2014 Awarded Grants

Apple iPad Air | Doug Ragan – High School

The HEF awarded a grant for the purchase of an Apple iPad Air to a be used for improving immediate feedback in the high school chemistry classroom. With a faster processor, this iPad will help students receive feedback more quickly by reducing the uploading time of the students’ work, and therefore, allow for faster feedback from the teacher. With larger storage, pictures and videos of the students’ work, including their explanations, can all be stored safely on the device without having the fear of running out of space.


RAZ Kids | Toby Jurewicz – South Elementary

The HEF awarded a grant for the purchase of RAZ Kids software to be used by kindergarteners in their ELA centers. These are pictures of some of the students using the software. They use it every morning. Each student has the opportunity to work with it for 10 minutes. They LOVE it!

Sensory Toolbox | Jodi DeHoop, Beth Morey, Jeff Tubergen – Alward Elementary

The HEF awarded a grant for the purchase of a Sensory Toolbox to be used by any student whose learning would benefit from the use of objects or exercises that meet specific sensory needs.


Sight Word Cards | Anderson, Stefanich, Bolhuis – Jamestown Elementary

The HEF awarded a grant for the purchase of Snap Words sight word cards for our first grade classrooms. These cards are used with students to help them learn and memorize sight words, which aids them in their early reading stage. Students often struggle to memorize these words. The sight word cards offer a picture cue, as well as a motion to help the kids memorize the words. After the picture and motion have been memorized, the picture cue is removed. Children have great success in remembering the sight words when this cue is removed. Many students continue to do the motion with the word without even thinking about it. The children are also recognizing these words in their every day reading and not just on the flash cards. These cards have been such a help to many of our struggling readers. They are fun for the students and are an easy and quick way to help with this memorization piece in reading.

24/7 Reading | Kissane, Broek, Hoekema, Jurewicz – South Elementary