REF awards $51,397 in innovative teaching grants

Refugio educator, Rachel Rocha, holds up the $100 bill she received from the Refugio Education Foundation Monday, Aug. 7. (Contributed photo)

The Refugio ISD Education Foundation awarded 18 innovative teaching grants, totaling $51,397, to several of the Refugio ISD teachers on Aug. 7.

The presentations were made in the RISD Performing Arts Center on the high school campus.

At the end of the last school year, district teachers submitted applications requesting grants for specific items or events they would need funding for in the 2023-24 school year. The requested items/events are those for which funds are not allocated in the RISD budget. A selection committee reviewed the applications in the summer and chose this year’s recipients.

Grants were awarded to:

• Melissa Linney (third grade) – a Novel Effects subscription for a voice-driven app and two classroom sets of books for novel studies, $531.97;

• Twyla Thomas, Samantha Meza (9-12th grade) – college and military pennants for high school campus hallways, $675.85 awarded by H-E-B’s Steve Connor and Marlen Padron;

• Yvelle Salazar (sixth through eighth grade) – classroom visual aids and sets of graphic history novels, $750;

• Ted Buhrts (sixth- grade band) – band will attend a performance of Victoria Symphony’s “Peter and The Wolf” featuring Victoria Ballet Theatre, $750 award presented in honor of long-time RISD music teacher, the late Fran Slack;

• Travis McClellan and B. Nelson (ninth-12th grade) – lab equipment, $811.79;

• Travis McClellan (ninth-12th grade) – field trip to McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science in Houston, $1,368;

• Katie Green (ninth and 10th grade) - Field trip to San Antonio Zoo, $1,536

• Ryan Linney, Jeanette Barraza, Leslie Haug (4th) - Field trip to NASA Space Center in Houston, $1,548;

• Katie Green (9/10th) – Boreal Digital Compound Microscope, $1,567.80

• Sarah Lopez, RN, BSN, Jennifer Johnson, RN, BSN (12th grade) – scrubs and stethoscopes for the CTE Nursing Program, $1,683.52;

• Monica Baron, Selina Silvas, Anna Garcia (PreK-second grade) – Performance of “Click, Clack Moo Cows That Type” at the RISD Performing Arts Center by Ensemble Theatre of Houston, $1,650 award presented in honor of Fran Slack;

• Rachel Rocha, Britni Bernal, Michelle Everett (EC-fithth grade special education) – furnishings and sensory items for RES Sensory Room, $2,000;

• Anna Garcia (third-eighth grade) – performance of “Jack and the Beanstalk” fairy tale at RISD Performing Arts Center by Ensemble Theatre of Houston, $2,700 award presented in honor of Fran Slack;

• Kent Hawthorne (ninth-12th grade) - raised panel saw, $4,915.06;

• Olivia DeLeon, Eli Boxell, Brooke Jessop, Malaise Williams, Melissa Linney (PreK-fifth grade) – Inchy’s Bookworm Vending Machine for positive behavioral interventions and support, $6,639;

• Olivia DeLeon, Eli Boxell, Melissa Linney, Brooke Jessop, Malaise Williams (PreK-fifth grade) - student books for vending machine, $1,750 award presente by H-E-B;

• Justin Southern (seventh-12th grade) – updated welding booths with built in reflective shields which are welding fume exhaust ready that will facilitate use of multi-purpose welding machines and improve welding safety, $8,560.59; and

• Allie Upton (sixth-12thgrade) – eight class sets of Texas Instruments-Nspire CX II Graphing Calculators, $11,960

This grant, the largest ever awarded by the REF, was awarded in honor of the late Susan Sullivan Cox, RHS class of 1969, a lifetime supporter of Refugio ISD and a founding member and board member of the Refugio ISD Education Foundation.

Refugio ISD Education Foundation Innovative Teaching Grants to date have been 16 at $29,950.85 (year one); 13 grants at $38,940.63 (year two) and 16 grants at $32,718 (year three).

“We love supporting Refugio ISD. Since 2020, REF has awarded over $152,000 in grants thanks to the generosity of our local businesses and our alumni,” a spokesperson said.

In addition to the grants, REF also awarded all 52 teachers a $100 bill to help supply their classrooms.

The foundation has various fundraising events and giving opportunities throughout the year which allow the members to partner with the community, local businesses and RHS alumni.

Additional information about the Refugio ISD Education Foundation can be found on the organization’s Facebook page.

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