Austin Ed Fund Awards $120K-Plus In Teacher Grants

AUSTIN, TX — Austin Ed Fund officials on Tuesday announced the awarding of more than $120,000 in Innovation Grants to Austin ISD teachers in supporting their most creative projects, officials said.

Officials describe the Austin Ed Fund as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that develops and stewards meaningful public-private partnerships that promote innovation and support opportunities to prepare Austin ISD students for college, career, and life. The grants are designed to encourage, facilitate, recognize and reward innovative and creative instructional approaches to classroom instruction.

“Our innovation grant program is the backbone of our role in strengthening the public schools within our community,” Michelle Wallis, executive director of Austin Ed Fund, said. “This program allows Austin Ed Fund the opportunity to give every teacher in AISD not only necessary classroom assets and skills but also a voice as advocates for their students to feel represented and inspired.”

All told, 23 AISD schools across the city received grants for a variety of projects ranging from literacy programs to arts projects, social and emotional learning tools to cutting edge technology. The grant program is divided into two categories: Idea Grants (up to $2,000) are awarded to individual classrooms that have specific/timely needs. Incubator Grants (up to $10,000) are awarded to campus, multi-classroom, and/or department projects that have the potential to replicate and/or become sustainable.

The 2019 Innovation Grant winners are:

• Allison Elementary: $9,510.

STEAMSPACE: Keep Austin Coding: Throughout the year, students will lead and host robotics camps for other classmates. In the spring, students will compete in the First Lego League Robotics Competition.

• Austin ISD Early Childhood Education Department: $3,327.

Pre-K Structural Engineers: this project will allow teachers to set up dynamic block centers that allow children to plan, design and build creatively with hands-on materials.

• Austin ISD Early Childhood Education Department: $4,774.

Baby Doll Circle time: All PK3 students in AISD will be provided the tools to implement this curriculum in both English and Spanish. This will enhance the connection between caregivers and students, strengthening attachment and attunement through social play.

• Austin High School: $1,350,

Inclusion Innovation Project: This project will add sensory items and an inclusion awareness campaign to support high school students participating in Special Education.

• Blazier Elementary: $1,741.

Flexible seating for Flexible Kindergarteners: This will provide students with the specialized seating needed to develop their collaborative skills and assist in keeping each child engaged.

• Bowie High School: $3,348.

Makerspace Mania: This project will create a STEAM makerspace to promote invention literacy and increase reading of nonfiction informational texts, create problem solvers, and foster an inclusive community for all types of learners.

• Brooke Elementary School: $5,000.

Podcasting at Brooke: This will help students cut down kids’ screen time and get them interested in something new.

• Casey Elementary: $10,000.

Outdoor Learning Lab: This allows for authentic student collaboration where students will work together to create, build, experiment, analyze, and discover learning.

• Cunningham Elementary: $2,000.

Coffee Shop Learning: This will allow students to open a coffee business on campus where they will learn about teamwork, entrepreneurship, and TEK-based skills in math and ELA. Any profits made will be donated to nonprofits and charities in their community.

• Dawson Elementary: $9,134.

Music and Movement on the Playground: This will enhance and enrich early childhood playground with music, activity, and exploration equipment that students can use during outside play and classroom activities.

• Graham Elementary: $6,599.

Dive into The Spring Lake: This project connects reading fiction with themes of inquiry, nature, and ecological understanding to guided authentic hands-on experiences in the field and gives the students unique opportunities for interdisciplinary success.

• Kealing Middle School: $6,395.

Code Remedies: MakeRx for Others: Advanced digital makers will design and create exciting, interactive exemplars of real-world phenomena for classes using kits, code, and cardboard.

• Lanier High School: $10,000.

CineMath: This will allow for innovative collaboration of mathematical and cinematic technology to expose students to an unforgettable hands-on STEAM learning expedition.

• Maplewood Elementary:$8,000.

One Size Does NOT Fit All: A spectrum of options will serve many neuro-diverse students, including those on the autism spectrum, who’ll benefit from pet therapy, specialized equipment for nervous system regulation, and environments designed for sensory sensitivities.

• Martin Middle School: $710.

The Family Portrait Project: This will connect the photography program to a school-wide writing contest and address a need in the community to feel represented.

• Mathews Elementary: $8,647.

Creating a Positive Learning Culture through Sensory Breaks and Character Education: This will provide a formal character education program to widen students’ apertures to see others and build positive relationships. Provides sensory kits for every classroom and a sensory path in the hallway to meet the needs of students.

• McBee Elementary: $10,000.

Cross-Town Conversations: This will create connections with diverse literature for 4th graders and connect cross-town pen pals at other AISD schools, both in letters and online.

• Reagan High School: $7,219.

Equipping a used CNC Mill with modern capability: This will allow the engineering and auto-mechanic classes to fabricate custom metal parts.

• Russell Lee Elementary School: $2,000.

Wearing Improved Attention: This will provide students with sensory integration or behavior issues with weighted vests, offering a deep touch pressure which has a calming effect on the central nervous system.

• Russell Lee Elementary School: $854.

Flexible Seating in the 21st Century Classroom: This will facilitate better student learning and increase students' attention span and critical thinking ability. It will provide them with a unique, comfortable, and inspiring environment which allows for additional student voices.

• St. Elmo Elementary: $2,000.

Music Minds of Millennial Technology is the future: This will provide crucial devices for kids to further their knowledge of music and technology, GarageBand, Soundtrap, etc.

• Summitt Elementary: $5,394.

Blasting off into Kinder with Countdown: This will implement a robust phoneme and phonics program across all kindergarten classes to set students up with the skills they need for reading automaticity.

• Travis High School: $2,000.

Summer Math Acceleration: This will provide students with the necessary means to reach calculus in HS, as the prescribed math sequence for students on grade level concludes with pre-calculus. Calculus is required of students who pursue STEM degrees in college.

Teachers were encouraged to apply for up to $10,000 in grant funding with 23 projects selected for funding during the 2019-20 school year, officials explained. Since the program’s inception in fall 2015, Austin Ed Fund has awarded $430,617 in Innovation Grants to AISD teachers, Autin Ed Fund officials added.

Teachers receiving a grant were notified during surprise celebration visits at their schools. Applications for the 2020 cycle will open in February 2020. For more information about the Innovation Grants and the Austin Ed Fund, visit www.austinedfund.org.

About Austin Ed Fund

Austin Ed Fund is a recognized champion of Austin ISD. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Austin Ed Fund develops and stewards meaningful public-private partnerships that promote innovation and support opportunities that prepare Austin ISD students for college, career, and life. The organization has successfully served as a catalyst and facilitated over $20 million insupport for Austin ISD strategic priorities and initiatives since 2001. Austin Ed Fund empowers teachers and students through two campus-based grant programs. Through these programs, Austin Ed Fund has awarded over $631,000 since 2015. For more information, visit www.austinedfund.org.