipline referrals and challenging behaviors while increasing student resiliency, leadership, positive decision-making, and a strong sense of belonging within the Poinciana Elementary community.
As part of The Peli-CAN Way, one of our positive behavior incentives will be a monthly Student of the Month recognition. Each classroom will select one student who consistently demonstrates the specific school-wide behavior expectation or positive mindset highlighted for that month.
Selected students will receive a monthly Peli-CAN Way Brag Tag, designed specifically around that month's expectation. Students will proudly display their Brag Tag on their student ID lanyard, allowing them to be visibly recognized as positive role models and leaders within our school community.
This recognition will provide students with a meaningful opportunity to celebrate their positive choices and demonstrate that their actions matter. Students receiving a Brag Tag will be recognized as Peli-CAN leaders who exemplify our school's expectations and contribute to a positive, respectful, and supportive school culture.
The Peli-CAN Way school-wide positive behavior program will foster positive attitudes, mindsets, and behaviors among students and staff while extending these skills beyond the school setting and into students' homes and communities. Through consistent modeling, instruction, recognition, and reinforcement, students will have opportunities to strengthen their social-emotional skills, make positive choices, develop resiliency, and practice a growth-oriented mindset each day.
As the School Counselor, I will help guide and support the implementation of The Peli-CAN Way, including the rollout of the monthly behavior expectations and the Brag Tag recognition program. Each month, students who demonstrate the highlighted expectation will be recognized as Students of the Month and receive a Brag Tag to proudly display on their student ID lanyard. This visible recognition will celebrate positive behavior while providing students with opportunities to be recognized as leaders and role models within the school.
School-wide bulletin boards, posters, and visual displays will reinforce the monthly expectations and positive mindsets. These consistent visual reminders will provide teachers and staff with common language and resources to model, teach, recognize, and reinforce the behaviors and skills associated with The Peli-CAN Way. This shared approach will help create consistency across classrooms and throughout the campus.
Students will also benefit from being active participants in creating and maintaining a positive school environment. When students understand the expectations and are recognized for meeting them, they become an important part of building a school culture where kindness, responsibility, perseverance, leadership, and positive decision-making are valued. Creating an inviting and encouraging environment can positively influence the attitudes and experiences of everyone on campus.
Ultimately, The Peli-CAN Way will support our goal of decreasing disciplinary concerns while increasing positive behavior, social skills, resiliency, and student leadership. As students are recognized for their strengths and positive contributions, they will be empowered to see themselves as leaders who help make Poinciana Elementary a welcoming, positive, and successful place to learn and grow.
1. Create custom Brag Tags at SchoolLife.com
2. Order custom Brag Tags - quantity for two school years at SchoolLife.com.
310.00
7 custom brag tags- 100 of each @ 40.00 + design fee & shipping
310.00
Books That Click: Connecting Middle Schoolers with Reading
Educational Pathways Academy (EPA) provides specialized, evidence-based instruction for students with dyslexia and other learning differences. We work to help students become stronger, more confident and independent readers through instruction and resources that meet them where they are.
The purpose of this project is to build a classroom library where my middle school students can find books they actually want to read, and books they can connect with and make their own. I want students to have enough variety that they can explore different authors, genres and subjects until they discover what they love. Just as importantly, I want them to have physical books they can hold, underline, write notes in the margins, go back to favorite passages and really interact with as readers.
For students with dyslexia, finding the right book can be difficult. A book may be at an accessible reading level but feel too young, while an age-appropriate book may be frustrating or overwhelming to read independently. By middle school, students are also developing very individual interests and opinions about what they like to read.
This project will give students a larger selection of high-interest, accessible books so they have real choices. My hope is that instead of thinking about reading primarily as an assignment or something that is difficult for them, students begin to identify themselves as readers who know what they like. Having books available right in the classroom also gives them the freedom to pick something up, try it, decide whether it is for them, and choose something else if it isn't.
