The grants, made possible by funds from the September 2011 Education Gala and local sponsorships, ranged from $500 to $1,500.
Margaret Burch, foundation chairman, commented that each year the foundation has been able to help teachers and students with more funding than the year before. “We are grateful for the support of the citizens and business community who have embraced our vision and joined us in enhancing educational opportunities in the Greater Greer area,” she said.
The 2012 grants are being awarded to:
• Greer High School English Department, $1,500: The grant will allow the department to participate in an outreach program, known as “The Wooden O,” with The Warehouse theatre in Greenville. The program will be available to every student taking English during the second semester.
• D.R. Hill Middle School, $1,500: The Tiger Reading Territory grant will address the area of differential guided reading instruction that will enable the teacher to work with a small group of students to help them learn effective strategies for processing text with understanding.
• Greer High School, $1,000: Funding for Virtual Enterprise and Future Business Leaders of America programs.
• Blue Ridge High School, $1,000: The grant provides funds to the Blue Ridge High School Corps of Cadets band for instrument repair.
• James F. Byrnes High School, $1,000: Funding for the Lifepoint 5K Run in Charleston as an incentive for retention and commitment for students to the “Fight for your Life” program.
• Woodland Elementary School, $1,000: Funding for iPAD2 to assist pathologist with workload and increase state and district policy of including technology in the classroom.
• Reidville Elementary School, $900: Provide funding to construct a bird habitat. Teachers will use the project to help students understand and use the elements of non-fiction as they participate in an interdisciplinary study of birds.
• Mountain View Elementary School, $600: Funding will be used to purchase Orff instruments to be used in music education.
• Dunbar Child Development Center, $500: Funding for the purchase of iPAD. Students will use its applications to communicate basic needs since most people do not understand sign language.
• CenterQuest, $500: Funding to help meet center’s expenses in providing at-risk children individualized tutoring and homework assistance, especially during the after-school hours.
• Greer Middle College High School, $500: Funding for (25) Kindle Wifi, which will allow students to have all of their English literature, a dictionary, thesaurus and research at their fingertips.
David Dolge, chairman of the foundation grants committee, praised the efforts of those who applied for the grants. “We were very pleased with the quantity and the quality of the grant applications,” he said.
A reception will be held Jan. 30 at 4 p.m. at the Greater Greer Chamber of Commerce to recognize the recipients and present the checks.