Grants for greatness
CHISHOLM TRAIL STEAM PROGRAM EXPANDS WITH EQUIPMENT FUNDING
By Alyssa Edstrom alyssa . edstrom @ nisdtx . org
Thirteen years ago , Chisholm Trail Middle School science teacher Sheila Greene submitted her first Northwest ISD Education Foundation grant application with fellow teacher Stacy Hamby and was awarded funding . Encouraged by the process , Mrs . Greene said she has applied for grants every year since .
The grants have helped expand the school ’ s STEAM – science , technology , engineering , art and mathematics – program with new equipment and tools . Since its inception , the foundation – commonly referred to as NEF – has funded more than $ 1.6 million in innovative teaching grants to Northwest ISD educators . The foundation ’ s goal is to provide resources to enable teachers and students to work at their potential and reward educators for the creative and exemplary teaching they bring to classrooms .
“ The great thing about NEF and what it offers teachers is that it gives you a chance to open your mind to what you would do or what concepts you would teach ,” Mrs . Greene said . “ If you could have whatever you needed to accomplish something really ambitious , what would you teach ?”
Once an application is submitted , recipients are chosen carefully by the selection committee composed of NEF board of directors and community partners who review and score each grant . The review process is anonymous to ensure each grant application is judged on its own merit .
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