Teacher Grant Awards 2020-2021

2020-2021, fifteen TEAM and individual Teacher Grants were awarded to 12 Bradley County and Cleveland City schools supporting innovative classroom projects not funded by the schools’ yearly budgets. Forty-eight creative and committed teachers were recipients of $55,000 in needed support through funding from the generosity of donors to BCPEF.

These projects deliver measurable academic success by planned, strategic focus to address the School Improvement Plan, Tennessee Standards or Comprehensive School Planning. BCPEF provides a grant writing workshop in August to assist and enable teachers to write winning proposals. Submitted proposals are scored using a rubric available on our website. Each grant is evaluated anonymously by 3 different Education Family Committee members and proposals meeting a cut-off score are reviewed and evaluated by the Grants Committee. Continue below to read about these industrious, creative teachers and the transformative instruction their grants will bring to their students.

Bradley County Schools Teacher Grant Recipients

• Stacey Wielfaert, Walker Valley High School, Classroom Libraries to Go!, Amazon Kindles for increased individualized reading.
• Sara Pennington, Kayla Rudy, Walker Valley High School, Can You Hear Me Now?: Personalizing Language Proficiency, online software and headsets to aid students in world language practice.
• Shanna Calfee, Ocoee Middle School, Clay in the Classroom: Integrating Visual Arts with Social Studies, Science and STEM, cross-curricular projects in visual arts delivered via a new ceramic kiln.
• Tracy Bremmer, Mary Hernandez, Chelsey Sutton, Heather Hammond, Bradley Central High School, ROAR: Raising our Academic Rigor, traveling technology center for the English department.
• Laura Anziano, Leigh Ann Burges, Erica Walker, Becky Denney, Charleston Elementary STEAM Academy, Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s Off to STEAM We Go!, equipment enabling STEAM projects
• Nikki Weathers, Sarah Hayes, Oak Grove Elementary, Read, Work, and Write On, 125 e-books for library collection.
• Courtney Howell, Summer Harbison, Amanda Taylor, Emily Ledford. Park View Elementary, Oh the Places We’ll Go With Osmo, STEAM learning kits
• Dedra Rich, Morgan Vibbert, Linda Davis, Stacy Hughes, Amanda Turner, Amber Burks, Shannon Belisle, Jody Dockery, Brittney Cantrell, Colby Ownbey, Kylee Rayfield, Chrissy Geren, Prospect Elementary, Foundations of STEM Innovation, Merge cubes, space rover Legos, 3-D printer
• Kara Withrow, Kikki O’Boyle, Jennifer Wilson, Faith Robinson, North Lee Elementary, “egg” cellent Readers, reading online subscription
• Joanne Gott, Rhonda Parris, Melissa Smith, Bryan Reese, GOAL Academy, Teaching Responsibility and Educating Kids, TREK Program, college and career help, art therapy

Cleveland City Schools Teacher Grant Recipients

• Grace Hodnette, Yates Primary Elementary School, Together or Apart, We Will Still Sing, virtual musical program software
• Loes Riggins, Cecily Williams, Cleveland Middle School, It’s G.A.M.E. Time: Grasping Academic Mastery through Mastery, board games for integrated learning.
• Grace Dyrek, Cynthia Van Pelt, Cleveland Middle School, e-Travelers, e-resources for e-library
• Ann Collins, Grace Avirett, Wendy Thomas, Candy’s Creek Cherokee Elementary School, Building Knowledge: Informational Text in the Primary Grade, non-fiction/information books for library
• Lesley Avery, Chelsea Isbill, Megan Martin, Candy’s Creek Cherokee Elementary School, Reading Rhythms to Enhance Literacy, poetry and percussion instruments