The student news site of Argyle High School

The Talon

The student news site of Argyle High School

The Talon

The student news site of Argyle High School

The Talon

Argyle ISD Education Foundation Awards Grants to Teachers

Argyle+ISD+Education+Foundation+Awards+Grants+to+Teachers

After receiving many applications for grants, the Argyle ISD Education Foundation recently awarded several teachers in the community, including two lead applicants at the high school and middle school levels, for the purpose of enhancing the learning environment and providing teachers with more tools and technology.

Ms. Erika Adams, a middle school English teacher, was awarded a grant alongside her colleagues Edie Collins and Taylor Bales for a ‘Soaring to New Heights Writing Competition’ for the middle school English classes, in which multiple winners will be awarded cash prizes for both expository and narrative pieces.

“Seventh grade’s the writing year for STAAR,” Adams said. “So I thought, they’re going to be writing anyway. Most people don’t like to write, so let’s give them a little carrot to put out in front of them. So I needed prize money for kids to write.”

The ASIDEF’s grant will go a long way towards helping the English teachers incentivize their students improve their writing.

“English Seven competes against English Seven, PreAP competes PreAP classes, and it’s the same way in eighth grade too,” Adams said. “So in each group, first place gets fifty bucks, second place gets thirty-five, and third place gets twenty-five. And you get it right before spring break. And I’ve had kids go, ‘This is pretty good.’ And it’s not a scholarship. It’s not a savings bond. It’ll either be cash or Visa gift card.”

And the contest comes at a point in the careers of the students where developing their writing skills is more important than ever.

“I put in the grant, ‘writing is for life,'” Adams said. “Students in seventh grade don’t believe that, but I’ve had a lot of high school kids come back and ask me, ‘Hey, can you read my application for college?’ And somebody said, ‘Can you write my recommendation for something?’ You’re always going to be writing. Always.”

Ms. Kimberly Kass, the science department head in the high school, was awarded the ‘Integrating Science Process Skills and Technology’ grant alongside Deserae Good and Matthew Damiani. The grant provides funding for additional sensors and six mobile data collection interfaces for classroom use. The technology is frequently used in university settings and works well for group lab experiments.

“It’s for most of the Pre-AP classes to get some more data collection equipment for biology, physics, and chemistry,” Kass said.

Referring to the amount of technology previously available for experimental use, Ms. Kass highlighted the need for the grant.

“Right now we don’t have many of the devices which allow you to digitally measure pressure or temperature,” she said.

And also having awarded grants to several other teachers in the district, the AISD Education Foundation contributed significantly to the continued growth and success of Argyle schools.

aisdef adams

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