2023 Ellison Education Grant Recipients

Helen Andrews – Harriet Thompson Elementary – Grandview School District

Project Title: Thompson Explorers via Books and Games
Our 1st graders are at very different levels in reading. As a result, it creates significant challenges for teachers and students. The 1st grade team wants to strengthen the implementation of their “balanced literacy program”. The purchase of engaging leveled books with a wide variety of genres, allows students to help guide their own learning throughout the year.

Cynthia Bertomeu – Chelan Middle School – Chelan School District

Project Title: Family Inclusion Events
Student and family engagement declined sharply at Chelan Middle School because of Covid. As a way of “winning back” families, Cynthia and her team would like to bring back family literacy night, math, and spelling competitions to Chelan Middle School. Family nights will include special outreach to those families where English is not the first language spoken at home.

Kelly Briddon – Battle Ground High School – Battle Ground Public Schools

Project Title: Enhancing school library for English Language Learners
Kelly is the librarian at Battle Ground High School. The library has struggled to meet the academic needs of all students. As a result, Battle Ground will purchase 200 grade level books for non-English speaking students. Contemporary books in Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian will be available for the 2023-2024 school year.

Lee Butler – Stadium High School – Tacoma School District

Project Title: Special Education Resource Library
Lee works with high school students with reading levels between 1st and 6th grade. She will purchase “leveled” or age-appropriate texts for her LRC English classroom. Too many times, students don’t have books to engage their interests at the appropriate reading level. Lee has worked in other schools where leveled texts have made a huge difference in reaching students and will bring this practice to Stadium.

Liz Donat - Madison Elementary – Mt. Vernon School District

Project Title: Dual Language Literacy Family Nights
Madison is a bilingual school, and the kindergarten teaching team is looking to engage Spanish speaking families in a more effective way. The team understands student learning is much more effective when it’s a true partnership between the school, parents, and community. The team will plan and implement three “Leyendo Juntos” (reading together) nights during the school year. In addition to bringing families together, families will take home new “kits” of books and supplies each time that are high interest, culturally and linguistically sustaining.

Jordan Duncan – Orin Smith Elementary – Chehalis School District

Project Title: STEAM through Legos
Jordan will introduce “project-based learning” to his 3rd grade students at Orin Smith. There will be a special focus on students who “struggle” with staying on task during the school day. By starting a project with “investigation’” using Lego BricQ Motion lessons, the hope is to introduce a challenge that keeps students engaged in class and others.

Kimberly Fitzum – Tonasket Elementary – Tonasket School District

Project Title: Computer Coding Warriors
Kimberly’s grant will introduce students to computer science and technology with the purchase of Ozbot robots and software. Her first goal is to provide strong foundational 21st century computer science skills in an equitable environment. Goal number two is to supplement current learning opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math. In addition to being the full-time librarian, Kimberly also works with Highly Capable students one day a week.

Rena Janke Kilmer – Lakeview Terrace Elementary – Moses Lake School District

Project Title: Leveled Reading Group Enhancement
Moses Lake adopted a new reading curriculum at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. The focus is on whole language reading strategies and sight word recognition. Unfortunately, books provided for the “small group” sessions are based on genre as opposed to reading ability. Rena will purchase nine sets of books to address this discrepancy and use them to encourage student growth throughout the year.

Brooke Kempner – Beacon Hill Elementary – Seattle Public Schools

Project Title: “Enhancing Art Through Technology”
Brooke teaches art at Beacon Hill International Elementary. Beacon Hill will purchase 12 new iPads to be used by all students. iPads will allow students to use state-of-the-art technology-tools to enhance their learning. Her two goals are to encourage student ownership over their learning and provide different modalities to accommodate different learning styles and abilities.

Amberlynn Lane – Burnt Bridge Creek Elementary – Evergreen Public Schools

Project Title: “For Those About to Rock”
Many classroom instruments are too expensive for the typical household to own and specialized to be seen in the “real world”. Amberlynn will bridge this gap by bringing “real world” guitar skills to the whole school. Burnt Bridge Creek will purchase 26 mid-size 3 string electrical Loog guitars to use in her classroom. It will be a “modern band’ for students as young as kindergartners. Her goal is to engage students (as young as kindergartners) on a deeper level by using musical instruments they can relate to.

Patti Madison – Lydia Hawk Elementary – North Thurston Public Schools

Project Title: Supporting English Language Learners
Teachers working with limited and non-English speaking students would like to host a one-day “Kagan Workshop” training for all certified school staff. Kagan strategies are currently used by some teachers with great success, especially with ML students. Building leadership would like everyone to have the same training as a way of engaging all students throughout the day. Kagan focuses on teaching cooperative and communicative teaching strategies that cover academic content and English language fluency.

Amber McCarthy – White River Early Learning Center – White River

Project Title: Put the Play in K
White River Early Learning Center is a unique learning environment. It houses 10 kindergarten classes within the White River School District. Amber believes students should have access to “dramatic” play to address social and emotional deficits that are creating readiness gaps. Dramatic play supports skills required to be a learner and is an essential aspect of early childhood education. The school will purchase dramatic play bins for each classroom.

Veronique Paquette – Kenroy Elementary – Eastmont School District

Project Title: Empowering Social Skills via Coding
Veronique has taught for 35 years at Kenroy and has seen students struggle with “social norms” because of Covid. A new challenge has been to create learning opportunities that also address chances for students to practice social skills. Kenroy Elementary will purchase and use Sphero Robots throughout the week to engage her second-grade students academically and socially.

Emily Thomas – Gildo Rey Elementary – Auburn School District

Project Title: Spanish and Ukrainian Library Multilingual Learners
Emily supervises the “Multilingual Learners” at Gildo Rey. The number of Spanish and Ukrainian speaking students is growing, but appropriate materials to support those students is not. ML students are literate and enjoy reading but don’t have access to books in their home language like what their general education peers are reading. The Gildo Rey ML team will purchase age-appropriate books to enhance the ML library and engage all students in age-appropriate reading.

Hilary Tinnesand – Sager Middle School – College Place School District

Project Title: Solving Real World Problems Through Science
Science and technology have been introduced to all three grades at Sager. Hilary would like to expand the range of technology options to all students, especially to those underrepresented in technology professions. She currently uses C-STEM curriculum and will purchase new equipment and supplies to increase hands on learning opportunities. C-STEM uses technology and robotics to prepare all students for next generation science standards.

Allison Winward – Kamiakan High School- Kennewick School District

Project Title: Equitable Ecological Classroom Research
In an increasingly technological world, more careers will be linked to STEM. To enhance her students’ understanding of future “opportunities”, Alison will develop a series of inquiry-based lab activities focusing on the interactions between plants and mycorrhizal fungi. In addition, an inclusive STEM library will be established in her classroom for students to access.

Matthew Wysock – Colton High School – Colton School District

Project Title: Digital Sensors for Science
The science equipment and curriculum at Colton High School are decades old and in poor condition. Research shows students’ use of technology, analysis and data control deepens their understanding of scientific concepts. Like many rural communities, access to technology and its applications to science remains limited. Colton High School will update their science curriculum and will purchase PASCO digital sensors to collect, analyze and display data. PASCO sensors are digital, Bluetooth enabled and can be connected to Chromebooks, laptops, data loggers, iPad, and cell phones.

Courtney Yamamoto – Heritage High School – Evergreen Public Schools

Project Title: Creating a Culture of Reading
Courtney wants to create a culture and joy of reading in her classrooms. A class library will be purchased to engage high-needs students with literature “they see themselves” in. Starting with freshman English, relevant texts will provide students opportunities to grow their own reading abilities through choices they’ve made themselves.