NICEVILLE, Fla. — Bluewater Elementary School teachers Claire Erk and Lauren Brown have received a teacher grant for new buzzers for the school’s academic team and class activities.
Erk and Brown successfully applied for the $550 grant from the Okaloosa Public Schools Foundation.
“The students on our academic team are often the introspective students who do not always speak up,” said Erk and Brown in their grant application.
“Participating on the academic team has empowered these students to share their knowledge with other students and has made them leaders in the classroom.”
When they were gifted an old set of buzzers, students were even more excited to participate and share what they knew. They would often come to class after watching Jeopardy the night before and discuss what the Daily Double question was or who answered Final Jeopardy correctly.
It gave the quiet student a voice to share with others the excitement they had for learning, and it was contagious in the classroom. At dismissal time, they would ask to play trivia which was simply the teacher reading some kids’ trivia books for some quiet questions and answer time at the end of the day.
“A new set of buzzers will bring excitement to the students not only on the academic team but also the grade level as both teachers use them periodically,” they stated.
The Okaloosa Public Schools Foundation awarded 26 grants to teachers this year for a total of $53,599.67. The grants were funded in part by Gulf Power (now Florida Power & Light Company), CHELCO, the Okaloosa Public Schools Foundation, and the State of Florida through the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations.
The teacher grants were distributed to 15 different schools and 15 of the teachers are first-time recipients.
To support grant programs like these and many other activities promoted by the Foundation through tax-exempt donations, please visit the OPSF website.
