Education Foundation Awards teacher grants

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Spring, 2022 - Four educators on two Kilgore ISD campuses have recently received educational enhancement grants from the KISD Education Foundation to further their innovative educational goals.  The grants totaled $45,000.

Marissa Coop and Dustin Swaim both teach innovative courses at Kilgore Middle School that help students apply learning to real-world applications.  Coop’s classroom was awarded a $5,000 grant to help her students explore careers in the forensic science fields.  Swaim and his students were awarded a $5,000 grant to help construct an outdoor education learning lab. 

KISD Instructional Technology Coordinator, Mr. Carl Mohn, received a $25,000 grant to help towards the addition of digital learning breakout rooms in the Kilgore High School library, and KHS Principal April Cox was awarded a $10,000 grant to add flexible learning space furniture and furnishings to create additional collaborative learning spaces.  

By continuing to develop the KHS library as a media and academic student center, Ms. Cox explained that the project will give learners, “…flexibility and innovation in their learning environment and help them develop skills they need to further their learning journey.”

The Kilgore ISD Education Foundation’s mission is to endow and enhance the educational experience of KISD students by providing financial support for district-wide programs and activities.  The Foundation was founded in 2009 and is comprised of many Kilgore community supporters who invest their time and effort to enhance the educational excellence of our KISD schools and students. 

Grant applications will be published March 17, 2025.  

Grant applications are due by 5:00 pm on Monday, March 31,  2025.  

The good folks at the Foundation are more concerned with your great ideas than they are worried about what category is marked.  We suggest simply choosing the category that best matches the overall focus of your grant application.  

If you end up having some furniture on your "Digital Learning Initiative" or some technology on your "Instructional Initiative," that is OK.  

Although this portion of the Foundation grant will only fund a project up to $1,500, it is certainly possibly that you may combine these grant funds with other funding sources.  

Maybe you have a rich uncle that will kick in some more money.  Maybe there's another grant.  

In general, the Foundation will look favorably on projects that also show support from a variety of sources. 

That is not a problem ...  The Foundation hopes that every grant will continue to pay dividends long after the one year period of the grant is over.  

That said, the success or failure of the grant program will be evaluated based upon that one year time frame, so make sure you state your objectives with that in mind.  

Each grant must be approved by the campus principal.  The Foundation wants to make sure that grants are in line with the campus and district improvement plans.  

Following that district/campus approval, grants are assigned a tracking number and names are removed.  The Foundation then assesses each application based on the merits of the idea.  The top candidates are then invited to pitch their proposals  to the Foundation committee.

You can contact your principal, the Curriculum Department or Leah Gorman (lgorman@kisd.org) for assistance.  Note that these District employees are NOT on the Foundation committee that awards the actual grants, but they are able help track down answers or offer guidance on how to align your great idea with district objectives.