Foundation For Allen Schools Funded Classroom Grants at

Marion Elementary

2022-2023 Classroom Grants

On My Own Choice

This grant under Fine Arts Curriculum was awarded to Sharon Nelson and will benefit 542 students at Marion Elementary.

Educators at all levels and subject areas want their students to develop habits of self-directed learning and critical problem-solving skills that encourage ownership and growth. By initiating choice based art education in my classroom, students can achieve the goal of self-directed learning and critical problem-solving skills.

A Chance to Chime In

This grant under Fine Arts Curriculum was awarded to Shelly Diana and will benefit 550 students at Marion Elementary.

This grant provides two sets of handchimes and instructional guides and will allow all the Kindergarten through 5th grade students and 6th grade choir students would have the opportunity to use the hand chimes throughout the school year.  Hand chimes are simple enough for kindergarteners to use, but can also enable the teacher to create more complex note reading in the older grades.  Hand chimes will generate excitement and the bonus is that they create a beautiful tone.

Hand Chimes reinforce team work, listening skills, patience and cooperation and can be used for years to come to compliment and enhance our music program at Marion.

Makers and Shakers

This grant under Library / Makerspace Curriculum was awarded to Julia Georgas and will benefit 80 students at Marion Elementary.

"Makers and Shakers" will create opportunities for students to be producers and innovators. Students will use problem-based learning with 21st century skills to improve learning in all walks of life.

Versatility WITH VeraTiles

This grant under Math - Elementary Curriculum was awarded to Dianne Barton, Ashley Allen, Monica Stelly and Jaclyn Smith and will benefit 100 students at Marion Elementary.

VersaTiles will provide teachers the opportunity to support student learning in teacher-led small group or independent settings using an engaging, challenging puzzle format. Using VersaTiles provides students a hands-on way to practice a specific skill and an efficient way for teachers to monitor students' progress.

Generation Genius: Science Geniuses

This grant under Science / STEAM Curriculum was awarded to Dianne Barton, Ashley Allen, Monica Stelly and Jaclyn Smith and will benefit 100 students at Marion Elementary.

Generation Genius will allow third grade students at Marion Elementary to bring science to life through engaging and educational videos paired with lesson plans, activities, quizzes and reading material.

Vocabulary Flow!

This grant under Social Studies Curriculum was awarded to Samantha Fields, Kristin Elliott, Jennifer Kalinec and Preston DeWitt and will benefit 550 students at Marion Elementary.

Through the use of Flocabulary, Marion students will have an opportunity to reinforce and build on their academic vocabulary in the areas of Reading/ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies in a fun and engaging way.

Building a Diverse Classroom Library

This grant under Social Studies Curriculum was awarded to Ashly Villalobos and Monecia Ross and will benefit 90 students at Marion Elementary.

"Building a Diverse Classroom Library" grant will provide literacy-rich classrooms for students to see themselves reflected in books, as well as develop global awareness and respect for the traditions and contributions of diverse cultures.

Empowered Leaders

This grant under Counseling Curriculum was awarded to Jennifer Armentrout, Jennifer Springgs, Samantha Fields, Meredith Martin, Austin White, Solomn Boatfield, Harold Allen, Dylan Martin, Todd Fornadel and Tara Cassetty and will benefit 300 students at Chandler Elementary, Marion Elementary, Olson Elementary, Preston Elementary, Rountree Elementary, Vaughan Elementary, Curtis Middle School, Ereckson Middle School and Ford Middle School.

Empowered Leaders takes place in six elementary schools and all three middle schools in Allen ISD who participate in this unique after school leadership program which focuses on building leaders in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Students participate in field trip, leadership skills training, and serving through volunteer efforts.

Kodaly Training for Elementary Music Teachers

This grant under Fine Arts Curriculum was awarded to Jeff Turner and will benefit 10,000 students across all AISD Elementary Schools.

Two Allen ISD elementary music teachers will attend 3 weeks of intensive Kodaly training at SMU. The strategies, techniques, and resources from this training will be an incredible asset to the teacher to better deliver the elementary music curriculum and will be shared with all our elementary educators across AISD.