My learning goal with this project is to help students develop a personal relationship with reading. I want students to read with a pencil in their hands, to underline something funny, circle a word, question a character's decision, write a thought in the margin or mark a passage they want to remember. That kind of interaction makes reading active and personal. Students are practicing important literacy skills, but they are also learning that a book can belong to them in a very real way and that their thoughts about what they read matter.
This project directly supports EPA's commitment to helping students with dyslexia and other learning differences become successful, confident and independent readers. Our students receive specialized literacy instruction throughout their school day, and this classroom library gives them another place to use those skills in a more personal way.
Ultimately, I want my students to leave my classroom knowing more than how to read successfully. I want them to know what kinds of books they love, to feel comfortable choosing books for themselves, and to understand that reading can be something they genuinely enjoy and not simply something they have to do for school.
Students will be active participants by choosing their own books and having regular time to simply read and enjoy them. Choice is especially important at the middle school level, when students are developing strong interests and are much more aware of what feels “too young” for them. Students will be encouraged to explore different genres, authors and series, recommend books to one another, talk about what they are reading and find the kinds of books that genuinely interest them.
Students will also be encouraged to interact with their books as they read, underlining favorite passages, making notes in the margins, marking something they find funny or surprising, and writing down questions or thoughts. I want the books to feel like something they can really engage with rather than something they need to keep pristine and return to a shelf.
Expanding our classroom library will give students more choices that are both accessible and interesting to a middle school reader. Having those books immediately available in the classroom also makes reading easier to incorporate naturally into our day. Students can try different books, abandon one that isn't working, find another, and gradually learn what they enjoy as readers.
Independent reading will be at the center of the project, supported by informal book discussions, teacher recommendations, student-to-student recommendations, reading responses and individual support when students need it. We will talk about books and characters, interesting vocabulary, favorite passages and connections students make while reading. Students will also use strategies they have learned through EPA's structured literacy and language arts instruction, including decoding unfamiliar words, building fluency, using context, developing vocabulary, visualizing and checking for comprehension. These skills can then be practiced in books students have chosen because they actually want to read them.
The classroom library gives students a chance to take the reading skills we explicitly teach and use them in a more authentic setting. Rather than practicing a skill only through an assigned passage or activity, students can see how those same strategies help them understand a novel, graphic novel or nonfiction book they selected themselves.
For middle school students especially, I want this to be a bridge between learning how to read successfully and becoming someone who chooses to read. Students will still be practicing important academic skills, but they will be doing it through books that interest them and through reading experiences that feel like a personal choice. Over time, the goal is for students to need less direction from me and develop greater ownership of what, how, and why they read.
In preparation for this proposal, I led a class discussion on book selection and topics of interest. The book list that I have requested directly reflects the diverse interests of my students and what they specifically want to read. I have high expectations for positive outcomes and engagement.
For middle school students with dyslexia, reading can sometimes feel like something they have struggled with for years. Giving them access to books that are age-appropriate, interesting and accessible gives them the opportunity to experience reading differently. With expanded access to a variety of high-interest books, I expect students to become more confident and willing readers.
As students read more often, I expect to see growth in reading stamina, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, but I also hope to see them become more curious and adventurous about books. I want students to know what they like, have favorite authors or series, recommend books to friends and eventually feel comfortable trying something that might be a little more challenging.
I will know the project is successful when students are using the library without always needing an adult to direct them. I want to see students looking through the shelves, talking about books, asking for the next book in a series and telling classmates, “You should read this one.”
I will monitor how often students use the classroom library, the books they select and complete, and changes in their reading stamina and willingness to read independently. Student discussions, book recommendations, written responses, annotations and comprehension activities will also provide evidence of how students are interacting with and understanding what they read.
Classroom assessments will continue to provide information about academic growth in areas such as fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. I will also rely on what I see every day, students becoming more engaged in their books, sharing their opinions about what they have read, writing and marking passages that matter to them, and choosing another book when they finish one. Ultimately, the project will be successful if students leave the classroom feeling more confident about reading and having discovered books they genuinely enjoy.
