The Parsons Education Foundation (PEF) is supporting local education programs through providing 10 mini-grants to Parsons USD 503 teachers totaling $3,938.46.
Each year teachers are invited to submit grant applications requesting funding for meaningful activities and items that enhance academics and all other aspects of learning in Parsons schools, that fall outside the normal school budget, PEF President Marty Mendicki said.
“We’ve had a lot of great ideas come through to us. There have been years we would have liked to fund a little bit more, but the overall amount of money we have just didn’t let us do it,” Mendicki said.
All applications were reviewed and judged by a committee of board members. This year the judges were Ray Feess, Molly Coomes, and Andrea Hetlinger.
The committee received 13 applications. Three applications were from the high school, two from the middle school, and eight from the elementary. The dollar range was from $170 to $4,000. The total amount requested was $13,616.63.
The ten grants awarded include:
· Lincoln Preschool, $443 for materials to support the Preschool Centers activities. Items like calendar, weather, clocks, stamps, clip boards, games, magnets, and other items were purchased.
· Lincoln preschool, $560.92 the purchase of three tricycles to practice and improve motor skills. These trikes are heavy duty and commercial grade, with lifetime service and replacement parts.
· Garfield, $560 to provide rewards and reinforcements to students and staff like meals, prizes and drinks.
· Garfield, $300 to create flexible seating arrangements for group learning within the Special Education program.
· Guthridge, $382 for the purchase of 40 copies of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” with Engaging Reading Study to provide excitement about learning and in hopes of students become lifelong readers.
· Guthridge, $170 for the school counselor to purchase a Scribble Stone Lesson Book and 17 craft rock sets to help support student’s social and emotional learning, along with teaching empathy, kindness, and compassion.
· Guthridge, $600 for the Vivacious Vikings Can Succeed! Rewards and Incentives program to reward staff.
· Parsons Middle School and High School, $207.54 for Special Education to purchase barista aprons for students working in The Magic Bean, the student run business.
· PHS, $375 for an English class to purchase Noodle Tools, an online platform that helps students in research projects, organizes thoughts, citations, etc., while also allowing teachers to give feedback.
· PHS, $300 to cover costs of taking an Literature class to participate in the Sedgwick Co. Zoo Educational Program “Is there a Doctor in the Zoo.”
Mendicki said he is grateful to the donors to the PEF because the organization has turned into an essential part of teachers’ and schools’ ability to reach kids and broaden what can be done beyond normal school budgets.
“I am so thankful for the PEF and the money they raise and gather to support my students,” fourth grade teacher Cody Holmes said. “My students are loving the books I received from this grant. You are not only helping some fourth graders learn to love reading, but you’re helping to create life-long lovers of reading.”
Garfield principal Barney Pontious said the Parsons Educational Foundation offered wonderful support to Garfield Elementary this year.
“We were fortunate to be able to help purchase some state testing incentive shirts with a portion of our grant funds as well as other encouraging items that really got our students and staff pumped up to keep making Garfield such an amazing place. Seeing our tested grade students wearing their shirts was so much fun and we couldn't be happier to have had the community support that allowed us to make this happen for our kids,” Pontious said. “In addition to the shirts, funds were spent on other items to help us maintain our family oriented and student first culture. These encouragement items are used to reward that amazing Garfield Grit that we work so hard to teach our students. For a community the size of Parsons to have a thriving alumni and community support organization like the PEF is truly a gift. We at Garfield are thrilled with the opportunity to be able to extend our funding with these mini-grants and appreciate the hard work of the staff who write them and the PEF team for their work and contributions to our Garfield family.”
The value of such rewards and incentives are seen directly in students’ academic performance.
The mission of the Parsons Educational Foundation is to secure and distribute resources for the purpose of preserving, maintaining, and improving public education in the Parsons Unified School District.
That mission includes distribution of scholarships to graduating seniors. The PEF provided 30 scholarships to applicants in 2023 totaling $22,000, helping graduates achieve their post-secondary educational goals.
Scholarship interviews are underway next week. The PEF Banquet to award scholarships to seniors will be in May.
“The vast majority of our investments and donated money comes to us as restricted money. We’ve received several estate donations from different people to be used for scholarships. A lot of times they want to steer the scholarship towards a certain field of study. …That kind of ties our hands some years when we don’t have students who would fit those criteria,” Mendicki said. The general fund which the mini grants would be taken out of is essential for people to donate to, for the PEF to be able to continue to assist teachers and schools with such grants. Mendicki said they would like to be able to increase the amount awarded in mini grants to $10,000, but they need general funds to be able to do that.
If you are interested in donating to the PEF to help schools or donate for scholarships you can do so online at https://pef503.com/make-a-donation.html or you can mail a check to Parsons Education Foundation, P.O. Box 994, Parsons, KS 67357.