SKSR awards grants to local educators

Each fall Sno-King School Retirees, an organization composed of retired and active employees of the Edmonds, Northshore, and Shoreline School Districts, offers grants of up to $300 to its active members for special projects that enrich their students’ educational experience (e.g., field trips, guest speakers, materials for integrated units of study) or for materials/equipment to augment their students’ learning (e.g., noise-cancelling headphones). 

Since the grant program was started in 1998, SKSR has awarded over $104,000 to its active members in these districts.

Because of continuing social distancing restrictions, this year’s applications could not be for field trips or in-person presentations.

This year’s SKSR funded a total of $6,392 to the following grants:

EDMONDS SCHOOL DISTRICT

Cedar Way Elementary

• Michelle McShane: Materials which will allow kindergarteners to practice fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination as well as social skills while working on math objectives. (kindergarten)
• Kristi Pihl: Animal non-fiction books to engage struggling readers, enrich their science curriculum, and serve as non-fiction writing models. (1st grade)

Edmonds Heights K-12

• Erin Zackey: Materials for “Art in Science” which combines science, writing, and art for students in first to sixth grade. (science, art, writing)

Hilltop Elementary

• Sarah Allsop-Fine: Three sets of recommended high interest/low reading level fiction and non-fiction titles to develop an interest in reading. (5th grade)
• Matt Grover: Multiple copies of three historical fiction titles written at different reading levels for Historical Fiction Clubs. (4th grade)

Lynndale Elementary

• Catherine Feller: A bass and humidifiers for fifth and sixth grade students. (music)
• Clarence Korf: Thirty-seven dyslexic-friendly books that will provide a wider range of reading material for students struggling with literacy acquisition. (library)

NORTHSHORE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Canyon Creek Elementary

• Annie Hall: Materials for a classroom Makerspace with the goals of strengthening problem solving and critical thinking skills as well as building persistence and enhancing collaborative work. (4th grade)

SHORELINE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Briarcrest Elementary

• Cindy Ebisu: A class set of good quality headphones for use in a variety of classroom activities, especially literacy. (3rd grade)
• Amy Pitts: A license for class access to IXL, a math program. (2nd grade)

Brookside Elementary

• Sarita Benson: Two zoom presentations by author Will Taylor: one on the elements of story writing and another on the writing process. (4th grade)

Echo Lake Elementary

• Jean Bolivar: Copies of books nominated for WA Library Awards to increase the school’s participation in choosing the winners. (library)
• Shari Bronsther: Books to stock the school’s book vending machine in support of the schools PBIS system. (4th grade)
• Kathryn Pihl: Books for beginning word readers. (1st grade)
• Joe Wack: Books that feature characters that reflect the diversity in his classroom. (2nd grade)

Parkwood Elementary

• Bethany Ibach: Materials to create Math Toolkits which support practicing math through games and activities. (1st grade)

Ridgecrest Elementary

• Joanna Freeman: To expand the school library’s collection of books that encourage and support primary readers reading on their own. (library)
• Monica Holdridge: Chapter books to use with reading intervention groups. (Title/LAP)

Syre Elementary

• Jennifer Altena: Library books which offer independent reader choice for K-5 students. (library)
• Katie Dawdy: Non-fiction to use as models in the Being a Writer curriculum. (3rd grade)
• Amy Pleasant: Biographies highlighting the accomplishments of women and people of color. (3rd grade)
• Marybeth Scherf: Biographies highlighting the accomplishments of women and people of color. (3rd grade)

Because of COVID-19 constraints, SKSR is not able to recognize these educators at in-person staff meetings; however, some of the schools are graciously inviting SKSR into their zoom meetings.

SKSR is proud to recognize the efforts of its active colleagues by providing these additional resources.

--Karen McElliott