Grant funds will be used to purchase a diverse collection of dyslexia-friendly, high-interest books for EPA’s middle school classroom library. Funding will expand the number of age-appropriate titles, genres, series, and reading levels available so students have meaningful choices and can find books that capture their interest. By placing these books directly in the classroom, students will have frequent, immediate access to literature they can read, explore, annotate, and enjoy as their own, helping create a classroom environment where reading becomes a natural and valued part of the day.
The goal of this project is to provide a safe, organized, and effective charging and storage solution for the Chromebooks used by 18 fifth-grade students. A designated classroom charging station will allow students to independently store, charge, and retrieve their devices while keeping cords contained and our classroom safe and organized.
In addition to protecting our technology investment, the charging station will help students build responsibility for classroom materials and allow us to transition between classes and learning activities more efficiently.
Our classroom currently lacks an appropriate storage and charging system for 18 student Chromebooks. This creates both organizational and safety concerns. Charging cables can hang or become tangled, creating potential tripping hazards and making it difficult for students to safely access their devices.
The lack of secure storage has also resulted in Chromebooks being dropped and damaged. Because devices must be moved and stored throughout the day, students are doing their best within a system that simply was not designed to support the number of devices we use.
We have tried several creative and inexpensive solutions to address the problem. Unfortunately, these temporary solutions have not been sustainable and have resulted in personal classroom spending without solving the underlying issue.
A dedicated charging station would provide a long-term solution rather than continuing to spend money on temporary fixes. It would protect our devices, reduce classroom clutter, improve safety, and allow students to manage their technology more independently.
Chromebooks are an important learning tool in our fifth-grade classroom and are used throughout the school day for research, writing, digital curriculum, assessments, and other learning activities. Currently, however, our classroom does not have a safe or effective system for storing and charging our 18 student Chromebooks.
Students are responsible for plugging in, storing, and retrieving their devices, but our current setup leaves charging cords exposed and devices without secure individual storage spaces. Despite students' best efforts to keep the area organized, cords become tangled, devices are difficult to access, and transitions between our two fifth-grade classes can become unnecessarily challenging.
With a classroom charging station, each Chromebook will have a designated, protected space. Students will be taught a consistent routine for returning their Chromebook, connecting it to its charger, and retrieving it when needed. This will create a student-managed system that supports responsibility, organization, and smoother classroom transitions.
This project will directly benefit 18 fifth-grade students each day and will continue to benefit future classes for years to come.
A dedicated Chromebook charging station will create a safer classroom by containing charging cables and providing secure storage for devices. It will also reduce the likelihood of Chromebooks being dropped or damaged, helping protect valuable school technology.
Students will benefit from a predictable system in which every device has a designated location. This supports independence, responsibility, and executive-function skills while reducing the time spent untangling cords, locating devices, or reorganizing the charging area.
Most importantly, an organized charging system allows transitions to happen more smoothly so that classroom time can be spent on learning rather than managing technology.
Grant funds will be used to purchase one classroom Chromebook charging and storage station capable of safely accommodating 18 student devices and their charging cables.
The station will provide individual spaces for Chromebooks while keeping power cords contained and organized. Funding this equipment will replace the temporary storage solutions currently being used and provide a durable, long-term system for protecting classroom technology.
This is a one-time investment that will serve students across multiple school years. By reducing accidental damage, improving device organization, and eliminating the need to continually purchase temporary storage solutions, the charging station will provide both an immediate and lasting benefit to our classroom.
264.99
Computer Charging Cart
264.99
Raising to New Heights with Community Collaboration
To enhance student-centered instruction, cooperative learning, and visual literacy by acquiring a mobile chart writing easel dedicated to co-created anchor charts, touchstone learning, small-group collaboration and support Kindergarten writers to develop their skills in their primary ruled journals.
