MFISD teachers receive $72,000 for creative ideas
Students, administrators, and members of the Marble Falls Education Foundation presented Marble Falls Middle School science teacher Dan Haggart (center) with a $4,785 check on April 11 to help fund a proposal to build chalkboards accessible for kids of all abilities at the district’s four elementary campuses. Courtesy photo
Twenty-one educators in the Marble Falls Independent School District received a total of $72,000 in grant funding on April 11 from the Marble Falls Education Foundation through the nonprofit’s Grants 4 Great Ideas program.
Money was awarded to fund a new TV in the front office of Marble Falls High School to keep students up to date with district announcements, instruments for the Marble Falls Middle School music department, math learning tools for elementary students, and other projects.
Founded to highlight innovative ideas, the annual grant program encourages teachers and staff to brainstorm creative ideas to increase student engagement and learning.
“Grants 4 Great Ideas promotes innovation in the classroom, enhancing and enriching academic opportunities for our students,” MFEF Executive Director Jeanna Jette said in a media release. “It’s exciting to see our students benefit year after year from the creative ideas teachers develop.”
One idea included in this year’s funding, authored by Marble Falls Middle School math teacher Shannon Gage, is “Escaping Boredom,” an escape room inside Gage’s classroom to help blend math with fun.
A grant will purchase boxes that can be unlocked by decoding mathematical clues.
A grant for another project, “Every Child is an Artist,” will fund the purchase of four outdoor chalkboards at each of the district’s elementary campuses.
Submitted by eighth-grade science teacher Dan Haggart, the chalkboard will be accessible to children of all abilities. Marble Falls Middle School students Brooke Nesrsta and Jennie Lynn Gage designed the chalkboards as part of a class project. Local Boy Scout Troop 284 members will build the boards as an Eagle Scout project.
The Marble Falls Education Foundation is a nonprofit that awards hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to support scholarships and grants for students in Marble Falls ISD.
For more information or to make a donation, visit the organization’s website.