Manatee school programs win big with 2016 Manatee Community Foundation grants
BRADENTON -- The Manatee Community Foundation recently awarded the Manatee County School District more than $8,000 in grants for four different school projects, as part of the foundation's annual grant awards.
A $1,520 grant from the Harris and Micheline Silverman Fund will help support children who are deaf or hard of hearing. A $2,500 grant from the Eugene F. and Elizabeth Hull Fund will support the media center at Ballard Elementary School. And a $2,000 grant, also from the Hull Fund, will help support students earn a GED. A $2,853 grant will help Tillman Elementary School purchase a flipform riser for better seating during school performances.
The school grants are part of 44 total grants -- totaling more than $148,000 -- awarded by the Manatee Community Foundation this year. A reception will be hosted on Tuesday at the foundation's new location on Manatee Avenue to celebrate the grant recipients.
In addition to funding projects at schools, the 2016 foundation grants also benefit local nonprofits. Organizations like Turning Points, Manatee Library Foundation, Anna Maria Island Community Center and United Way of Manatee County will also benefit from this year's cycle of grants.
More than 440 students work through the media cen
ter at Ballard Elementary School. The grant money will help buys books for students to help ensure they are reading on grade-level. Media Specialist Nancy Bacon is looking to purchase fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels and award winning books for the library, and is specifically looking for "high-interest, low reader level" books. Those are popular book series -- like Pete the Cat or Puppy Mudge -- for those who are just learning how to read.
"I have very few books for them," she said. She estimated the grant money would be able to bring in about 250 new books to the library at Ballard.
The GED program at Manatee Technical College's north campus will see a boost in its ability to serve students who were not able to succeed in a traditional classroom with its grant. The program focuses on students between the ages of 16 and 18 who were not able to succeed in traditional settings and provides individual attention for about 50 students. Each Friday, coordinators try to have lunch for the students. They want to provide gift cards for when students pass one of the four sections of the GED. Once students complete the GED, organizers want to be able to give each student a tablet to help them as they further their education.
"This is to help give them incentives," Stacy Cummings, a teacher who helps run the program, said of the grant. "For every student that passes their GED test we're going to give them a tablet and help them with post-secondary education."
So far, 10 students have successfully completed their GED tests through the program, Cummings said. The program goal is to have the student earn their GED within six months and then continue their education at Manatee Technical College or State College of Florida.
Student performance will rise to a new level with the grant through the foundation. Instead of borrowing the riser from a nearby elementary or high school, the school will have a set of its own to use, after music teacher Rebekeh Lester wrote the grant, said assistant principal Ruby Zickafoose.
We're trying to do our part and be responsive to what the community is saying they need.
Other grant awards include:
$3,500 to the Art League of Manatee County to provide scholarships to the After School & Kids Art Camp.
$3,500 to the Family Network on Disabilities of Manatee/Sarasota to provide six hours a month of in-home respite care services.
$5,000 to the Humane Society of Manatee County for the volunteer program expansion.
$5,000 to the POPS Orchestra of Bradenton and Sarasota to support Bradenton concert performances.
$5,000 to the Manatee Players to support the action through acting program.
$5,000 to the YMCA Manatee County to provide financial assistance for middle school students to attend the Y Dash program.
A complete listing of grants can be found online at Bradenton.com.
Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.
This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 11:21 PM with the headline "Manatee school programs win big with 2016 Manatee Community Foundation grants ."