Effective modern pedagogy relies heavily on making thinking visible and co-constructing knowledge with students. Our classroom currently lacks a flexible, mobile display tool capable of seamlessly transitioning between whole-group direct instruction and decentralized collaborative work spaces.
Funding this chart easel and support supplies will directly support key instructional practices to enhance student learning in the following ways:
Anchor Charts: Creating durable, accessible reference tools for mathematical algorithms, writing frameworks, and scientific inquiry models that students can independently consult.
Touchstone Learning: Maintaining persistent visual touchstones for core texts, vocabulary, and foundational concepts that anchor multi-week units of study.
Group Collaborations: Providing student working groups with a dedicated vertical workspace to map ideas, draft group projects, and organize shared problem-solving tasks while writing and illustration presented material into their primary ruled journals.
Integrating a central chart easel transforms the classroom into a dynamic, interactive environment where student thinking is valued and displayed. This visual scaffolding directly benefits diverse learners, visual learners, and English language learners by reducing cognitive load and providing persistent cues. Ultimately, students will develop greater autonomy, stronger cooperative skills, developed writing skills and deeper content retention, as they actively participate in building and utilizing their own learning references.
The requested funds will directly purchase a heavy-duty mobile chart easel and essential consumable supplies required to immediately implement visible learning strategies in the classroom to support Kindergarten learners skills.
Equipment ($579.00): The All Purpose Mobile Teaching Easel serves as the cornerstone of this project. Its double-sided, magnetic, dry-erase surface allows for simultaneous whole-group teaching and student small-group use, while heavy-duty locking caster wheels ensure safe, effortless mobility between workstations and learning centers.
Consumables (165.66): Flip chart paper pads and bulk, colorful, dry-erase markers are necessary recurring media for drafting anchor charts and student collaboration boards. These materials ensure that every co-created touchstone concept is captured with high legibility and durability, maximizing the lifespan and utility of the instructional space. Pads $69.22, Dry Eraser Markers $22.49, Flip Chart Markers $14.00, 24 pack Primary Lined Journals with Illustration Area $59.95,
Empowering students through co-constructed anchor charts and touchstone learning requires reliable, professional-grade physical infrastructure that traditional wall space alone cannot provide. Student will be actively interacting with the visual touchstone to develop and enhance skills. Additionally, their writing engagement will increase with the direct anchor charts to provide the supports and prompts to get the student writers started with the support of visuals and the journal to record, engage and create! Champions For Learning support will bridge this resource gap, giving students immediate access to flexible vertical canvases that foster active engagement, peer collaboration, and tangible academic growth.
744.66
All Purpose Mobile Teaching Easel
579
Flip Chart Pads- Pack of 4
69.22
Colorful Dry Eraser Markers
22.49
Flip Chart Markers
14.00
Primary Lined Journal w/Illustration Area
59.95
Patterns of Possibility: Exploring Identity, Culture, and Community Through Mixed-Media Art
The purpose of Patterns of Possibility is to provide 235 students in grades 6–8 with an engaging, standards-aligned visual arts experience that develops creativity, artistic confidence, communication, critical thinking, mathematical reasoning, collaboration, and reflection.
Through mixed-media circular artworks, students will explore personal identity, interests, culture, nature, and community while learning how artists use color, line, shape, pattern, texture, contrast, repetition, symmetry, and composition to communicate ideas.
Students will take ownership of the creative process by developing ideas, experimenting with materials, receiving and applying feedback, revising their work, and explaining their artistic decisions. The project also creates meaningful connections between visual arts, literacy, and mathematics through art vocabulary, artwork analysis, peer critique, artist statements, pattern, symmetry, geometry, measurement, rotation, reflection, proportion, and spatial relationships.
Florida Visual Arts Standards :
VA.68.C.1.1 – Apply a range of interests and contextual connections to influence art-making and self-reflection.
VA.68.C.1.2 – Use visual evidence and prior knowledge to reflect on multiple interpretations of artworks.
