Local teachers awarded grants by Directions Credit Union
Teachers in the region are getting a little extra boost to help with classroom needs. Directions Credit Union announced 17 winners from the Directions Cares for Classrooms Grant Program Winter 2024. Five of them are from the North Central Ohio area.
“Educators play such a vital role in the lives of their students, and they often spend their own money to purchase supplies, materials, and items to make their classrooms complete or to help students that may need something extra. Directions Cares for Classrooms is a small way we can say thank you to all the wonderful educators making a difference,” said Barry Shaner, president/CEO at Directions Credit Union.
Directions Cares for Classrooms grant program provides educators with small grants up to $500 each to be used for a variety of projects and materials, including books, software, calculators, math manipulatives, art supplies, audio-visual equipment, lab materials and more.
The grant program is open to K-12 educators who work for public, private or charter schools in the Directions field of membership, which includes schools in Ashland, Crawford, Fulton, Huron, Knox, Lucas, Richland, Tuscarawas, Wayne, Wood, Monroe (MI) and Lenawee (MI).
The local winners are:
Matt Anderson – Plymouth Shiloh Middle School/Plymouth: The grant funds will be used to purchase two coding robots. Students will learn how to program computers and begin to understand the importance of the step-by-step process required to be successful.
Hannah Sudduth – Ontario High School/Ontario: This intervention specialist will be using the funds to start a coffee cart to deliver coffee to teachers and staff in the building. Teaching skills that may transfer into jobs, such as following directions, working as a team and customer service skills.
Andrea Barker – Ashland West Holmes Career Center/Ashland: The grant funds will be used for a nutrition and wellness course. Students will explore and work with nutrition basics, nutrition for physical performance, nutritional design and food planning.
Kelly Jung – Pioneer Career & Technology Center/Shelby: The plan for these funds is to update and improve the cooking equipment in the family and consumer sciences lab. The grant will help with items such as cutting boards, spatulas and skillets along with a stainless-steel prep table.
Heather Reynolds – Madison South Elementary/Mansfield: The grant funds will be used in a cross categorical classroom. This project will focus on students learning social and emotional skills using video. Utilizing a camera camcorder and a digital camera the students will perform skits with a focus on topics such as “What to do when I get Angry”, “Making Friends” and “What is anxiety and what to do when I have it.”
Directions Credit Union received 144 applications.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Directions Credit Union announces teacher grant recipients
