The Salina Education Foundation's focus is on creative and innovative project-based grants.  Why project-based? Students are active, not passive; a project engages their hearts and minds and provides real-world relevance for learning. Students not only understand content more deeply but also learn how to take responsibility and build confidence, solve problems, work collaboratively, communicate ideas, and be creative innovators.

Outside the Box Grants: 
Rewards creativity aimed at expanding students understanding of their community and the world.

Recipients:
Katie Lidgett, Sunset Elementary.  Students will be allowed to select a new book to add to their personal home library for their birthday. The books will include a special label to commemorate the event.

Jenna Eshleman, Meadowlark Ridge.  Flat.i.io licenses will be purchased for 5^th grade music student’s Chromebooks. This composition software will allow students to hear and receive instant feedback on music they are composing. It also allows teachers to correct errors in real time.

Kiersten Dykes, Central High School. Ceramics students will participate in a full day workshop at the Fire Me up Studio located in Topeka, KS. The grant will fund studio fees, meals, and bussing for up to 30 students.

Kevin Poland, South High School. History students will read Tasting History and Edible Tour of Humanity, then collaborate with Culinary Arts students to create menu items to explore culture and history through food. 

Gina Turner, Meadowlark Ridge. Students in 3^rd-5^th grade who qualify by reading more than 20 William Allen White Award nominated books will travel to Emporia to take part in the awards ceremony. They will meet the award winning authors and tour White’s former home, Red Rocks.

Scott Chrisman & Dustin Dooley, Lakewood Middle School & South Middle School. All district 7^th graders will take part in Salina’s Culture Crawl. Students will visits arts and cultural locations in Salina and learn about the unique arts and culture experiences offered in our community.

21^st Century Advantage Grants:
Support creative and innovative classroom projects. 

Elizabeth Burke, South High School.  South High’s library will continue its Future Ready Library programs including the “Overbooked Book Club.” Students will receive their own copy of the 7 books selected for discussion then engage in a book related activity. 

Nikki Chamberlain, South High School & South Middle School.  Advanced learners will engage in creative problem solving projects related to technology and social emotional development. One lesson will challenge students to learn about circuits and create a lighted thank you card to send to a person who has impacted their lives.

Elizabeth Kinion, Lakewood Middle School. The Maker’s Space in the library will receive new games and other supplies to encourage students to be creative, social and develop team work skills. 

Shelly Parks, Central Kansas Cooperative in Education. Specialized books will be purchased to benefit children on the autism spectrum. These books feature components for children to manipulate as they are being read to.

Jamie Hoff, Cottonwood. The library will host monthly STEM activities for students in all grades. Funds will be used to purchase STEM related toys, activities and other materials for students to use during their structured library time.

Gina Turner & Katie Lidgett, USD 305 Libraries. All elementary school libraries will collaborate for an in person author visit in 2024. Students will travel to a central location and interact with the author by asking questions to learn about the process of writing and reading books. 

Joan Barhydt Special Education Grants:
Benefit students receiving special education services.

Lauren Turner, Coronado. Students will benefit from have a sensory area within their classroom, which will include different types of tools and equipment to assist them in soothing their sensory needs.

Angela Botz, Central High School. Special education staff at Central High will engage in a book study to improve their skills. Staff will then develop the tools needed to teach students executive functioning skills.
 

The Salina Education Foundation's focus is on creative and innovative project-based grants.  Why project-based? Students are active, not passive; a project engages their hearts and minds and provides real-world relevance for learning. Students not only understand content more deeply but also learn how to take responsibility and build confidence, solve problems, work collaboratively, communicate ideas, and be creative innovators.

Outside-the-Box Grants reward creativity aimed at expanding students’ understanding of their community and the world.

Recipients:
Ralita Cheeks-Salina Virtual Innovatin Academy
Funds requested will be utilized to transport 100 fifth grade students to KWU for their first ever college campus visit. Additionally, materials such as notebooks will be purchased for the students to document their experience. 

Aimee Holgerson-Meadowlark Ridge
Funds will be utilized to purchase picture books and related role-play sets to encourage dramatic play related to stories. Students will develop social and emotional wellness skills while using improve, flexibility and negotiation skills.   

Scott Chrisman-Lakewood & Dustin Dooley-South Middle
Funds requested will provide bussing for all 7^th graders to the Salina Downtown Culture Crawl. Students will visit arts and cultural locations and learn more about what is offered in their community. They will eat lunch and enjoy a performance by cash hollistah.

Gina Turner-Meadowlark Ridge
Funds will be utilized to transport third through fifth graders to Emporia for the annual William Allen White Award ceremony. Each student receives a copy of the winning book, and tickets are purchased for students to attend the ceremony and visit the WAW boyhood home.

21st Century Advantage Grants support creative and innovative classroom projects.
Lisa Hall-Meadowlark Ridge
Funds will purchase Passage to Comprehension guided reading materials. Materials are utilized in group reading instruction that is tailored to students’ individual reading levels. 

Elizabeth Burke-South High School
Funds will be used to continue South High’s Future Ready library programs and book club. Students will participate in programs which support the curriculum of collaborating teachers, conduct a book club, and take part in hosted events with visiting local artists.

Elizabeth Kinion-Lakewood Middle School
Funds will be used to purchase new 3D Pens to replace the existing 3D pens which have served their useful lifespan. Maker’s Space is a popular area of the library used by students before school and during regularly scheduled library visits. 3D pens are one of the more popular items in the Maker’s Space.

Bridget Crow-Sunset Elementary School
Funds will be used to create 4 Creative Play Tubs to be shared among all 4 Kindergarten classrooms at Sunset. Children will develop social and academic skills through dramatic play with career focus. 

