Mary Allison Children’s Trust awards $10,000 for the 2021-22 second semester

The Mary Allison Children’s Trust awards $10,000 in second-semester grants for the 2021-22 school year. Those present include (front from left) Jessyca South, North Putnam Middle School; Rodney Simpson and Laurie Hensley, Bainbridge Elementary School; President Jeff Kiger; Lori Halloran, Cloverdale Middle School; Vice President Lucy Wieland; board member Matt Headley; (back) Treasurer Ginger Scott; Secretary Donna Houser; Lora Busch and Sharon Bone, Area 30 Career Center; and Dawn Battin and Katherine Asbell, Tzouanakis Intermediate School.

Courtesy photo

The board of directors of the Mary Allison Children’s Trust awarded $10,000 for 2021-22 second-semester grant projects.

Recipients of the grant included Area 30 Career Center – National Technical Honor Society, Bainbridge Elementary – Ozbots Invade Cougar Coders, Cloverdale Elementary – Preparing for College and Careers and Project Book Clubs, North Putnam Middle School – One School One Book and Tzouanakis Intermediate – Access to Technology, Large Print Book Collection and Life Skills Class Cooking.

“We received several grant applications totaling almost $25,000, and it was a difficult decision for the committee to narrow the projects down as all were worthy,” President Jeff Kinger said. “The board is honored that we were able to assist with these grants and serve the children of Putnam County. We are grateful the school officials and their commitment to improve the lives of their students.”

A few of the recipients gave the group an update on their projects.

“North Putnam Middle School’s One School One Book Program plans to use the funds to purchase a playwright book for every student in the eighth grade,” teacher Jessyca South said. “Some students will choose to be a part of a play selected from the book and preform this play for the school. We hope to grow this program more each year until all grade levels have a book to enjoy, navigate and read together.”

“We are honored to receive two separate grants to help in the classroom,” Lori Halloran of Cloverdale Middle School said. “Grant 1 will purchase classroom sets of books for the eighth-grade language arts classroom. Grant 2 will assist to pay for bus transportation to take the students Preparing for College and Careers classes on local field trips to visit business locations important for being self-sufficient, including banks, insurance agents, BMV, laundry mats, utility companies and possibly a local restaurant to practice budgeting and figuring tips.”

“All students need access to technology and our Project Access to Technology will assist the students to be able to have access,” Dawn Battin of Tzouanakis Intermediate School said. “It’s not an easy task to navigate a screen using a small touchpad. For students who need items read aloud to them or need to use speech to text to compose a paper, it is important for them to have the correct materials to do this. The grant funds will be used to purchase a set of wired mice and sets of headphones for 12-15 students to use. The students are excited about getting materials what will help them better navigate their device, so they can focus more on learning and not how to access materials they need for learning.”

The 2022-23 first-semester grant cycle is now in force for all Putnam County Schools K-12 with $10,000 available for projects. Deadline for application is Sept. 9.

For an application or more information, email gscott@wabashcapital.com, call 655-2333 or contact any board member.