Education Foundation to award $85,000 in grants at April 13 ceremony

As part of its “Making the Critical Difference” campaign, the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation will award approximately $85,000 in grants to Oak Ridge teachers at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 13.

Jay Searcy, a national award-winning sports writer and Oak Ridge Class of 1952 alumnus, will be the featured speaker at the event sharing his talk entitled, “How to Improve Our Schools Without Knowing How.” The ceremony is open to the public and will be held in the Oak Ridge High School cafeteria beginning at 4 p.m. April 13. Demonstrations and displays of some of the projects and technology funded by the Foundation will be given after the formal ceremony. Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of Oak Ridge Utility District.

The 2016 grant recipients are as follows:

• Oak Ridge Preschool—Margaret Johnston
• Glenwood Elementary—Amelia Bell, Lauren Blair, and Gwen Harrell
• Linden Elementary—Ginger Adams and Lisa Buckner
• Willow Brook Elementary—Ashley Branson and Andrew McDonald
• Woodland Elementary—Susie Carden, Kim Howard, Michael Martin, and Evan Parker
• Jefferson Middle School—Jim Dodson, Emily Haverkamp, Heather Henderlight, Julie McCullough, Lexie Scott, and Brian Smith
• Robertsville Middle School—David Goforth, Mariah Kidwell, Mardee Miller, and David Scott
• Oak Ridge High School—Christina Henry, Spence Milligan, Vidal Moreno, Deanna Pickel, Sharon Thomas, and Will Waterson

The Grants Program is a key component of the Foundation’s mission to support the highest quality education for all students, a press release said.

“The grants focus on empowering teachers with the tools to teach,” says Cathy Toth, chair of the Grants Committee. “By putting resources directly into the classroom, the grants enrich the learning environment and help create the conditions where inspiration, curiosity, and learning are natural outcomes. Thanks to the support of the Oak Ridge community, we have been able to fund excellent projects in every school in Oak Ridge.”

Including this year’s grants, the Education Foundation has awarded more than $780,000 in total grant funding. In 2012, the Foundation kicked off its “Making a Critical Difference” campaign. The campaign goal is to raise $100,000 per year specifically for teacher grants each year through 2017.

For more information about the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation or to make a donation, please contact Jessica Steed at (865)241-3667 or [email protected] or through the website at http://www.orpsef.org/.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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