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Past Awardees

2020 - Mercedes Anderson, who works for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District used funds to purchase balance bikes to aid her pre-k students in their growth of gross motor development. 

2019 - Travis Cooper planed to engage students in novel hands-on learning focusing on increasing algebraic thinking, problem solving, and valuing mistakes as moments of learning. To do this, he will purchase and utilize five or six more Ozobot Bit’s (robots) in his classroom. 

2018 - Robyn Capp used her mini grant to purchase Lending Kit Libraries for her students in order to enhance their reading skills.

2018 - Ben Griese, who works for Southwest Region School District, used his mini grants to purchase sensory bottles for non-messy sensory play.  

2017 - Robyn Capp teaches in the ABEL program in Fairbanks. She will use her grant to create Social and Emotional Learning lending kits to support instruction of these critical skills across grade levels. 

2017 - Ben Greise teaches at Chief Ivan Blunka school in the Southwest Region District. Ben will use the mini-grant to create sensory bottles designed to support emotional regulation, motor skills and proprioceptive development. 

2016 - Abigail Paul teaches resource at Watershed Charter School in Fairbanks.  The school stresses place-based curriculum.  Abigail will use her mini-grant to purchase supplementary reading materials to motivate student reading and to tie into content they are learning in their classes.

2015 - Bev Kirk teaches students with autism and designed a culturally responsive lesson to teach about emergency preparedness in rural Alaska.  The lesson included talks by native elders, instruction in native dance, drumming and art.  Ms. Kirk provided backpacks for each student filled with non-perishable food and other items for the student and their families to help sustain them if a disaster should strike.

2014 - Iris Hartshorn, teaches students who struggle with reading and writing, and wanted to build up these skills using the iPad and the app Clicker Books.  This app helps students quickly build their own books, and uses the camera on the iPad to illustrate them.  Depending on the writing levels of the students, there are types of word banks and support structures to help students be successful writers. This project allowed her to have groups of 3-4 students make a book each week, increasing writing and technology skills.  Since the books can be printed they were sent home with the students to share with their families, to build up a high interest library for the students to read independently at school.  By bringing the iPads into the classroom a high level of interest to the lesson and increased digital literacy occurred. 

2013 - Stephanie E. Nafpliotis, a new preschool teacher this year in Fairbanks, Alaska. She incorporated some healthy living lessons into her school day and purchased books, toothbrushes, healthy snacks, and puzzles and/or manipulatives to use in the classroom as a great way to teach 3-5 year olds about healthy habits of eating and good hygiene.

2012 - Connie L. Sankwich, a special education teacher in the Native Village of Quinhagak, Alaska. She implemented a project as part of her student's life skills training that involved them creating a recipe book. Students would do activities such as baking cookies or cake, making sandwiches, juice, trail mix and other healthy snacks that they may learn to prepare at home.  Each student would create and maintain their own recipe book by taking a picture at each stage of an activity and then sequencing them into their respective books. The students would benefit by being able to apply what they have learned to their home environment. The book would be a tool that they will be able to use at home.
 

Last Updated:  19 January, 2021

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