Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools issued the following announcement on November 12.
Our thanks to the “Kernersville News” for permission to post this story by Jennifer Owensby Eminger who also took the photos. This is Part 2 of 2.
Grant 56By Jennifer Owensby Eminger
Lifestyles Editor
“Kernersville News”
NOVEMBER 10, 2021 – After a difficult year teaching during a pandemic, teachers were grateful to see the Surprise Patrol enter their classrooms on Thursday, October 28 to present them with grants from the Chamber of Commerce Education Grant Program.
Through the Education Grant Program, the Chamber of Commerce, with the help of the community, has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars since the inception of the program in 2003. Since that time, the program has grown from awarding three grants, to this year when they were able to award 48 grants with $19,364 going to 13 area schools.
The money that fuels the program comes from both the Eating for Education and Shopping for Education programs, where local residents dine in participating restaurants and shop in Downtown Kernersville on three designated days over the summer, with restaurants and shops donating a portion of their sales on those days to the Education Grant Program, as well as the generous donations from Chamber members businesses.
Grant 31Chamber CEO and President Chris Comer noted that these grants are very beneficial to Kernersville’s students and teachers.
“The grants are so beneficial because they allow teachers to give additional learning opportunities that may not be in the budget,” she said.
Some of the teachers who received their first Chamber Education Grant shared what the grants mean to them and how they plan to use the money they received in their classrooms.
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Jenny Watson, who teaches sixth through eighth grade at Southeast Middle School (SEMS), said she was both surprised and humbled when the Chamber Surprise Patrol came into her classroom to present her with her grant, titled “Spreading Kindness Around Kernersville.”
Watson said her grant will help her students make an impact on bullying.
“Did you know that (nationally) over 160,000 students don’t come to school every day because they are afraid of being teased or bullied? Our school (students and staff included) knows that this is way too many students,” she said.
“My students want to change this fact and make more of an impact toward their classmates and community. We recognize that bullying is a major problem. If it is not prevented at this developmental age, it begins to escalate into more violent acts. We also realize that one way to help reduce bullying is to encourage kindness and respect throughout the student body and our entire community.”
Working together, Watson said two school organizations within SEMS have decided to focus on a series of projects throughout the school year focusing on bullying prevention and addressing it through acts of kindness, using the acronym, You Can “COUNT” on Kindness.
In this acronym, C stands for Community and school awareness; O stands for Others matter; U stands for Unify our school; N stands for Nurture relationships; and T stands for Tolerance for diversity. Watson said each of these five statements became “goals” for their entire project.
Watson explained that their goal will include school-wide activities for Unity Week and Random Acts of Kindness Week. In addition, they will use the funds provided to create community service projects that our students will work on to donate to a variety of Kernersville area non-profit organizations.
Some of those community service projects would include providing “Welcome” kits for new students moving into the Kernersville area; items for Random Acts of Kindness Week; banners/posters/décor to promote kind acts throughout the school year; and items for the “Targets of Kindness” project, which she said will allow them to show appreciation for the school community (staff) that is often forgotten.
Through the project, Watson said students will not only be helping the community and engaging in service learning, but they will also learn a variety of skills including learning leadership skills, money management, and goal setting strategies; and will assist in providing more of a sense of community between SEMS and the local community assisting with the projects.
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Cash Elementary School Exceptional Children’s Teacher Assistant Amy Matthews received her first education grant this year and was very surprised when she was presented with her grant, which she titled “Socially and Emotionally Aware Ninjas.”
“As part of my position, I work with children on the autism spectrum, all of which are boys. I decided to write the grant because my colleagues and I are always looking for fun ways to help them grow their social skills, and this book series uses child ninjas to teach them all about those skills. I think this will be a fun book series that will keep their attention,” she said.
“This book series will help expose our students to skills they can define, but sometimes can’t put into practice. Repetition is key; however, in the same vein the more we can diversify their exposure to the same information, the more opportunities for them to make a connection and retain new information.”
Matthews noted how important funding such as the Chamber Education Grants are for teachers.
“Our school is fantastic and incredibly supportive, but every school has its financial limits and this grant gives educators the opportunity to expand their classrooms to keep up with the ever-changing needs of students,” she said.
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Union Cross Elementary School K5 Media Specialist Colleen Yarnell noted this is the fourth grant she has received from the Kernersville Chamber of Commerce.
Yarnell said her grant, titled “Library and Makerspace STEAM materials,” will allow her to install Lego baseplate walls to the library and the school’s new Makerspace room.
“I teach all of the students in the school and I need to have spaces to challenge them, spark their interests in learning new things, which also sparks interest in books, both for fiction and non-fiction topics,” she said.
Yarnell explained that there are often not enough funds for things like this.
“I have two full book fairs each year to raise money for the library, but that is used for books,” she said. “This grant gives us flexibility that we don’t always have to purchase things to benefit our students’ educational experiences.”
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East Forsyth Middle School sixth grade English and Social Studies Teacher Stephanie Moser said this is the third education grant she has received from the Kernersville Chamber of Commerce. Her grant was titled “Student Council Outdoor Classroom.”
“The East Forsyth Middle School Student Council did their own research and came up with the idea to create an outdoor classroom and students wanted to purchase picnic tables, benches, and stepstones for walkways,” she said, noting that this is a student-led project that will allow students to have an alternative place to learn.
“Students will now be able to be outside and learn in a different environment.”
Original source can be found here.
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