The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

November 10, 2008

Beckley foundation presents mini grants at board meeting

By Jackie Ayres

The Beckley Area Foundation awarded several mini grants to local teachers at the board meeting last night.

This year, the foundation has awarded about $17,145 to Raleigh County public and private schools in grades pre-K through 12.

To qualify for the grant, teachers were asked to submit an application in reference to a creative-innovative class project they were interested in constituting in their classroom.

The committee, made up of community volunteers and teachers, selected the winners in a blind selection process.

“When they are reading the grants, they do not know the name of the teacher or the name of the school where the grant came from,” said Susan Pietrantozzi, who presented the awards on behalf of the Beckley Area Foundation.

Winners included Karen Bonnett of Sophia Soak Creek Elementary School for “Wii Sports in PE,” Jennifer Kuhn of Independence Middle School for “Blogs, Wikis, & Podcasts — Publishing for the Net Generation,” and David Dowdy of Liberty High School for “Another Man’s Treasure: Recyclable 3-D Painting,” among many others.

Of the winners, Pietrantozzi said, “It’s exciting for me to read these grants and know that the students in this county are in very good hands. I appreciate you very much.”

All projects will be completed by the end of the school year.

- - -

In other business:

- The board looked at enrollment numbers Pre-K through 12 presented by Assistant Superintendent Janet Lilly and Nelson Spencer, director of secondary education for Raleigh County Schools.

Comparing numbers to the 2007-2008 school year, the board found that although a variance was found among schools (students moving from school to school), for the most part, the numbers stayed the same.

“Nothing stood out in terms of growth or decline,” Spencer said. Schools such as Daniels and Shady Spring elementary are currently near full capacity and the board will eventually have to re-evaluate options to accommodate pre-K students.

- The board moved to cancel any plans to enter into a contract with Emerald Data Solutions Inc., “Board Docs.”

Recently, the board converted to using computerized “paperless” meeting agendas.

A committee was appointed to explore a more user-friendly, secure program to provide meeting agendas and minutes of future board meetings.

— E-mail: jayres@register-herald.com

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