VA.68.C.1.3 – Identify qualities of exemplary artworks that can be transferred to personal work.
VA.68.C.2.1 – Assess personal artwork during production to identify successes and needed changes.
VA.68.F.1.1 – Use non-traditional thinking and various techniques to create artworks.
VA.68.F.1.2 – Use creative risk-taking strategies learned from artists' work in new personal artworks.
These standards are embedded throughout the process of investigating, planning, experimenting, creating, critiquing, revising, and reflecting.
Connection to Collier County Public Schools
The project supports Collier County Public Schools' Pathway to Excellence, particularly its emphasis on Academic Excellence, standards-aligned instruction, academic capacity, career-ready skills, arts, and STEAM.
Patterns of Possibility brings these priorities together by using visual arts to strengthen communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, mathematical reasoning, creativity, collaboration, and self-reflection.
Students will participate in a multi-stage creative process:
1. Investigate and Analyze
Students will examine selected artworks and identify how artists use Elements and Principles of Art such as line, shape, color, texture, contrast, balance, pattern, rhythm, repetition, and movement. Using visual evidence and art vocabulary, students will discuss artistic choices, color, pattern, composition, and effectiveness.
2. Explore Mathematics Through Art
Students will investigate mathematical relationships within visual design, including:
Radial and bilateral symmetry
Geometric shapes
Pattern and repetition
Proportion and measurement
Rotation and reflection
Positive and negative space
Spacing and balance
The 9-inch circular format provides a natural connection to geometry and composition. Students may divide their circles into equal sections and use rotation, reflection, and repetition to develop their designs.
3. Experiment With Mixed Media
Through demonstrations and guided practice, students will explore:
Markers and colored pencils for color theory, blending, shading, line, detail, and pattern
Stencils for repetition, layering, positive and negative space, and composition
India ink for expressive line, contrast, value, and texture
Bingo daubers for pointillism, controlled mark-making, texture, and repetition
Airbrush spray kit for stencil techniques, layering, backgrounds, texture, and experimentation
Students will learn how materials can be manipulated before making purposeful choices about techniques that best communicate their ideas.
4. Create an Original Artwork
Each student will create an original circular artwork inspired by identity, interests, culture, environment, nature, or community.
Students will:
Develop preliminary sketches.
Select a meaningful concept.
Choose a color palette.
Plan pattern and composition.
Select appropriate media and techniques.
Create the final artwork.
Evaluate and revise the work.
The shared circular format creates consistency while allowing every student to produce a unique artistic response.
5. Peer Critique and Revision
Students will participate in structured peer critiques using age-appropriate sentence stems and art vocabulary. They will identify strengths, ask questions, provide constructive feedback, and determine whether revisions are needed.
This process strengthens communication, collaboration, evaluation, and the ability to respond to feedback.
6. Artist Statement and Reflection
Students will write a short artist statement explaining their inspiration, meaning, techniques, use of Elements and Principles of Art, mathematical connections, and learning during the creative process.
This makes writing an authentic part of art-making while strengthening students' ability to explain and support their ideas.
7. Collaborative Installation
Completed artworks will become part of a collaborative installation representing students as individuals and as a community.
Students will help determine how the pieces should be arranged, exploring balance, repetition, pattern, composition, and visual relationships. The finished installation may be displayed in a school hallway, media center, classroom, or other appropriate school space, making student learning visible to the broader school community.
Teaching Strategies and Instructional Practices
The project will use:
Teacher demonstrations and guided practice
Inquiry-based learning
Student choice and hands-on experimentation
Visual analysis
Collaborative learning and peer critique
Reflection and revision
Differentiated instruction
Multiple entry points will support students with different levels of artistic experience. Students seeking additional challenge may explore complex layering, radial patterns, and mixed-media combinations, while students needing support may use demonstrations, stencils, templates, guided sketches, and structured design processes.
