Apply for Grants

Documenting Rancho Wildcats through Digital Photography and ePortfolios - $1,024.62

• The goal of this project is for students to improve academically with the art of photography being linked to improved writing, vocabulary, and overall test scores. Also, the implementation of this project will build relationships that will lead to better mental health, lower absences, and fewer problem behaviors. To determine if we have met our goal, information will be collected through student, teacher, family, community surveys and feedback, and ePortfolio/yearbook publication. Finally, this project will not generate recurring funding obligations and we can maintain the resources needed to develop, deliver, and expand on our goals long term. 
  
           - Stacey Powell, Patricia Valdez & Chris Ransier at Rancho Isabella Elementary
  
  

A Total Eclipse of the Sun! - $1,079.88 

• April 8th 2024 a Solar eclipse will happen when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk. Kids will have the opportunity to watch it and learn from it. We want the kids to be safe during the event. The purpose of this grant is to provide eclipse glasses to every student so they can watch a once in a lifetime event of a total solar eclipse. This event will not happen in the southern United States within our or our students’ lifetime. This event will engage students in the learning of Science, and they can make connections between Science in the classroom and in real life.
            - Katy Medina & Roxane Moore at Westside Elementary
  
  

Phenomenal Phenomena - $2,580.89

• Imagine a science classroom where all the students are engaged with hands-on, real world, and applicable curriculum.  It would be phenomenal! This grant proposes a 3rd-5th grade vertically aligned item list of STEM based materials which would be useful to create this classroom.  After research and collaboration with 3rd-5th grade science teachers, these TEKS based materials will allow all students to make the connection between concrete, hands-on experiences and abstract science concepts.  In anticipation of the newly adopted 2024-2025 Science TEKS, which embraces phenomena, these items would be crucial for classroom teachers to enhance the learning of all students.
  
            - Betty Watson, Jacqui Hornkback, Kevin Gibbons & Kayla Parker at Central Elementary
  
  

SOAR Sensory Tiles - $1,119.92

• This grant will provide sensory tiles to Central’s special education students in the SOAR and ECSE programs. They can be utilized throughout the school to provide a calming environment for students to learn in. According to information gathered on autismspeaks.org, sensory tiles can help reduce anxiety by providing students with a visual and tactile calming technique. The tiles can be placed on the floor or affixed to walls with a simple adhesive. This gives each teacher the freedom to configure the tiles to the needs of their students. The tiles are washable and can also be installed in the restroom to help students with anxiety related to diapering or toileting. As an added bonus, tiles can be used for tactile learning with shapes, letters, and numbers.
  
            - Renee Cocoran-Myers at Central Elementary

Angleton Robotics: Out Driving the Competition - $2985.00

• This project is the next iteration of global, competitive robot games. Think: Battle Bots meets Formula 1 pit stops! Every year FIRST robotics, the organization responsible for the international high school robotics competition, creates a new team based game (3 robots v 3 robots) where teams work together to complete the objectives of the game in order to win ranking points. Each year the game is different, yielding dramatically varied robotic creations year after year. Past competition games included elements of traversing parallel bars, balancing three robots on a platform, shooting oversized tennis balls, and climbing up a rope, while hauling another robot…just to name a few. Regardless of the game format, one truth remains constant: speed and maneuverability win games. Until the last three years, most teams could create a highly competitive robot using a simple six wheeled, tank style driving system. That approach has since become obsolete with the introduction and implementation of powerful omni directional wheel modules dubbed “swerve drive.” While previously too expensive to even consider, costs have dropped and allowed the vast majority of veteran teams to make this investment. Teams from Sweeny, Pearland, and Houston all already have these modules. Essentially, if you wish your team to be competitive, you have to have swerve drive. For this reason, we are seeking funding for five swerve drive modules. Without this system, our hopes of regularly competing at the state championship, as we did in 2023, and/or the world championship will be essentially zero. Please consider funding our goal of being regular state competitors!
  
