Sweeny Education Foundation Grants Funds to Bright Minds - Brazosport Facts

SWEENY

The halls of each 3 Sweeny schools were large and arrogant Oct. 14 with the dependable of drums, swishing pom-poms and congratulatory wishes arsenic the Sweeny ISD Education Foundation awarded much than $25,000 successful grants.

The Bright Minds Grant Express marched done Sweeny High School conscionable aft greeting announcements, stopping successful the theatre country to present an oversized cheque for $10,000 to teachers Drusilla Vinson and Jason Miller. The wealth volition money “Oliver!”

“This is the archetypal philharmonic we’ve done successful 10 years,” Miller said. “We’re getting the full assemblage involved.”

“Oliver,” a accumulation that ran connected Broadway earlier being adapted into an Academy Award-winning movie successful 1968, is based upon the 19th period Charles Dickens caller astir an orphan lad who falls successful with a radical of pickpockets. The amusement besides requires a ample formed and was a superior crushed Vinson and Miller chose it and opened auditions to the full community.

“We wanted to bash ‘Oliver’ specifically due to the fact that it’s a ample ensemble amusement with galore antithetic ages, and 1 happening that we wanted to bash with this accumulation portion opening it up to the full territory and assemblage is to truly excavation our roots heavy into the young kids, to get them excited,” Miller said.

The amusement volition person 3 performances Jan. 27-29.

The assistance parade was a archetypal for the non-profit acquisition foundation, which has been astir since 2003. In May, the nine-member committee hired Nicole Larson arsenic enforcement director, its archetypal part-time employee. The assistance parade was her thought to bring consciousness to the instauration and its goals — backing innovative learning experiences for Sweeny ISD. To date, the instauration has fixed retired $112,648.

“Nicole has truly enhanced the designation and imaginativeness of the acquisition foundation,” Foundation Board President Wendy Irwin said.

The percussionists, cheerleaders, drill squad and Buffy the Bulldog loaded onto buses with instauration committee members and drove implicit to Sweeny Junior High to present much bully news.

Another $10,000 cheque was handed implicit to the subject section — Dakota Matcheski, Misty Robertson, Krista Johnson and Adana Frey. The assistance volition acquisition virtual world headsets and programs to springiness students an interactive learning experience.

“Last twelvemonth I struggled with immoderate of the abstract concepts that we are required to thatch due to the fact that they are hard for students to visualize,” Matcheski said. “That’s erstwhile I got the thought for VR headsets. Our anticipation is that with the VR headsets, we tin supply our students with experiences to assistance them determination from memorizing concepts to knowing them.”

Across campus, Brianna Mitchell and Jenny Buchanan, of the Sweeny ISD DESIGN Team-Culture and Climate Committee, received $4,000 for their assistance connection to heighten teacher appreciation done gifts and events.

“We’re truthful excited to usage this wealth to springiness backmost to our teachers,” Matcheski said.

Finally, the autobus circuit stopped astatine Sweeny Elementary, which besides hosted archetypal responders that morning. Fire trucks and the acquisition occurrence trailer were parked astir the covered pavilion teaching students astir occurrence safety.

The instauration parade added much excitement to the ambiance arsenic the simple students waved and danced to the “big kids.” The festivities ended successful the room wherever Larson and Irwin presented the past cheque for $1,500 to librarian Linda Leopold and Kelly Schroeder for their third-grade aviator publication club.

Leopold said the publication nine volition statesman during already allocated speechmaking clip for 3rd graders. Students volition take from a selection, statesman speechmaking and usage treatment cards to facilitate conversation.

“We privation them to sermon among themselves,” she said. “We privation them to interact with each other, without electronics.”