by Mary Alys Cherry
Armand Bayou Physical Education teacher Mary Caruth is delighted as the Clear Creek Education Foundation Sur-Prize Patrol stops by to bring a check for her grant. Among those crowded around are, from left, Clear Creek ISD Superintendent Dr. Greg Smith, CCEF Executive Director Kaci Hansen, Janet Brown, Lisa Holbrook, Armand Bayou Elementary Principal Robin Williams, Dr. Steven Ebell, Walter Pinto, Santiago Mendoza, Joan McKinney, Dr. Gary Renola, attorney Joe Barlow, CCEF Chairman Scott Rainey and Jill Reason.
Some 54 Clear Creek ISD teachers got quite a jolt when the Clear Creek Education Foundation Sur-Prize Patrol dropped by to distribute more than $157,000 in Teacher Innovative Grants.
The patrol, made up of CCEF Board members and community partners, visited 32 campuses as the school year neared an end, bringing both big smiles and screams of joy as teachers learned their grant requests had been approved.
The grants are expected to impact more than 30,000 students.
The Foundation supplies teachers with grant money to implement innovative programs for the coming school year. Since the Foundation’s inception in 1992, more than $1 million in grants has been disbursed to Clear Creek ISD teachers, CCEF Executive Director Kaci Hanson said.
“The impact of can be tremendous,” she said, using Whitcomb Elementary Teacher, Miriam Bailey, as an example. Bailey, a grant recipient last year, said “It not only changed my classroom, it changed my teaching. The introduction of iPads into our Literacy program gave my first graders a phenomenal opportunity to blend technology and learning, and it helped me grow as a teacher and facilitator of their learning.”
The CCEF director also expressed the foundation’s gratitude to its sponsors – individuals and businesses – who have partnered to make the grants possible. “The foundation feels the Teacher Innovative Grant Program is a vital and necessary strategy in assisting teachers in maintaining the high level of achievement in CCISD.”
Teachers awarded grants were:
Armand Bayou Elementary – Mary Caruth
Bauerschlag Elementary – Allicia Micheletti
Bay Elementary – Margaret Derouen
Bayside Intermediate – Julie Edward and Jamie Rogers
Brookside Intermediate – Dana Zoch
Clear Brook High – Camille Sullivan
Clear Creek High – Ellen Akers and Tina Sanders
Clear Creek Intermediate – Betty McCullouch
Clear Falls High – Adithy Iyengar, Mark Ruckstuhl and Brenda Clift
Clear Horizons – Maria Magampon
Clear Lake High –Lillian Wilson, and Shelly McCormick
Clear Lake Intermediate – Susan Doeling
Clear Springs High – Roger Elder, Amber Rhoades, Stephanie Anderson, Martha Slepitza and Lisette McClung
Clear View Center – Kristi Foret, Rebecca Garland and Timothy Green
Creekside Intermediate – Christopher Rafalik and Debra Carr
Falcon Pass Elementary – Deborah Adams and Monica Giuffre
Gilmore Elementary – Maryanna Rudecki
Goforth Elementary – Julie Brightwell
Greene Elementary – Michelle Brown and Brandy Magdos
Hall Elementary – Jill Krznar
Hyde Elementary – Cheryl Birch
League City Elementary – Cindy Crookston
League City Intermediate – Alexses Fitzgerald
McWhirter Elementary – Jennifer Ponce
Mossman Elementary – Suzanne Hargrove, Bonnie Jeffcoat, Stephanie McBride and Crystal Starke
Seabrook Intermediate – Samantha Youts
Space Center Intermediate – Holly Kincaid
Ward Elementary – Susan Blankenship
Weber Elementary – Cynthia Weaver
Westbrook Intermediate – Ruth Baxter
Whitcomb Elementary – Miriam Bailey and Kristina Digman
White Elementary – Erika Montgomery and Laura Mackay