           - Benjamin Ashby AHS Robotics
  
  
  

Learning Together: Growing Leaders Through STEM - $2,999.43

• STEM projects provide unique opportunities for students to practice critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration, amongst other skills. Like other parts of elementary education, STEM is intended to give students a solid foundation for future learning. This project would allow students the opportunity to engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate different STEM projects while collaborating with their peers.  Along with increasing their academic knowledge, they will be developing lifelong skills such as communication, problem-solving, working with others, self-esteem, decision-making, creativity,  and more through STEM learning.
  
           - Jessica Lorenz & Lacey Sebesta at Rancho Isabella Elementary

Future City - $600

• Future City is a project-based learning program where students in 6-8th grade imagine, research, design, and build cities of the future. Each year, the Future City Competition poses a real-world question for student teams to answer while using the engineering design process.  This year’s question or design challenge is to create a city completely powered by electricity generated from sources that keep both citizens and the environment safe and healthy. The grant funds will be used to help start up this new project. 
  
            - Julia Haskins at Angleton Junior High
  

Calming Kits - $1,635 

• Calming Kits aims to provide widely used tools, such as stress balls, squishy toys, or fidget spinners, to teachers as a resource to provide to students. These objects help students manage their emotions and reduce anxiety or restlessness. By providing an outlet for excess energy, fidgets can improve focus and attention, leading to enhanced concentration during class and better academic performance. Calming fidgets can create a more inclusive environment, benefiting students with attention disorders, sensory processing challenges, or anxiety-related conditions. Their use promotes self-regulation and self-awareness, as students learn to identify their emotions and use the fidgets as coping tools. 
  
            - Lauren Taylor at Southside Elementary
  
  

Simple Machines STEM Build - $1,700

• While learning about simple and compound machines, the students have varying levels of complex, simple and compound machines that are built.  Once built, they demonstrate their build, what machines are included and how these are beneficial to everyday life and careers. 
  
  - Terra Curtright at Angleton High School

Book Studies - $2,827.85

• I would like to purchase books for 3rd through 5th grade to use for book studies. I want to update our campus library to include more recent titles that our students could relate to. My goal is to include titles that the teachers have wanted to use, but didn't have access to, as well as books that are relevant to the lives of our students.
             - Cassie Barrera at Rancho Isabella Elementary
  
  

Connecting with Nonfiction - $2,973.31

• This grant will allow us to update the nonfiction book selection available to students and staff at our school. Studies have shown that children often prefer nonfiction books over fiction books because they are still learning about the world around them. Nonfiction books provide facts and stories about real life topics that spark children's interest. Nonfiction books also support children's development by encouraging critical thinking skills, building vocabulary and language skills, connecting with the world, and comprehending complex texts.
               - Cheryl Scarborough at Northside Elementary
  
  

Sound Wall Mirrors - $832.51

• With the culmination of the Reading Academy, teachers were ready to implement practices in their classrooms that support the science of teaching reading. Sound walls were an excellent way to explicitly teach phonemes, (the smallest unit of sound) which begins the process of learning to read. The daily sound wall routine includes time to explore mouth formation so students can see what their lips, teeth, and tongue should be doing to make the various sounds. Mirrors are an integral part of this process, allowing them to be up close and personal with their own mouths and see how the sounds are made. By implementing sound walls in each classroom, and allowing students to make observations of their mouths, teachers can support early literacy attainment. With these practices, we seek to grow students in their knowledge of letters, sounds, and words by teaching them essential decoding and encoding skills. The district's goal of each child leaving on level can certainly be attained with the implementation of this resource.
  
                  - Christy Bragg at Southside Elementary
  
  

WISE - Women in Science - $1,438.6

• The purpose of this grant is to expose girls to women in science. Girls must understand how pivotal a role women have had and continue to have in this predominately male field. Our book club will focus on books in fiction and nonfiction that center around females in science.
  
                  - Andrea Rubio and Melissa Butterfield at Angleton Junior High