TEMPLE, Texas — Throughout the school year, five area businesses donated funds to assist in the Temple Education Foundation’s Innovative Teaching grant program. The businesses are HEB’s My Community Investment program, the Temple/Belton Board of Relators, the BBVA Foundation, Leadership Temple through the Chamber of Commerce and GrandeCares, a Grande Communications employee giving program, according to the TEF.
Grande employees can donate their time and a percentage of their pay to the Grande Cares Club, which in turn helps fund non-profit organizations in their service areas. GrandeCares is a private non-profit that helps create an “Internal culture of volunteerism and community service” for Grande employees.
“Our community involvement is based on our pledge to be here for our customers and communities,” said Mike Carrosquilla, Sr. VP of Operations and General Manager at Grande. “We take this pledge seriously and strive to make a positive impact by contributing to organizations that help our neighborhoods, children and adults in need, thrive.”
The Temple/Belton Board of Realtors gave funds for both the TEF Innovative Teaching grants and graduating senior scholarships.
The areas that HEB’s My Community Investment Program prefers to fund are education, literacy, the arts, diversity, health initiatives and environmental programs. The BBVA Foundation’s grant to TEF focused on curriculum-based programs for Pre-K-12 education.
"The BBVA Foundation is crafted around making a substantial and positive impact in the communities in which BBVA USA serves," BBVA USA Temple City President Tyler Johnson said. "We want to create opportunities for everyone across our footprint, and that includes supporting organizations like the Temple Education Foundation and incredible the work they do. Education is essential in creating opportunities for the next generation. We applaud TEF for their efforts, and know that the organization will continue to guide our community's youth down the right path."
With the support of these local businesses, TEF was able to host a second round of teaching grants for Temple Independent School District teachers that totaled $16,000.
TEF Grant Chair Sharon Williams said, “We are so thankful for our community businesses that made this round of grants possible. Each of the community grants focused on something different- building leaders, enriching the community, technology, or interdisciplinary skills. Through the support of our local businesses, our teachers were allowed the opportunity to have dreams turned into a reality. Students will be able to have more hands-on learning experiences. We want to give a heartfelt thank you to the community businesses that are investing in our students, our teachers, our schools and the future of TISD.”
The TEF grants committee surprised the 13 teachers that were awarded the funds on Friday at each of the eight campuses receiving the grants.
Teachers from all over TISD are invited to submit grant proposals to the Temple Education Foundation. The TEF grant committee reviews the grant applications and determines whether a teacher or team of teachers will receive funding for their grant proposal. Innovative Teaching Grants are designed to encourage, facilitate, recognize and reward innovative and creative instructional approaches to accomplish program objectives.
The TEF offers all Temple ISD staff an opportunity to apply for grants to fund innovative programs or projects to support higher levels of student learning.
Postings of the Grants in Action can be seen on Facebook throughout the school year.
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