Navasota ISD Education foundation awards nearly $30,000 in classroom, campus grants
NAVASOTA, Texas (KBTX) – Some Navasota teachers and administrators got a big surprise Friday. The Navasota ISD Education Foundation awarded 16 of them with grants totaling $29,921.76.
These funds will go toward classroom and campus improvements like innovative seating to enhance learning and technology that will give students hands-on experiences.
The grants will also be used for virtual experiences like field trips and music lessons.
“It’s good for the community to see some of the innovations that are happening within the district that maybe other schools don’t have,” the foundation’s president Marilyn Bettes said.
Navasota Junior High teachers Nelda Rodriguez and Angelica Almanza were awarded $3,890.91 for bicycles and tricycles for their students with various physical needs.
These will help promote engagement, gross motor skills and learning in a playful and social manner.
“Bikes are something you don’t need a license for,” Almanza said. “Even if they can at least go down the block to grandma’s house. It’s just giving them a little bit of independence for a population that doesn’t really get to experience too much independence.”
Navasota High School’s theater teacher Stephanie FitzSimon was awarded $1,846.34 for sewing machines and advertising materials.
FitzSimon said this will give her students hands-on experience with the behind-the-scenes facets of acting.
“My goal is to teach them that even if you’re not an actor on stage, that there are so many things that you can apply our class and our program to,” FitzSimon said.
The foundation has awarded $1,060,000 since 2003.