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Struthers teachers receive 'wish list' items for classrooms
STRUTHERS
Six Struthers teachers received grants from the Struthers School Foundation for Educational Excellence this fall.
Danny Thomas, the foundation’s president, said the foundation awarded $11,500 total this year.
Some of the projects include bringing a 3-D printer to the high school for visual-art students, music stands for the high school, an iProjector in the elementary school and tablets for English classes.
Schools Superintendent Joseph Nohra said the grants awarded from the Struthers School Foundation for Educational Excellence are typically teachers’ “wish list” items.
“These grants are a tremendous help,” Nohra said. “The grants awarded are for requests the teachers were denied elsewhere.”
Nohra added that a lot of the projects funded by the foundation are some of the most noticeable changes in the schools. He said people notice when there’s a 3-D printer in an art class or tablets in an English class.
“Technology is a big item for schools today, and we’re doing what we can to help schools meet the educational needs of students,” Thomas said.
The Struthers School Foundation for Educational Excellence awarded $10,000 in grants last school year. Before to 2013, Thomas said the group would distribute only $5,000 in grants. He said he attributed a lot of the group’s success to new fundraising programs such as the group’s Luau for Learning event in May and community awareness.
“I think people weren’t sure what we did in the past,” he said, adding that the group started to give away grants in 2003. “Now that we’re out more open in the community, I think people are catching on.”