Five grants were recently approved for funding from the Winter Cycle of the Emmett Public School Foundation Grants.  These grants will serve and support students throughout the district in ways that included  curriculum, field trips, and safety.  The ECSE Preschool was awarded $981 for new social-emotional development curriculum from a grant written by Melanie Johnson and Kim Simpson. Shadow Butte second grade students will benefit from a new greenhouse and materials to do a unit on gardening.  This grant for $850 was requested by the second grade teachers there – Andrea Poser, Kaitlyn Hill, and Courtney Thomas. Lori Ensinger from Carberry wrote two grants and both were approved.  The first was to cover the costs of $724 for a 5^th grade field trip to include the Oregon Trail Park, the Old Penitentiary and the State Capital.  The second was support in the amount of $434 for the NASA Club members at Carberry Elementary to tour The Whittenberger Planetarium and the Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History. Lastly, Kim Sherrer, representing the Emmett School District Safety Committee, requested funds to support emergency safety kits or buckets to be purchased and organized and placed in classrooms throughout the district in case of a lock-down type of emergency that would require materials to be available for teachers and students retained within those classrooms.  The Foundation was able to cover $1,905 of these costs.   The total amount of awards for this cycle was $4,894.

These funds are annually made available from a designated fund from Dean and Gay Welch to the Emmett Public School Foundation and housed with the Idaho Community Foundation.  The Emmett Public School Foundation is truly appreciative of these funds to be able to support classroom enhancements and safety thoughout the Emmett School District.  We appreciate all donations in which we can support out local Emmett School District teachers, staff, students, and families.  For any more information concerning the Emmett Public School Foundation and its work, please feel free to contact Cory Daniels at yecora.daniels@gmail.com or Sue Beitia at beitias@msn.com. 

Three additional teachers have been granted support from the Emmett Public School Foundation through the winter cycle of teacher grants given annually through the Foundation’s Dean and Gay Welch Fund housed with the Idaho Community Foundation.  With this round of applications, teachers were awarded $7,477.78. This year the needs were so great that the Emmett Public School Foundation utilized other donations in addition to the Welch fund to cover the total awarded so far this year of $14,063.55.

These monies were awarded for a variety of purposes, but the main goal is always to enhance the educational experience of our Emmett students.  

Tina Myers, EHS English teacher, on behalf of the English Department, was awarded $2,000 to purchase novel sets to supplement the curriculum and collaborate with other content areas.  

Jeremiah Wright, EMS PE teacher, was awarded $2,977.78 for Track and Field hurdles to be utilized by all of the Middle School PE classes.  

Brendalynn Love, instructional coach, was awarded $2,500 for headphones for students at Carberry Elementary School.  These will be used for digital learning and end-of-year assessments.

Two more grants are in the process of being revised and/or funded through another source.

The Emmett Public School Foundation has completed its Fall 2021 Teacher Grant cycle.  The Foundation awarded $6,585.77 to four teachers to enhance projects in their classrooms or strengthen the educational process offered to their students. 

Robin Wilson, Emmett High School, was awarded $1,489 to purchase materials to allow students to explore the science used to problem-solve during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The students will learn about biotechnology, DNA and RNA, virus biology, and how organisms interact with viruses.

Jodie Farnsworth was awarded $1,920 to provide a local artist/instructor, who will offer art classes at Black Canyon Junior Senior High. This award will also cover the cost of pottery supplies. 

Annette Lutes was awarded $2,000 to purchase iPADS for intervention programs for her Special Education students at Butte View in first and second grades. 

The second-grade teachers at Shadow Butte, Nikael Miller, Cherie Gervais and Karina Collier, were awarded $1,176.77 to buy sensory tools for their students and training for the teachers to appropriately use these tools.

These monies are made available annually from a fund set up by the Dean and Gay Welch.  The Foundation is greatly appreciative of any and all donations that we receive to support our local school district, its families, staff, and students. 

Robin Wilson continues to use the Emmett Public School Foundation grants as a way to enhance her science opportunities for her students.  This year she requested funds to support the introduction of Bioluminescence to all EHS science students. 

Bioluminescence is a natural phenomenon where a living organism emits light through a chemical reaction in its body.  Bioluminescence is common in marine organisms and insects, such as the firefly, but can also occur with bacteria and fungi.  Humans have also genetically modified non-bioluminescent organisms into bioluminescent, such as sheep and rabbits.