grants

In 2021~2022, we granted $39,927 in total to more than 11 categories.

from blackwell staff

"I am so grateful for the amazing teaching resources I have received from the PTSA grants.  A few of those items include puppets; books on dyslexia; mentor texts for our writing program; art and science resources; social emotional learning picture books; and headphones for the laptops.  These items have helped me to make learning more fun and engaging for our students.  I am so grateful for the PTSA’s generosity and commitment to learning. "

--- Mrs. Nicholson, 1st Grade

 

"I’ve received grants in years past to help purchase headphones for our student computers. Additionally, we have received grants to purchase mentor texts to go with our writing curriculum.  This has been extremely valuable!

Thank you!"

--- Trina Gerrits, 1st Grade

 

The PTSA grants are a vital part of our Blackwell Library funding and over the years numerous book collections, furniture, and technology tools have been purchased with these grants. Every student in our building benefits from the PTSA grants supporting our library. Most recently, our library has been the recipient of two furniture grants which have made a huge difference in the physical space.  Our library received a grant for nine new tables for the teaching section. These tables allow for flexibility in arrangement and can be raised and lowered. They are on wheels to allow movement for different groups to use the library for meetings, small student groups, and as an alternate space for teaching. The PTSA has also supported our readers with a grant for three new bookshelves for our fiction section. This has allowed for space for our ever-popular Harry Potter section and our growing graphic novel collection. Most years the PTSA provides a grant for our Battle of the Books or Amazing Reading Challenge books and the Washington Children’s Choice Award books. For these programs, we purchase 3-5 copies of each of the books. We also share additional copies with classrooms so that students have these available there. These important reading traditions are funded by our PTSA grants.

 

The support of the PTSA is also so important for managing additional library fundraisers. This included our annual book fair and events like the MOD Pizza fundraiser. The money earned from these fundraisers this year will update some of the outdated non-fiction materials and allow us to keep up with the new popular fiction titles. So much of the library funding comes from the PTSA and we are extremely fortunate at Blackwell to have such an incredibly supportive group.

--- Gretchen Cherian, Librarian 

 

I picked up books for the Mod Pizza grant at Brick and Mortar bookstore this weekend! I am so excited about the books I picked up and Tina, the owner, was extremely helpful. They are just so great there! She gave us a 20% discount on everything and a few of the other titles she discounted further. I focused primarily on new fiction and replacement books for our well-worn titles, too. We will be working hard over the next couple weeks to get these books processed, barcoded, and shared with our kiddos.

Thanks again for supporting the library in this way. I am happy to provide written statements or pass along words of thanks in any way to share my appreciation. Let me know if there are specific individuals who helped make this all possible.

Appreciate you!

---Gretchen Cherian, Librarian