By: Kallie Sulanke—
Muncie, Indiana—Five local teachers will receive $2,481 for six projects in Robert P. Bell Education Grants from The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, Inc. Across the county, 1,000s of students benefit from Bell Education Grants each year.
Awards of up to $450 are available through the Bell Grants program. Funded projects are creative or innovative classroom projects designed to stimulate learning in students. All Delaware County teachers are invited to apply during any of the four grant cycles.
Awards for the first cycle of this school year include:
Lance Brand, Delta High School, was awarded $449.90 for high school science students to explore the neuroscience behind muscle contraction. Students will explore the way that signals from the brain to the muscles are much like the signals in a computer circuit. They will also focus on neuromuscular physiology through an activity that connects muscle movement between students.
Lance Brand, Delta High School, was also awarded $450 to provide practical lab experiences to advanced biology students. Students will isolate and map out their poly morphic DNA. They will then observe their own genotype and compare patterns or trends with classmates and globally through an online database.
Carol Burt, East Washington Academy, was awarded $450 to introduce elementary school students to the art of printmaking. Students will engage in age-appropriate lessons including historical and contemporary printmakers, types of printmaking, color families, line types and directions, and shape families. Students will also experiment with their own printmaking.
Stacy Morton, Southside Middle School, was awarded $239.88 for middle school students to create mosaics based on lessons and research of Ancient Greece and Rome.
Candace Neal, Cowan Jr/Sr High School, was awarded $441.48 to teach the scientific method to seventh grade students using wooden rubber-band race cars. Students will construct the cars, make hypotheses, conduct their experiment, and chart results to share with the class. After the middle school students complete their projects, high school biology students will use the cars to teach a lesson on force and motion to their first and second grade Science Buddies.
Jennifer Stacy and Becky Juday, Burris Elementary, were awarded $450 to reinforce reading, science, geometry, and social skills with fifth grade students through escape room style experiences.
Bell Grants are funded through the Robert P. Bell Teacher Grants Fund at The Community Foundation. This fund ensures that teachers have access to grants to help engage their students in meaningful ways for years to come. Individuals can contribute to the endowment fund to memorialize a special teacher, honor a retiring teacher or teacher celebrating a work anniversary, or to simply show their support for K-12 education in Delaware County.
The second deadline for Bell Grants in the 2018-2019 school year is November 1, 2018. For more information about Bell Grants applications and the Robert P. Bell Teacher Grants Fund, contact Carly Acree King, Program Officer at cacreeking@cfmdin.org. Information is also available at cfmdin.org/bellgrants.
