PTSO Teacher Grants
2023-2024 Info
Our PTSO budgets money each year to support teacher initiatives in the classrooms. Teachers apply for the grants in the fall and spring. PTSO approves the grants in August or September. The goal of the PTSO grant program is to provide funds for classroom projects, activities, or materials that are not available through traditional sources. Requests will be considered based on the following criteria:
Our PTSO budgets money each year to support teacher initiatives in the classrooms. Teachers apply for the grants in the fall and spring. PTSO approves the grants in August or September. The goal of the PTSO grant program is to provide funds for classroom projects, activities, or materials that are not available through traditional sources. Requests will be considered based on the following criteria:
1. Is the request one that will enhance or supplement learning opportunities at TWHS?
2. How many students or staff will benefit from the request?
3. Will the benefits of the request be ongoing from year to year or be otherwise useful in the future at TWHS?
4. Will the request provide department-wide benefit?
5. Have other options of sources of funding been explored?
Recent Awards
1. Lori Poleway for the Library: Tech Free Fridays
Once a month-the final Friday-we are asking students to come to the library to play board games, color, work on puzzles, or other monthly crafts. (They are allowed to print from a computer, but if a computer or phone is needed for a project they stay in their prep rooms and use chromebooks.) This monthly event initially received a very luke warm response in October, but quickly became a much appreciated break from personal devices. Students loved the group games (Uno, cards, Jenga) as well as the highly strategic games like chess and Battleship. Several groups set a goal of completing a puzzle in 1 day and they recruited friends to work on it each period.
2. Jenny Hunt, Julie York, Neil Bittel, Natalie Mumpower Book Clubs for English
This grant will allow freshmen inclusion and EL teachers to run fiction book clubs in their classroom, providing a space for students to develop their skills as readers, collaborators, thinkers and writers. In these book clubs, assigned based on choice and interest, students will participate with their peers in discussion, critical thinking, and writing around highly engaging and relevant texts that tackle such issues as social justice, mental health, coming of age, race and culture, bullying and current events
3. Mike Brienza, Ellin Granger, Jennifer Davidson Books for English
This grant will enable students to have access to more choice books in the classroom. We believe that providing students with more access in the classroom to high interest books will not just increase test scores, writing ability, and stamina with complex texts, but will foster an environment where students have choice in the most important aspect of their lives: education.
4. Brooke Incarnato Books for Book Club, English II
English II students benefited from a grant that allowed the purchase of various titles for student-led book clubs. Students will be able to choose a book from the list to discuss and analyze with their peers in small groups, showing them power of choosing their own reading as well as the benefits of discussing what they are reading with others who have chosen that text.
5. Erik Thompson Shop Vacs for Science
The shop-vacs will be used to clean up broken glass and other lab equipment in all the labs. In addition, they can be used for demonstrations of fluid dynamics in the physical science and physics classes.
6. Sara Quart, Forensic Science Sirchie Mark-n-Doc Evidence Numbers
Students will be able to use the evidence markers to walk through a mock crime scene, learn how to identify credible evidence, and practice how to document evidence including dimensions and position. Groups of students will work together to collect the evidence and correctly label and process it to solve the crime.