Creativity, Innovation, and Sustainability
The innovative aspect of Patterns of Possibility is its ability to transform relatively simple materials into a multidisciplinary learning experience. A common circular format allows 235 individual voices to become one collaborative installation, demonstrating how different perspectives contribute to a shared community.
The project is also sustainable. Reusable materials such as stencils, refillable daubers, and the airbrush system can support future lessons. The instructional framework can be adapted for different themes, grade levels, techniques, and curricular connections.
As a result, the grant investment extends beyond one project by creating reusable materials, instructional strategies, and experiences that can benefit students in future classes and school years.
Connection to Classroom Instruction
Patterns of Possibility directly extends classroom instruction by requiring students to apply visual arts vocabulary, Elements and Principles of Art, artistic techniques, mathematical concepts, communication skills, and reflection in an authentic context.
Students will experience the complete artistic process:
Investigate → Plan → Experiment → Create → Critique → Revise → Reflect → Share
This process mirrors how artists, designers, and other creative professionals work while developing transferable skills in creativity, communication, problem-solving, collaboration, and critical thinking.
Ultimately, the project positions the art classroom as a place where students think like artists, communicate like writers, reason like mathematicians, solve problems like designers, and contribute as members of a community.
502.41
Crayola Super Tips Marker Set (100ct), Fine Point Washable Markers, Teacher Must Haves, Back to School Supplies for Kids & Adults, Art Supplies, Ages 3+
15.29
Crayola Colored Pencils, 100 *2
29.94
New York Central® India Ink 32oz Bottle - Make an Impact with Matte Black India Ink, Perfect for Artists, Calligraphy, Illustrations, & More *2
80.78
81 Pcs Face Painting Stencils 3"x5.5", Body Facial Painting Stencils, Reusable Flowers Mermaid Scale Leopard Cracks Claw Templates Makeup Kit Face Tracing Templates for Holiday Halloween Party
14.99
Crayola Marker Airbrush Spray Art Kit, 8 Washable Markers, 5 Stencils | Arts & Crafts Toys for Kids, Birthday, Holiday Gifts for Girls & Boys 6+, Battery-Powered Sprayer K… *10
224.90
Prang Mixed Media Paper Circles By Cassie Stephens, | White, 9” Diameter, 200 Sheets *4
64.64
16 PCS Face & Body Painting Stencils - 121 Patterns, Reusable Mermaid Scale & Flower Face Tattoo Stencils for Christmas, Halloween Party
Our Immokalee High School Success Center is looking to fund a project that will help our students learn valuable manufacturing skills. This 3D printing project will be student designed and student led. They will learn to program the printer and produce their models. The 3D printed items would be used as spirit items.
Students will master manufacturing, marketing, and financial management in this course. Students will learn about the technology to create their items than they will work as a marketing team to promote and find ways to sell their items. Student profits from the created products will be managed by our bookkeeper and our athletic booster club will award scholarships with these profits to seniors. These lessons will continue for years to come.
Our senior students will be able to design spirit items for sports and other clubs that they would like to see produced to increase school spirit among students. Instead of going through a third-party, all our designs will be made by students and then we can produce them and sell them at a reasonable price. Profits will be managed by our bookkeeper and the athletic booster club will award scholarships to seniors with the profits.
Funds will be used to cover the cost of the 3-d printer and the filament used to create the spirit items. This will allow students to produce items that will earn additional scholarship funds instead of relying on donors to create and fund scholarships.
This will be an internal method that we can generate scholarship funds for students. Each sport or club would be able to create custom items to sell at games that are unique to their team.
1000
Bambu Lab P2S Combo, P2S 3D Printer & AMS 2 Pro, Multi-Color 3D Printing
769
(2) Bambu Lab PLA Matte 3D Printer Filament 1.75mm RFID 1kg with Spool, Scarlet Red
60
(2) Bambu Lab PLA 3D Printer Filament 1.75mm RFID 1kg with Spool, Black
60
(2) Bambu Lab PLA 3D Printer Filament 1.75mm RFID 1kg with Spool, White
