[November 25, 2009] Giving Back To Teachers, Students Through Grants Tweet Nov 25, 2009 (The Leeds News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Last week 18 teachers were awarded $10,460 in grants through the Leeds Education Foundation. The six-member LEF issued the winning grants after selecting them from 27 applications. There were several ELMO projector grants. No, that's not Elmo, the Sesame Street character; it refers to a document scanner that lets teachers show their classes items on an electronic projector instead of having to worry with cumbersome overhead projectors of the past or their often-messy overhead slide paper. It allows teachers to show classes anything from a book they might be reading to a science project that they might be working on that involves hand-on actions. The Leeds High School ELMO grants will be pairing up with grants for laptops and a digital camera to enhance their ability to interact online by streaming current projects they are working on or watch speeches given via the Internet. Leeds Middle School math teacher Stephanie Dillard-McClain was awarded a "Math You Can See" grant. She explained to the LEF that because so many students are kinesthetic learners, that she wanted to have a way for students to learn often-complicated concepts in algebra. The Math You Can See program allows students to move patterns, use metric and English weights and continue raising the bar for National Standards in math scores. "My kids are going to be so excited," she told the LEF board. Another math grant was awarded to high school teacher Valorie Purser for a resource that will let students learn the important Algebra 1A and 1B concepts more efficiently. Leeds Elementary was awarded a Learning Library grant as well as an Engaging Literature for the Classroom grant. The Learning Library will allow kids to not just put a book in their hand, but have one that lets them perform certain critical thinking exercises while reading. Several grants awarded to the LES will help all students throughout the K-5 spectrum improve their understanding and thinking about literature. Susan Hutto of Leeds Middle School was awarded a grant that will allow her students to utilize video recording while they work on projects and upload them to enhance their understanding of today's virtual technology. The Leeds High School science department will take a great leap forward after Bryan Swift's grant was awarded that will allow for students to get one of the best understandings of the DNA structure around today. The first-year recipient said that giving students the chance to learn the tools used in current labs, such as being able to map out the DNA structure is more than an asset to his classroom. There were many other grants awarded by the LEF. For more information, contact your local Leeds schools to learn more about what the LEF is doing to improve education throughout the tri-county city. To see more of The Leeds News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.theleedsnews.net. Copyright (c) 2009, The Leeds News, Ala. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]