“This is another avenue and another agency that’s help for the school district, and they have been tremendous; they’ve been gracious to us over the years,” Dennis Williams said.
Kilgore Education Foundation President Gilbert Lopez told the Kilgore Lions club June 9 the foundation was organized in 2009 a non-profit designed to help students and teachers in Kilgore ISD,.
The foundation’s goals include providing funding not available to the district through other traditional funding sources, investing in positive programs that focus on student success and giving KISD employees grants and opportunities for innovative programs and projects.
The grant committee formed last fall and quickly began its search for programs which would benefit from a grant to help develop the idea further.
In May the foundation’s grant committee handed out four checks to help teachers at Kilgore High School develop innovative projects and programs that in some cases combine multiple classes and curricula, grant committee member Dustin Swaim said.
“It’s not a grant just for supplies. It crossed over different subject matters and this thing can just continue to grow,” Swaim said.
The greenhouse will be at the high school, so the students can monitor the plants’ progress more easily.
The committee awarded $8,380 to the project and its teachers to get the project started.
A second grant went to the “Tinker Shop,” which is a workshop with tools available to students and classes outside of metal shop, woodshop or Ag mechanics.
Chemistry and robotics teacher Lance Homeniuk explained in the application he brought his own personal tools for his students to use because they did not have any available to them at school when constructing their robots including those for the theater department’s latest production of “Aladdin” or other projects.
“A dedicated space available to all students and any class that includes constructing projects with hand tools, cordless power tools and some advanced technology would encourage teachers to incorporate some projects and encourage students to participate in those classes. I anticipate it to be especially motivating for those who enjoy working with their hands,” Swaim read from Homeniuk’s application.
The shop also would allow students not participating in a traditional shop class to learn the vocational trade of working with tools and technology.
Homeniuk received $4,550 to create the shop, which will include a laser printer and tools.
A rocketry program also received a grant, which will combine advanced, upperlevel math and science classes and allow students to participate in a new competition.
Structured similar to a cross-curricular pilot program class that began in January, KHS chemistry and physics teacher Jerry Martin’s proposal was to create a two-period class for seniors in which they will receive credit for both advanced quantitative reasoning (math) and engineering, design and problem solving (science).
“Students will work separately and in teams to develop the skills necessary to successfully design, build, launch and understand the forces involved with model rockets.
