HELENA — The Helena Education Foundation awarded grants on Thursday to several area schools, totaling $700,000.
Two of the recipients were teachers at Four Georgians Elementary School in Helena.
Madison Hamper is a 1st Grade teacher who created Reading Into the Future for her students. The grant application was submitted by Madison, and two other 1st Grade teachers at Four Georgians, Megan Krissovich and Mikayla Bloyder. The three young teachers said they spent months meeting up during after school hours, and writing the grant application together. The teachers were awarded just under $3,000 and will be using the money to buy 42 sets of 20 books to jump start their Reading Into the Future Program. The books will be used for four 1st Grade classes. The teachers hope to foster a love of reading early on in their students’ lives.
A second grant was awarded to Chelsey Davis, the librarian at Four Georgians, for her idea of “Take and Make Bins.” Mrs. Davis says, ”Take and Make” bins allow K-5 teachers to participate in meaningful STEAM (Science, Technology Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) projects inspired by great literature. Bins will be delivered to teachers’ doors from the library, where they will find a book on a STEM theme, STEM materials, and already prepared lesson plans.
