Nearly three dozen Anderson area teachers will be able to supplement their students’ learning experiences in a variety of ways after receiving grants from the annual Mayor’s Ball fundraiser.
Mayor Thomas Broderick Jr. delivered grants to several teachers throughout the day Thursday.
“It is always one of my favorite things to do because of the excitement the teachers always have and the students that are involved in it,” Broderick said. “They look forward to it each year.”
Daniel Waters, an eighth-grade science and biology teacher at Highland Middle School, was excited when he learned he would receive a $500 grant. With the money, he plans to purchase chicken or quail eggs and an incubator so his students can watch the birds develop and hatch.
“As they are growing, there is … a candlelight that you put on top, and the students can see the embryo growing inside,” Waters said. “We kind of start off the same looking, but we grow vastly different.”
After the eggs are hatched, Waters plans to keep the babies in the classroom for a week, then take them to his home and provide the care that the animals need.
This is Broderick’s ninth year distributing grants. Over that period, the total amount provided through fundraising from the Mayor’s Ball has exceeded $400,000. This year, an estimated $40,000 in grants were awarded.
“Teachers so frequently have to reach into their own pocket to be able to have enough funding,” Broderick said. “We feel really happy and proud to be able to give a little extra money to…help them get some things done that they might not be able to do otherwise.”
Myron Taylor is the instructor for the broadcast team at Highland Middle School. He said his students were excited when he told them he would be receiving a grant.
Taylor’s $2,000 grant will go toward equipment, including a gimbal and wireless transmitters for the students to use.
“This grant is going to allow us, when we are doing our sports broadcast, to be able to have the kids really get down right with the action,” Taylor said. “They can hold the camera with this gimbal and get nice close-up shots and see the action without it looking like a handheld, shaky thing.”
At Holy Cross School, Elaine Brinson was elated to receive a $1,000 grant, which she will use to fund professional development initiatives for preschool teachers in the school’s music therapy program. She also plans to develop an 18-week course, to be split between two classes, of exercises and other activities.
“It’ll help our children learn with all kinds of things,” Brinson said. “Music therapy involves the whole child. There will be materials that the kids can move with, maybe hula hoops that they can jump through.”
Broderick said he is proud of what teachers and students are accomplishing in classrooms all over the city.
“You really get to see how good our schools in our community are, and particularly the teachers,” Broderick said. “The dedication they have to their profession and the individual students, and also the students themselves. These kids are smart and are at the top of their game. I am really proud they are a part of our community.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.