STEM-tastic Learning Bins
$308.50 Awarded

My 5th grade students are curious, hands-on learners who love to explore, build, and create. With STEM learning bins, they will have the opportunity to develop essential problem-solving skills through exciting challenges in engineering, math, and science. These bins will be filled with materials like building blocks, magnets, circuits, and other interactive tools that encourage teamwork, creativity, and perseverance.

This grant will support our bilingual learners by ensuring access to STEM resources and Spanish-language books and materials that strengthen both scientific literacy and language development. Incorporating STEM texts in Spanish will help students build vocabulary, strengthen comprehension, and connect scientific concepts to real-world applications in their second language. With these resources, my students will be able to experiment, design, and discover—helping them build confidence in STEM and inspiring them to become the innovators of the future!

Library Collection Enhancement Proposal
$858.00 Awarded

The PLSAS strategic plan prioritizes academic excellence, optimize resources, and positive learning environment. Our media center plays a crucial role in achieving these objectives by offering relevant and up to date material. However, two specific areas of our collection require updates due to outdated materials and students needs:

1. Spanish-Speaking Countries Collection

o First-grade students conduct annual research on the 21 Spanish-speaking countries, exploring culture, population, customs, history, and industry.

o Students create informative posters based on their research, which are shared in classrooms and community spaces.

o The library supports this project by providing books for research, but the average publication date of our current collection exceeds 10 years, with some books over 20 years old. Updated resources will provide more accurate and engaging content for student learning.

2. United States Collection

o Our fourth-grade students complete a state research project, compiling facts on capitals, industries, populations, flags, and key landmarks.

o These projects encourage deeper engagement with geography and social studies.

o The most recent books in this collection were published in 2003, and several state books have been lost over time, leaving gaps in our collection.

12th Grade Diversifying Book Choices
$500.00 Awarded

General level English 12 students come from a variety of backgrounds, but many plan on attending a 2 or 4 year school after graduation. Throughout schooling, many students do not experience a novel that provides a narrator that looks like them OR provides an experience different than their own lives. We would like to increase and diversify the number of novels we are able to offer students during our Book club unit in English 12. This will help us replace novels lost during COVID and add additional texts to meet the needs and identities of our students for the 25-26 school year. By reading high interest texts from diverse authors/genres, students will:
-Gain Empathy (reading is the number 1 way to gain empathy for those around you)
-Research proves that independent reading benefits you and your future goals
-Reading is the only way to get better at reading
-Reading is linked to overall academic and economic success

Student Wellbeing with Digital Clocks
$256.50 Awarded

The intent of displaying digital clocks throughout our elementary building—including hallways, the cafeteria, and the gym—is to enhance time awareness, promote independence, and support structured routines for all students. Digital clocks provide a clear, accessible, and easily readable format, benefiting students of all abilities, including those who struggle with analog clocks, time management, or executive functioning.

Who Benefits?

All Students: Improves time awareness and supports daily transitions.
Students with Disabilities: Aids those with learning differences, executive functioning challenges, and time-processing difficulties.
English Language Learners (ELLs): Provides a universally understood numerical format for telling time.
Teachers & Staff: Helps reinforce structured routines and transition expectations.

By integrating digital clocks throughout the school, we create a more inclusive, supportive, and structured educational atmosphere, fostering confidence, independence, and overall student success.

German Free Library
$250.00 Awarded

The acquisition of a second language is best achieved by providing language input that is comprehensible and of interest to students. Proficiency is achieved by repeated exposure to language. The German department is the only World Language that does not have sufficient numbers of appropriately leveled novels to start a Silent Sustained Reading component to the curriculum. It is desirable that every student has access to novels for weekly reading periods. The implementation of Free Voluntary Reading (or SSR) distinctly supports the High School SAG goal of increasing the percentage of students who are at Meets ACT BenchMark Readiness Integration of Knowledge and Ideas in reading.

HS Calming Room Update
$862.50 Awarded

In collaboration with occupational therapists, special education staff, and an interior design class, we are redesigning our calming break room to better support students' needs. Currently, students are refusing to access the designated area as they note it feels “sterile”, “uninviting” and doesn’t support regulation. Many students have individual education plan (IEP) goals around finding strategies and identifying tools and supports for self-regulation and our break room is not one of the current tools being identified by students as a resource. We want to support students' emotional and mental well-being and provide a safe space and environment as they work through adolescent struggles and situations.

We have 22 students within our center-based program that have developmental, neurological, trauma, and medical conditions. We want to provide a space that invites them to process through setbacks and struggles and allows them access to a welcoming space and sensory tools that can support this dire need. We hope that in creating a more calm visual and organized environment that provides a variety of sensory and regulation tools, students will want to access this space and feel more comfortable in the school environment that is highly challenging for this population of students with diverse and special needs.

Mud Kitchens and Supplies
$500.00 Awarded

Last year, a courtyard space in our building was cleared and pea rocks were put down in this area. Students and classes use this space but not on a consistent basis. The addition of some mud kitchens and supplies would greatly increase the use of this area and would be a benefit to the multiple early learning programs here at Edgewood. Mud kitchens allow children to experiment with simple natural materials in infinite combinations, providing endless opportunities for nature-centered play and learning. By combining scientific exploration and art, mud play cultivates children’s independence, creativity, and curiosity. Mud kitchens help children learn cooking processes and vocabulary modeled by the teacher. Any student at Edgewood would be able to use this mud kitchen during their outside time (which generally happens daily). Making and eating food or pretending to-is universal and bridges and connects families and cultures.