Great Rewards for Great Ideas

On Wednesday, March 31, Dr. James Wilcox and Longview ISD hosted a breakfast for recipients of the Longview ISD Foundation’s 2021 Great Rewards for Great Ideas Grant Program and the Campus Initiative Grant Program. At the breakfast, the Foundation awarded funding for this year's grant cycle.

Grant winners received funding from the Longview ISD Foundation ranging from $100 to $2,500 for innovative classroom projects and programs that will enhance the quality of education and improve student achievement for all students in Longview ISD.

This year, the twenty-sixth anniversary of the Great Rewards for Great Ideas Program, applicants requested $65,455.35 through 36 grant applications. The Foundation funded 12 grants totaling $16,985.15. The Foundation funded nine elementary grants for a total of $13,059.89 and three secondary grants for a total of $3,925.26.

Since the beginning of the Great Rewards for Great Ideas Program in 1996, the Foundation has funded 728 grants totaling $795,468.74, moving ever closer to having returned $1,000,000 to Longview ISD educators. These grants have enhanced Longview ISD’s academic programs as well as music, art, technology, counseling and guidance, career education, health and physical education, character education programs, and STEAM and STEM projects.

For a list of this year’s grant recipients, visit the Longview ISD Foundation’s website at www.lisdfoundation.org and click on Great Rewards for Great Ideas on the menu bar at the top of the page. Also, to see pictures of this year's Grants Giveaway; click on Gallery on the menu bar.

The following Judson STEAM Academy teachers received funding for the 2021-2022 school year:

Grant Title Grant Recipients Amount Funded

Teach Big, The Writing Academy

Language and Literature, Grade 7

Amy Bruyere and Deonne Collins

Judson STEAM Academy

$588.00

Student Centered Speaking/Listening

Spanish, Grade 7

Ivonne Guerra

Judson STEAM Academy

$ 425.00

Hearing All Children’s Voices

Special Education, Grades 6-8

Kenda Stuart and Kaci Homer

Judson STEAM Academy

$ 519.96

Longview ISD Foundation, Inc. Awards Four John W. Harrison, Jr. Academic Field Trip Grants

On Wednesday, December 1, the Longview ISD Foundation rang in the season of giving by visiting Judson STEAM Academy, Bramlette STEAM Academy, and Foster Middle School to award four John W. Harrison, Jr. Academic Field Trip Grants for a total of $16,006.75.

Foundation members Nikki Briscoe, Scott Lewis, and Heather Hilton, Academic Field Trip Grant Committee Chair, joined Kay Ray, director, to surprise the grant recipients and their students with funding for their academic field trip learning experiences.

The grant recipients are:

Ivonne Guerra and her ESL students at Judson STEAM Academy will travel to Texas State Technical College in Marshall to learn about the career training and opportunities that await them if they attend TSTC. Before the trip. students will research the educational programs TSTC offers, choose a program that interests them, and then research that career and create questions to ask the instructors at TSTC about career training, job opportunities, and earning potential. This trip fits nicely with Judson's focus on college readiness and career planning. Melanie Pondant is the Judson STEAM Academy principal.

Also at Judson STEAM Academy, Brandis Jamerson, Kateri Howard, and Kimberly Hatten, eighth grade science teachers, received funding for an 8th grade field trip to the planetarium on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University to extend students' science instruction about our universe. As a bonus, students will tour SFA and learn about what it can offer students as students continue their focus on college readiness.

Then the Foundation traveled to Bramlette STEAM Academy to award the fifth graders an overnight trip to Sky Ranch. This grant worth $7,000 will provide students with the opportunity to camp overnight and experience science that they have learned from their textbooks about the earth and their environment. Students were elated to know that Mr. Colon, Mrs. Walker, and Mrs. Taylor had worked with Nikita Mumphrey, principal, to design this trip. When asked how many students had ever been camping, only a few raised their hands, so this grant provides a new experience for students while they also learn earth science. Sky Ranch has so much to offer.

Last the Foundation visited Foster Middle School to present a grant to Brandon Williamson, agriculture teacher, so he can take students to the aquarium in Dallas and then travel to the Fort Worth Rodeo and Livestock Show. After studying marine life at the aquarium, students will visit the livestock barns to learn about breeds of animals and the work required to show animals in competition before attending the rodeo. Mr. Williamson said students will be able to see first-hand all they have learned in their agriculture class while also learning about the ethical treatment of animals. Ryan Carroll is the Foster Middle School principal.

The Longview ISD Foundation is grateful to every person, business, and corporation that has contributed financially to the Foundation so that days of surprise can happen—days that reward LISD educators for their hard work and their desire to offer more learning experiences to their students and days that allows students to thank their teachers and celebrate with them for receiving the grant funding.

December 1 was also a day that allowed the Foundation to see that funds raised throughout our community directly benefit students, all of whom are so appreciative. Thank you, Longview, for supporting Longview ISD educators and students through your financial support of the Longview ISD Foundation, Inc.

To date, the Longview ISD Foundation has funded nine academic field trips grants for a total of $41,997.88.