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By Toni Garrard Clay/AISD Communications Specialist
As members of the Athens High School drum line made their way boisterously through the halls of Athens Middle School Tuesday morning, doors began to open and the faces of several dozen inquisitive teens and their teachers began to pour into the hallway to discover the cause of all the spirited commotion.
The brouhaha was organized by members of the Athens Public Education Foundation. The occasion was the annual awarding of grants to teachers across the district who successfully applied to APEF to receive funding for learning programs, projects or materials not covered under the district’s budget. At campus after campus, members of APEF and the Athens ISD administrative team surprised teachers with presentations of oversized mock checks totaling a very real $23,950. The grant monies will purchase items such as books, iPods that make it possible for non-English speaking parents to follow along with their English-reading children, non-consumable art materials (such as looms), a field trip to the Dallas Holocaust Museum, graphing calculators and lab equipment.
“We won! We won!” exclaimed Bel Air Elementary teacher Jessica Tidmore to her grant-writing partner and classroom neighbor Veronica Melendez as the two came out of their rooms to investigate the noise.
“This is better than Christmas for me,” said APEF Board President Sarah Grey as she rode the “cash bus” with the rest of the team between campuses. “These grants have a direct impact on the education of students. It makes all the work we do worthwhile.”
The foundation, now in its fifth year, has awarded over $100,000 to be used in AISD classrooms since its creation. APEF is funded by private donations, voluntary school district employee giving and gifts from local civic organizations such as Kiwanis and Rotary.
“It’s neat presenting the checks in front of the kids and seeing how excited they are,” said Rita Currington, APEF board member and retired Athens High School English teacher. “It makes the kids feel they’re a part of it all — and they are.”
To make a tax-deductible donation to APEF, go to athenspef.org or send mail to APEF at 104 Hawn Street, Athens, TX 75751. APEF is a non-profit corporation that is not part of the school district, though Athens ISD is the sole beneficiary of the foundation’s financial support.
Teachers who received classroom grants are (by campus):
South Athens Elementary: Robin Edlin and Jordan Williams; Jane Johnson, Lydia Bishop and Shelley Rasco; Jody Dalrymple; and Sandy Carter and Jenna Faul.
Bel Air Elementary: Amy Rice and Veronica Melendez; and Jessica Tidmore and Veronica Melendez.
Athens Intermediate School: Tobie Herrington, Juan Moreno and Karen Jones; and Jodi Babb, Sheila Brown and Maureen Bogowitz.
Athens Middle School: Tina Peebles and Eddie Menner.
Athens High School: Cynthia Kling and Rose Riley; and Dinita Heitz and Tammy Clemmons.
Early College High School: Kaitlin Buchholtz; and Jessica Price and Joshua Burks.