ALLen Reads 2022

This grant under Library / Makerspace Curriculum was awarded to Kelly Clewell and will benefit 20,000 students across AISD and benefits every campus in Allen. 

ALLen Reads encourages the entire Allen community to read the same book or the grade-level appropriate companion book. The grant provides copies of the selected books to all campuses in Allen ISD, and the students have access to community events related to the books, such as author and illustrator speakers, writing presentations, and musical performances.

Math by the Book

This grant under Math - Elementary Curriculum was awarded to Michelle Stewart and Katie Snider and will benefit 2,898 students in Kindergarten and 1^st grade at EVERY Allen ISD elementary campus.

This grant will provide read aloud sets of books that link literary and math skills.   We know many students love stories but may have a fear of math or even math anxiety.  Students are able to connect concepts to context providing an increased level of engagement and retention. Stories bring math to life!   House Bill 3 puts a focus on early literacy and math skills. This resource would be helpful in integrating math and literacy in the early grade levels. An integrated experience creates deeper learning connections for students. Science and Social Studies have already embedded read alouds for K- 3 curriculum documents and this grant will support integration in math as well. 

BRAINball

This grant under Physical Education Curriculum was awarded to Geoben Johnson and Katie Snider and will benefit 16,500 students across Allen ISD in grades K – 9^th.

BRAINball is an innovative and unique physical education learning system that merges physical activity and academic learning through play. In addition to the physical benefits, significant improvement will be seen in gross and fine motor skills, cooperative and cognitive learning.  Brainball has proven to produce positive changes in letter recognition,  students read better, improve mathematical skills, movement and writing skills. Research also shows positive changes in graphomotor skills, eye-hand coordination, and temporal-spatial orientation improvement when used on a consistent basis. The Brainball set includes 100 premade games/activities for K-6 that can be adapted for grades 7-9. Training will be provided to allow easy integration into district curriculum and to academic classroom teachers that want to use it for enhancing learning in their class. The brainball set is appropriate for Kindergarten through High School and can be adapted for students with special needs and learning deficits.

I Can See Clearly Now!

This grant under Special Education Curriculum was awarded to Patricia Reyna, Sherri Idbeis, Karen McCrary and Colleen Dunphy and will benefit 45 students across Allen ISD who have a visual impairment.

Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments serve students throughout the district and provide consult and direct instruction for teachers and students with blindness or visual impairments. An iPad Pro is a tool that makes accessing learning material possible for students that struggle with seeing on a regular iPad screen. An iPad Pro also serves as an evaluation tool for TSVI's and our Orientation and Mobility instructor in the district.

ByrdseedTV

This grant under Advanced Academics - AP/IB/GT Curriculum was awarded to Kari Lockhart and will benefit 1,474 students that are in our GT programs in years K-6.

ByrdseedTV provides gifted and talented teachers and learners with resources that foster deep and complex learning. Activities from Byrdseed are designed and used by a teacher of gifted students, and facilitate critical and creative thinking, inductive and deductive thinking skills, as well as encourage creative individual investigations.

2021-2022 Classroom Grants

Kindness Matters

This grant under Counseling Curriculum was awarded to Amber Preston and will benefit 618 students this coming year.

Kindness Matters is a project involving Marion Elementary students which helps them identify new ways to show and spread kindness. Together, we change the world one kind act at a time.

Laser Focused on a Bully-Free Marion

This grant under Counseling Curriculum was awarded to Ashley Barbeau and will benefit 590 students this coming year.

Prismatic Magic's anti-bullying laser show reiterates Marion's team culture we strive to provide. This program reinforces the key attributes for a successful team: respect, integrity, generosity, honesty and truth. This exciting laser show is ideal for today's visually-oriented learners, ensuring a lasting positive impact.

Marion Kindness Club

This grant under Counseling Curriculum was awarded to Kelley Lawrence and will benefit 20 students at Marion.

The Marion Kindness Club is a group created to foster empathy and compassion, to encourage people to care for one another, and recognize simple and extraordinary acts of kindness. Kindness Ambassadors will create a positive ripple in our school's culture and community, teaching other students about kindness and empathy to their classmates.

Power in Circles

This grant under Counseling Curriculum was awarded to Courtney Halpin along with Ashley Barbeau and will benefit 640 students at Marion.

