Press release

The Highline Schools Foundation has awarded $31,608 in Excel/MAD grants for 54 grants at 30 different Highline public schools.

The foundation’s Excel Grant program was created to support classroom innovation in the district and to provide teachers resources they need to help students be successful,

An excel grant is an award of $50 to $1,000 for a specific project.

MAD Grants come from Chris Blumenthal, a graduate of Grant High School in Portland and Nanci Tangeman, a graduate of Mt. Rainier High School in Des Moines.

They started MAD Grants in 2002 after Blumenthal heard a radio story about a couple in Boston who had started a grant program for teachers in their school district as a way to give back to their community. They donate money each year to the foundation to fund a number of projects.

"Giving grants to educators to provide enriching experiences for students is one of the many ways our Highline Schools Foundation contributes to Highline Schools. It is also one of the most rewarding events for our trustees," foundation president Chuck Tuman said. "We appreciate the hard work our educators do and how much they spend from their own pockets to help their students--and we know these grants help."

Hilltop Elementary librarian Terre Salzer won a grant for her Wildlife Exploration project for first-and second-graders and her Wildlife Experiences program for fifth-and sixth-graders.

“I believe that being aware of our surroundings encourages us to lead a more responsible life,” Salzer said. “To that end, I would like to pique student interest in the outdoor world around them by providing classroom investigation programs offered through the Tacoma Nature Center, with the cooperation of the Tacoma Audubon Society.”

Explained Shoreline Elementary first-grade teacher Jenny Lin, who earned a grant for her Mastery Book Bags project, “Many students who are struggling in reading lack confidence and give up when they come to a difficult word. Reading Mastery provides special text that helps students identify vowel sounds, diagraphs and other spelling patterns that make reading difficult for these students.”

Another grant winner was Jim Seaman, sixth-grade Mount View Elementary teacher, who commented, “Our scholars often do not envision themselves attending a university. They have limited personal and family experience of college.

“We are contacting various UW organizations to arrange for ambassadors to lead chaperoned small group tours of libraries, lecture halls, and science/engineering and arts buildings, followed by a Q&A session.”

A complete list of this year’s winners can be found at http://www.highlineschoolsfoundation.org and photos can be found on the foundation’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HighlineSchoolsFoundation.