Nebo Education Foundation Gives Summer Grants to Teachers

Submitted by lana.hiskey on
Payson High & Junior High: Lana Hiskey, Darlynn Menlove, Christine Riley, Diana Lees, Keela Goudy, Earl Davis, Kevin Mecham
Park View: Earl Davis, Darlynn Menlove, Shanna Walker, Keela Goudy, Christine Riley, Lana Hiskey
Barnett: Lana Hiskey, Christine Riley, Kristine Staheli, Keela Goudy, Darlynn Menlove, Earl Davis
Mt. Nebo Middle: Keela Goudy, Lana Hiskey, Christine Riley, Melanie Wirfs, Darlynn Menlove, Earl Davis, Rhet Rowley
Taylor: Darlynn Menlove, Lana Hiskey, Keela Goudy, Talysha Wickel, Marianne Lowe, Christine Riley, Earl Davis
Mt. Nebo Middle: Lana Hiskey, Darlynn Menlove, Earl Davis, Carrie Van Nosdol, Christine Riley, Keela Goudy
Mt. Nebo Middle: Christine Riley, Darlynn Menlove, Earl Davis, Tim Mendenhall, Lana Hiskey, Keela Goudy

The Nebo Education Foundation board met this summer to discuss the many grants and needs across the district. The Nebo Foundation Board functions through generous donations made by individuals and businesses as well as fundraisers where all the money goes to educate students in Nebo School District. 

One fund-raising effort is the annual “Green Fever” golf tournament that helps fund these various grants throughout the year. It is slated for Thursday, September 1, 2022, and would not happen without the generous support of so many businesses and individuals. Thank you to all those that so generously support Nebo students.

Congratulations to the following teachers that continue to make a difference in the lives of Nebo students. 

Payson High & Payson Junior High – Diana Lees
“First, we are so very grateful to the Nebo Foundation Board for their extra attention and passion to make this happen for us! Our goal this year was to purchase fifteen sets of bagpipes for our program. This would enable us to replace unusable instruments with new ones, some of our bagpipes are almost 40 years old! And, we wanted to acquire more bagpipe instruments for the incoming students from our program at Payson Junior High School,” stated Diana Lees, pipe band teacher at Payson High and Payson Junior High. “The students and instructors have worked hard to show the school(s) and the community the worthwhile work that we do to bring culture, history, teamwork, and music to Payson and the surrounding communities. We are grateful for the huge help in fulfilling this year's goal. We look forward to future performances where we can share this gift with our schools, the district, and the community.”

Park View Elementary – Jordan Johnson
Jordan Johnson, third-grade teacher at Park View Elementary, said, “Thank you so much! I will be using the funds I receive to purchase books for my classroom. I will use the books to teach a variety of skills such as comprehension, themes, genres, culture, social-emotional skills, author's purpose, point of view, multiple perspectives, parables, etc. I truly appreciate the Nebo Education Foundation's help in funding these books. I am new to this district/school/team; and therefore, I do not have access to the same materials my team members have collected over the years. I feel it will be very beneficial to me and my students to have the same resources as those in neighboring classrooms in order to create a comprehensive learning environment.”

Barnett Elementary – Kristine Staheli
“We are so grateful to receive this grant to purchase headphones for our students. We use student Chromebooks so much all throughout the day to enhance student learning. The incredible online programs and sites that we use such as iReady, Epic, and Flipgrid, all require students to have their own set of headphones. By having enough headphones for every student, students will be able to focus and concentrate on what they are learning about on their Chromebooks without having to worry about being distracted by the sounds coming from other computers. This grant will be so beneficial for our students and will help our classes succeed and run smoothly. Thank you so much!” exclaimed Kristine Staheli, a first-grade teacher at Barnett Elementary.

Mt. Nebo Middle – Melanie Wirfs
Melanie Wirfs, sixth-grade teacher at Mt. Nebo Middle, said, “From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for approving/giving a grant for my classroom! I am so excited to order books for our classroom library, items for our ‘Comfort Corner,’ and books for small group instruction. My students were so excited to help select several of the books they would like for our class library and loved having a say! I'm also excited because these books will encourage their engagement and enjoyment - something that is so important for reading. Thank you again!”

Taylor Elementary – Kindergarten Team
Talysha Wickel, kindergarten teacher at Taylor Elementary, said, “We will be using the funds granted from the Nebo Foundation to purchase mentor texts for our reading, writing, and math curriculum. This will allow us to use multiple cross-curricular references throughout our day. These books will also give us ample opportunities to expose our students to rich literature. Thank you so much for your generosity, and willingness to help fund resources for our classrooms!”

“I am so appreciative of the foundation for this gift. Any money used to enhance literacy instruction generally and reading specifically benefits our children in tremendous ways! We will be good stewards of the materials this grant will provide,” stated Donna Platt, kindergarten teacher at Taylor Elementary.
 
Mt. Nebo Middle – Carrie Van Nosdol
“I am so excited and grateful to the Nebo Foundation! With this grant, I will be able to bring more literacy into my social studies classroom with Junior Scholastic magazines. Exposing students to nonfiction reading that is on their level and engaging can be difficult and having access to the magazine gives students nonfiction texts that will do just that. Students will be able to build their social studies and language arts skills with current events, geography activities, connections to world history, political cartoons, and text analysis activities. My hope is that students will be able to make sense of their world by making social studies more relevant and meaningful,” said Carrie Van Nosdol, reading teacher at Mt. Nebo Middle.

Another grant awarded:
Mt. Nebo Middle – Tim Mendenhall

The Nebo Education Foundation is composed of 20 volunteer board members who live in cities serviced by Nebo School District.  Board members meet each month to review and award grant requests, consider fund-raising avenues and other items that advance the educational opportunities for Nebo School District students. Many of the donations received are for selected projects, yet a substantial amount is available for the greatest need. Greatest need monies are considered for grants submitted by area schools.

Anyone interested in the Nebo Education Foundation or who wishes to make a donation for education is encouraged to contact Lana Hiskey by email lana [dot] hiskey [at] nebo [dot] edu, by phone 801-354-7400, or mail 350 South Main, Spanish Fork, UT 84660. 

#TheClimb #NeboHero #NeboSchoolDistrict #StudentSuccess #EmpowerStudents #EngageStudents #FocusOnStudents #LoveUTpublicSchools #UtPol #UtEd #ThankATeacher #LoveTeaching

Attributions
By Lana Hiskey