Marion Elementary prioritizes the development of the whole child by supporting Allen's mission of empowering every learner to realize his or her full potential. Implementation of Circle Forward discussions provides a safe environment for students to share and learn from one another. This environment builds a culture of trust which allows students to maximize their potential to be ready for future.

Crazy Kinetic Sandy Letters

This grant under English Language Arts (Elementary) & Dyslexia Curriculum was awarded to Jamie Sutherland and will benefit 15 students at Marion.

Having an understanding of letter sounds and recognition of letters is the building block for reading. Using a multisensory approach such as using kinetic sand to create alphabet letters helps to improve letter recognition and fine motor skills, enhancing the ability to copy letters legibly.

Xtreme Readers

This grant under ESL/Bilingual Curriculum was awarded to Lindy Cowan and will benefit 61 students at Marion. .

High Noon Books offer topics that are age-appropriate and high interest but are written at a lower readability level to give EL students targeted reading support. These materials provide opportunities to develop vocabulary, grasp new language structures, and build background knowledge while supporting language acquisition. Each book is filled with real-world topics, contains mostly wholly decodable words, and has a variety of reading subjects and forms.

 And the Winner is...

This grant under Library/Makerspace Curriculum was awarded to Deborah Bellando and will benefit 620 students at Marion.

And the Winner is... is a grant that provides students with greater access to quality, award-winning literature. By enabling students greater access to State and National Award Nominees, through traditional and electronic books, more students will develop critical reading skills, and honor and encourage the reading of the works of imaginative authors.

Math GPS- Guiding our students daily in Mathematics

This grant under Math Elementary Curriculum was awarded to Dianne Barton and will benefit 100 students at Marion.

The Math GPS workbook involves consistent rigorous practice of key math concepts at each grade. This will lead to success on the STAAR Exam and allow students to feel confident as the transition from grade to grade.

Numicon Numbers

This grant under Math Elementary Curriculum was awarded to Bethany McIntyre and will benefit 80 students at Marion.

Numicon is a specific approach to children's mathematical learning. It provides students with three key mathematical concepts; exploring relationships, communicating mathematically, and generalizing from patterns and relationships discovered. It is a tactile resource to convey mathematics and form a deeper understanding of number sense.

Reading in Math with Math Solutions!

This grant under Math Elementary Curriculum was awarded to Dianne Barton and will benefit 100 students at Marion.  

Math Literacy provides a real-life context to math that third graders are learning through a variety of popular children?s books and math experiences.

Shake It Up!

This grant under Math Elementary Curriculum was awarded to Rhonda Bernard and will benefit 500 students at Marion.

Shake It Up!: The materials purchased with the Shake It Up grant will provide interactive experiences for kindergarten through fourth grade students to interact with math operations in an engaging and active format. Through the use of the materials in the Shake It Up grant, all students will have access to learning and mastering basic math operations and numeracy.

Fit & Fun Sensory Movement Pathway

This grant under Physical Education Curriculum was awarded to Kera Williams along with Heidi Mortensen and will benefit 500 students at Marion.

The Fit & Fun Sensory Movement Pathway is a tool for kids to improve their planning, motor, sensory, and emotional regulation skills.

All Fur the Fun of it!

This grant under Science/STEAM Curriculum was awarded to Chelsea Hubacek and will benefit 300 students at Marion.

All Fur the Fun of it! is a grant that will provide hands-on learning experiences for the students at Marion Elementary! Our goal is to bring a variety of animal hides into the classroom to enhance lessons. Instead of just reading about how fur can help animals adapt to their environments, our students will be able to actually TOUCH it!

K-6 Marion: Weather or Not

This grant under Science/STEAM Curriculum was awarded to K'Lee Arnold and will benefit 600 students at Marion.

Weather or Not: Weather or Not provides elementary students with hands-on experiences with weather tools, maps and materials. From making predictions about weather to comparing temperature on a daily basis, students learn best when they experience science first hand.

Let There Be Light

This grant under Science/STEAM Curriculum was awarded to Cheryl Winters and will benefit 500 students.

Let There Be Light provides experiences with hands-on explorations and STEAM investigations for 3rd-6th grade students by engaging them with energy concepts and skills first hand.