The Elizabeth Education Foundation has announced their 2021 Educator Grants recipients. Seventeen Elizabeth School District teachers across all five schools received grants up to $500 to help better their classrooms.

Of the grant awardees, several teachers won grants to enhance their outdoor classroom spaces. Lisa Bosco (fourth grade) and Crystal Conner (fifth grade) from Running Creek Elementary received grants to place outdoor seating around the school’s campus. Lisa Pergeau (preschool) of Singing Hills Elementary received a grant to enhance the outdoor classroom space with specialized learning tools.

Each of three teachers shared their plans for the grants:

“We will be able to buy five large (6 ft.) tables for everyone on campus to use. I can’t wait to take my students out, to gather for lunch or snack, and to practice math and reading without having to slump over in the grass,” said Bosco. “Something we look forward to adding in the future (funds permitting), would be an outdoor microphone system, or portable microphone system.”

“We look forward to utilizing our outdoor space as a classroom, weather permitting. Having another resource for our students to use throughout the year is undoubtedly going to help them grow,” said Conner. “Our goal with this grant is to improve our students’ overall health and well-being.”

“Singing Hills Preschool is so excited to utilize the grant funds to purchase math/science concepts, art, and discovery toys,” said Pergeau. “By expanding our classroom experiences and workspaces outside, it brings a whole new dimension of development and learning to our students.”

The teachers also expressed their excitement for how outdoor spaces are beneficial in the era of COVID-19.

“With all that has been happening surrounding the pandemic and trying to keep children and staff healthy, we are excited to expand our campus to include more comfortable outdoor seating,” said Bosco. “In being able to move our classes outside comfortably, we are reducing the spread of COVID-19, improving brain health, while avoiding grass and other allergens students are exposed to when sitting in the grass.”

In a press release, the Elizabeth Education Foundation said its grant guidelines aim to enhance teaching opportunities and have the most impact within the classroom environment.

“The grant funds are generated through fundraising such as King Soopers reward cards, Safeway grocery cards, Amazon smile rewards, partnerships with local restaurants, and discounted community nights with the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, and Colorado Mammoth,” the foundation stated. “In addition, EEF receives private donations for this program from anonymous contributors, which we graciously thank.”

The grant recipients are:

Elizabeth High School

Eric Crow, $300 — literature book sets

Lori Horton, $500 — supplies to support the Alternative Education program

Ashley Pollard, $400 — physics cart track

Laurie Schlekeway-Burkhardt, $240 — one-year membership to Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) for teacher training

Karl Zander, $500 — graphing calculators

Elizabeth Middle School

Melanie Barrett, $215 — white board and access to Moby Max and Great Minds curriculum

Aaron Stone, $500 — one-year subscription to Avanti’s World Virtual Reality Theme Park and Curriculum

Legacy Academy

Elizabeth Baird, $500 — Logitech crayons

Dana Henderson, $486 — cross discipline classroom supplies

Andrei Teudean, $500 — Logitech crayons

Running Creek Elementary

Lisa Bosco, $500 — outdoor classroom seating

Crystal Conner, $500 — outdoor classroom seating

Singing Hills Elementary

Tricia Ackerman, $480 — vinyl floor mats

RaKell Adams, $450 — reading support manuals from “Really Great Reading”

Tina Farr, $430 — 24-inch touch screen monitor

Susan McMullen, $500 — STEM tools

Lisa Pergeau, $350 — outdoor classroom learning tools

To help the Elizabeth Education Foundation in their fundraising efforts, visit elizabethef.org or email elizabetheducationfoundation@outlook.com.