The AISD Education Foundation awarded nearly $48,000 in grants to district teachers and staff, delivering the news to recipients’ campuses with its annual Winners Wagon on April 29.


“It was a great day,” Executive Director Sheila Olson said. “It’s always fun to surprise our employees. Teachers applied for grants, and they didn’t know if they were going to get them [until April 29].”


Of the more than 95 applicants, 56 district employees received grants for as much as $1,000. Olson said grant funds were raised by the district’s annual Turtle Race in February, the organization’s largest fundraising event.


“We had an [initial] budget of $40,000, but after the grant committee met, they felt like there were more [worthy] grants than $40,000 worth that needed to be funded this year,” she said.


The AISD Education Foundation selected recipients based on the innovativeness of their programs, Olson said. Teachers from elementary to high school as well as administration received grants to implement or advance various initiatives.


“The goal is to get innovation and new, fresh ideas wherever the impact may be,” she said. “We get [applications] anywhere from a PE teacher to a science teacher to a theater arts teacher.”


Among the ideas selected for grant funding this year was a program to add a beehive to an aquatonics garden, a mini ecosystem with fish, plants and food. The environment began as a result of a previous teaching grant from the education foundation, Olson said.


Members of the education foundation board and board of trustees joined AISD administrators, parents and community members on the Winners Wagon to deliver announcements to grant recipients. Alvin and Manvel high schools had band members, cheerleaders and mascots participate as well.


“The students helped to make each presentation fun and full of spirit,” Superintendent Buck Gilcrease said. “And the band students definitely let everyone know that something exciting was happening.”