NYSUT members in three school districts have won $5,000 grants from the NEA Foundation, a union-affiliated, nonprofit foundation supporting efforts to close the achievement gap and salute educational excellence and innovation. The winners are:
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Randolph Central Schools Teachers Aassocation members Amy Greenwald and Tanya Thomas, teachers at Randolph Central School (located between Olean and Jamestown in western New York);
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BOCES II Teachers Association members Shawna Gareau-Kurtz and Lindsey Post, teachers at the WE-MO-CO Career and Technical Education Center in Spencerport (west of Rochester); and
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Lisbon Teachers Association members Rebecca Buckingham and Abigail LaPage, teachers at Lisbon Central School (near Ogdensburg in the North Country).
Thomas and Greenwald's Student Achievement Grant will allow work with Special Education and English as a Second Language students to create information, mathematics and language skills through the creation of video podcasts to be shared with students in Randolph.
Gareau-Kurtz and Post's Learning and Leadership Grant will allow them to create a "teacher resource" library geared to new teachers.
Buckingham and LaPage's Learning and Leadership Grant will allow them to create instructional improvement teams in their school to improve and coordinate classroom instruction, and also focus on students at the highest risk of academic failure.
The NEA Foundation has awarded almost $1.5 million in grants in the past decade to educators in almost every state. Descriptions of current and past recipients, as well as details about the program and how to apply, are on The NEA Foundation Web site at www.neafoundation.org.