Gregory-Portland ISD teachers receive funding for classroom programs
PORTLAND — When East Cliff Elementary School teacher Christina Hiracheta and her students returned to her classroom after lunch Monday, they found a group of school supporters and staff waiting for them with balloons and the Gregory-Portland ISD wildcat mascot.
The fourth graders gasped and chattered about what was happening.
"Is it your birthday?" one student asked Hiracheta.
Hiracheta laughed, catching sight of the giant check the classroom visitors held with them, made out to the school with "Reach for the Stars! Exploring Space with Telescopes" in the subject line.
"No even better," she said. "Do y'all remember when we were talking about telescopes? That's what it's for!"
The class of space-obsessed fourth graders erupted into cheers. Hiracheta was one of 43 educators from across the district surprised with a grant from the Gregory-Portland Education Foundation on Monday.
"In order to give this grant of almost $2,500 there is an organization called the Gregory-Portland Education Foundation and what they do is they try to raise all this money in order to get money to the teachers, which comes back to you guys in the classroom," family and community engagement director Sharon Reckaway said to the students.
In total, the foundation is awarding nearly $54,000 this year.
"Really, I wrote the grant because the kids were so interested in space," Hiracheta said.
Hiracheta plans to use the funds to buy telescope kits, which students will be able to check out and take home with activities to do with their families.
"They'll get to look at the stars," Hiracheta said. "It comes with books and they'll be able to do art and kind of what we're doing in class, but on a whole other level."
Also at East Cliff Elementary School, teachers received grants for coding robotics and mechanical engineering kits. Other elementary schools received grants for technology, career education, dyslexia and family engagement programs.
At Gregory-Portland High School, teachers received grants that will go towards ceramics and sculpture, CNC, biomolecule modeling, mobile livestreaming and "dress for the job" activities.
At Gregory-Portland Middle School, grants will benefit thinking classroom and sensory programs, as well as the school's environmental coast squad.
To fund every teacher that applied, the foundation would need about $160,000, Reckaway said.
The foundation prioritized projects with contingency plans for how the teachers will maintain the programs for several years.
"We are looking for innovative things," Reckaway said.
The foundation was formed in 2019.
This year the foundation awarded double the amount it did last year, which was previously the largest grant award total at about $26,000.
The foundation has awarded about $125,000 to teachers over the past five years and more than $29,000 in scholarships to students.
It raises money through the Gregory-Portland ISD state of the district luncheon, the teacher of the year award luncheon scheduled for March 27 and a golf tournament scheduled for April 26.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Gregory Portland Education Foundation doubles teacher grants
