Foundation News
Grant awards for the 23-24 school year increase student opportunities
A substantial contribution enabled CSEEF to fund 17 teacher-proposed grants totaling $63,700 for the 23-24 school year.
In fine arts, the Foundation approved three grants from the CHS music program to purchase five flugelhorns for the jazz band, new shields for the French horns to improve sound quality and safety, and a wireless microphone system for the marching band. The new equipment increases the band’s ability to compete at the same level as our competitors.
At Commerce Middle School, students will have access to reeds and mouthpieces for woodwind instruments and will also be attending a Dallas Winds Concert at the Myers Symphony Center in Dallas.
A.C. Williams Elementary will be adding instruments and materials to their music program.
The CHS English Department received funding for a color plotter printer to produce colorful visual aids and classroom projects. The printer enhances the level of creativity and allows the expression of ideas in a more visually compelling way.
A class set of iPads and two MAC laptop computers were funded for the CHS art department. The technology will support the digital art and animation course which is entering into its fourth year. Numbers in the course have doubled since its inception. The course bridges the gap between traditional arts and available careers after high school.
Encouragement to move away from teacher structured art assignments to students independently developing their own learning experience is provided by an in-class journal station which includes art media, books and informational resources. The station is designed to motivate students to explore their own areas of interest within the framework of art studies. The grant selection committee deemed this a
necessary component in the high school art program.
A.C. Williams Elementary will also gain new art materials to upgrade and enhance its program. Special education students will have more opportunities to become work ready, develop their cooking skills and experience life outside the classroom has they venture into the community to observe job opportunities, resources and businesses in our community. Special Olympics participation was also funded by the Foundation.
Fostering the success of our Robotics team was important to the Foundation. The state-championship robotics teams were awarded additional robotics kits and other support equipment to uphold their winning tradition. Several team members have graduated to enter engineering and computer science undergraduate programs.
Two Crazy Circuits Makerspace Sets will be purchased for fifth-grade science classes. The students will be able to demonstrate an elevated knowledge of properties of matter and electrical circuits to ensure success on the STAAR science test.
For math instruction at ACW, each of the 11 classrooms will get a kit with visual manipulatives, which promote problem solving by moving from abstract ideas to concrete.