Lindsay Radial-Stewart Elementary
Funds will be used to purchase Math & Reading Board Games for students to use during Guided Reading and Small Group Math. Students will be actively engaged in reading and math learning during times the teacher is engaged in individualized and small group lessons.

Carrie Pierce-Central Kansas Coopertaive in Education
Funds requested would be utilized to purchase dramatic play equipment for the preschool classrooms located at Hageman Education Center.

Larry Cullins-Central High School
Funds requested will allow advanced art students to design and create screen printed t-shirts to incentive younger artists’ improvement at Central High.  

Shelly Parks-Central Kansas Cooperative in Education
Funds will be utilized to serve children with developmental delays. The grant would support the purchase of toys, blocks, puzzles to assist in the development of fine motor skills, academic and dramatic play skills, an and life skills.

Jill Howard-Meadowlark Ridge
Funds will purchase flexible seating options for students. Additional seating options allow children to control where they sit and who they sit by which encourages student engagement and empowerment in the classroom. 

Deena Hilbig-Meadowlark Ridge
Funds will be used to purchase new items for the SEL-Sensory Room at MLR.

Sheila Shaffer-Central High School
Funds will be used to purchase new carts & tracks for physics students to use while conducting experiments at their classroom workstations.

Lesa Landauer-South High School
Funds will be utilized to purchase skill development boxes in the vocational skills training lab at South High School.

Salina Education Foundation has allocated funds to support fieldtrips  for the 2023 school Year.  

Joan Barhydt Special Education Grants provide support for students receiving special education services. 

Christina Flax-Stewart Elementary
Funds will help create a Sensory Area within the Special Education classroom. Funds would be used to purchase toys, tools etc. to assist children in regulating behavior while in the special education area of the school.

Jennifer Svaty-Schilling  
Funds will be utilized to purchase multi-sensory tools to help students develop and strengthen their vocabulary skills.

Brandon Befort-Coronado                
Funds will be utilized to purchase beginning reading resources for K-2 Special Education students to assist them in achieving their IEP goals.   

The Salina Education Foundation's focus is on creative and innovative project-based grants.  Why project-based? Students are active, not passive; a project engages their hearts and minds and provides real-world relevance for learning. Students not only understand content more deeply but also learn how to take responsibility and build confidence, solve problems, work collaboratively, communicate ideas, and be creative innovators.

Outside-the-Box Grants reward creativity aimed at expanding students’ understanding of their community and the world.

Recipients: 
Gina Turner, Meadowlark Ridge
Students who read a required number of books will travel to Emporia to meet the authors who win the William Allen White Children’s Book Award.  With Mrs. Turner’s encouragement, many students read 20 or more WAW books during the course of the year.  While in Emporia, students will also visit the White home (Red Rocks), drive past the Emporia Gazette, which White owned, and visit Peter Pan Park, the land White donated to the city of Emporia.  Students from other schools who read the required number of books will be included in this wonderful trip.
 
Elizabeth Burke, South High
South High library will continue to promote curiosity and a love of learning through the Overbooked Book Club and “Make and Take” events which are designed to promote life-long learning and engagement in community service.  The innovative nature of the library‘s programming encourages both students and staff to collaborate and enhance their learning experience.  The goals are to continue the twice-a-month book club meetings and host daily and monthly programming activities to increase student and staff involvement with the library.

21st Century Advantage Grants support creative and innovative classroom projects.
 
Recipients:
Michelle Ramsey, Cottonwood
Cottonwood's third grade classrooms will receive a set of pre-made manipulative kits desigend to allow kids to discover and engineer. Bins include task cards and a teacher guide which encourages students to create structures, problem solve and think divergently.

Lisa Hall, Meadowlark Ridge
Students will utilize materials to support instruction in the areas of phonological awareness, language comprehension, decoding and phonemic awareness. These tools are utilized to implement early interventions to prevent dyslexia and reduce some special education placements.  
 
Margy Hogarty, Meadowlark Ridge
School children will engage in acticities designed to ignite their imaginations and creativity, while developing technology, science and engineering, and math skills. Students will develop lifelong problme solving skills and increase their analytical skills.  
 
Karla Arpin, CKCIE
Physical Therapists will purchase and assemple a vertical stander conversion kit to assist students who cannot stand on their own or walk independently. Students will use the equipment to gain control of their own mobility in an upright position and develop the freedom to move about their learning environments  independently. 
 
Shelly Parks, CKCIE
Preschool children will have access to new puzzles to utilize upon their arrival in the classroom. Puzzles allow the children to utilize their innate curiosity and desire to work independently to achieve success. 
 
Eddie Creer, South High
Students will be taken from any point in their development in musicianship to higher levels of proficiency.  Using the cloud-based software suite, “musicfirst,” students can access three programs:  Sightreading Factory, PracticeFirst, and Classroom.  Each of the three programs helps to develop a student’s musicianship and mastery of many fundamental concepts, allowing Mr. Creer to delve even deeper into the concepts while differentiating instruction.  Vocal solos and guitars will particularly benefit from the programs.
 
Samantha Moran, CKCIE
Assistive Technology Department staff will purchase a 3D printer so that they can create adaptive and modified learning aids. The 3D printer will allow staff to design and print tools specific to student's individualized needs rather than purchase a general tool that need to be modified aftermarket.  

STUCO Activities, South Middle, South High, Lakewood Middle and Central High
Each secondary school's STUCO will receive a $400 grant to support activities which benefit all students in the school. 

Elementary School Libraries, 
Each elementary school library will recieve a $400 grant to purchase books or equipment to enhance the experience for its students.  
 
Total SEF Funding for 2021-22:  $28,400.00