PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Education Foundation has awarded school and teacher grants totaling nearly $20,000 for the 2012-2013 school year.
The foundation has awarded grants for the past 16 years to educators, administrators and parent groups in the Port Angeles School District to expand and enrich student experiences, promote creativity in the classroom and help students achieve academically.
Foundation members reported they had a record number of applications for this year’s grants, making the selection process more difficult than usual, they said.
Grants awarded are:
Franklin Elementary
Franklin Principal Amity Butler received $1,000 for Art on Fridays “What Makes Port Angeles Unique.”
Teachers Clair Rausch, Debbie Halsey and Maria Kays received awards, with Rausch given $743 to fund transportation costs for the district’s Multi-Aged Community (MAC) enrichment clusters, Halsey given $540 for a science field trip to Salt Creek and Kays getting $826.86 to purchase four iLearn programs with iPod Touch units.
Hamilton Elementary
Hamilton teachers Gailen Steichen received $100 for Spelling Aces, vocabulary and spelling devices for special education, and Jennifer Mills was granted $1,493.50 for a classroom field trip to Seattle Children’s Theater.
Jefferson Elementary
Jefferson Elementary School teachers Sandra Biasell and Theresa Faires-Schmid received $1,580 for a visit to the Makah Cultural Museum in Neah Bay.
Fellow teachers Rindy Hainstock and Sue-Ellen Craft earned grant awards, Hainstock getting $616 for the Young Writers Conference and Craft $1,500 for swimming lessons for her fourth-grade students.
Another Jefferson teacher, Sue Lindley, received $411.90 for Kindle e-readers in the classroom.
Jefferson Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization President Carrie Sanford received $600 for Science is Fun in collaboration with NatureBridge.
Lincoln High School
Lincoln High teacher Susan MacDonald was given $400 to fund explorations of native murals.
Roosevelt Elementary
Roosevelt Elementary School Principal Michelle Olsen received $600 for Science is Fun in collaboration with NatureBridge.
Roosevelt Elementary School teachers Jody Adams, Craig Chambers, Bill Prorok and Kelly Sanders all received grants, with Adams given $2,394 for the purchase of iPads for the Common Core Writing program, Chambers getting $420 for the Young Writers Conference, Prorok receiving $743 for classroom student responders for testing class participation and Sanders getting $745 for the puppet theater, Tears of Joy, to perform at the school
Port Angeles High
Port Angeles High teacher Leroy Sinnes received $1,098 for CPR and first-aid instructor training.
Teacher John Casey received $1,700 for the purchase of a kiln.
Science teacher John Gallagher received $400 for Science Club travel expenses.
Other district awards
Roosevelt and Jefferson Elementary schools received $700 for sixth-grade leadership training-preparation for middle school.
District elementary schools received $737.84 for bike maintenance for the bike/safety program.
United Way of Clallam County Director Jody Moss — in a partnership with the school district, Port Angeles High School, AmeriCorps and the Clallam County Family YMCA — received $98.40 for the cost of student service volunteer letters and bars, in preparation for the Youth United program.
The school district also received $500 for sound-equipment funding for the Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Star Performance for all students.
The Port Angeles Education Foundation will hold its annual fundraising dinner at C’est Si Bon French restaurant Friday, April 19.
Forensic mystery writer Aaron Elkins will serve as guest speaker.
The foundation awards scholarships, provides grants for special school projects and distributes funds for needy students.
For reservations for the annual dinner or to make a donation, visit http://tinyurl.com/b77snv8.