PORT ANGELES — Swimming for fourth-graders, music for physical education classes, summer reading, designing a miniature golf course and pottery wheels for art classes are among the projects funded by grants from the Port Angeles Education Foundation.
The foundation has awarded 11 School and Teachers Grants totaling $12,500 to projects within the Port Angeles School District, Tina Smith-O’Hara, district spokeswoman, said last week.
“We are very excited to fund a wide variety of innovative activities and some much-needed new equipment for the district,” said Karen Meyer, the foundation’s allocations committee chairwoman.
“The role of our grants is to encourage and provide enrichment to our students, and we believe that the grants that have been selected do just that.”
This year, parents of all Port Angeles kindergarten students will receive Parenting Matters monthly newsletters, which provide information for parents as their children begin school, mailed to their homes, Smith-O’Hara said.
Elementary schools
Jefferson Elementary School received grants to continue its partnership with the Jefferson Parent Teacher Organization and the city of Port Angeles to teach all fourth-graders to swim.
Two other Jefferson Elementary programs also were funded.
They are a summer reading program for high-risk first-graders and the school’s “enrichment clusters,” which is also supported by the Jefferson PTO.
Franklin Elementary School transportation expenses associated with enrichment cluster activities have been funded.
Hamilton Elementary School has received funds for the purchase of a new portable sound system to be used for physical education classes and other activities that require music.
Elementary students districtwide will experience a visit by author Mike Graf, who is best known for his book series, Adventures with the Parkers.
In the series are six books set in national parks, including Olympic National Park.
Middle school, high school
Stevens Middle School has been awarded funding for a engineering project for students to design a miniature golf course.
At Port Angeles High School, the foundation has awarded funds for the purchase of new pottery wheels for the art department.
The high school music department has been awarded a grant for a master choral class. Previously, Band Director Doug Gailey was awarded a set of chimes, but he has since found he can use the chimes from Roosevelt Elementary.
Start-up training for Peace Keepers — A Peer Mediation Program also has been funded. The program is in collaboration with Clallam AmeriCorps.
The foundation has awarded grants to schools and teachers for more than 15 years.
The grants are used to expand and enrich student experiences and help students achieve academically in hopes of increasing the number of students who graduate.
Some funds for School and Teacher Grants are raised at the foundation’s annual dinner, which will be held this year on Friday, April 16.
Details are available on the foundation’s Web site at http://tinyurl.com/y9tyuj8.
For more information, phone Steve Charno, foundation president, at 360-452-1977.
