Teachers receive grants

Ben Belanger was surprised to get a visit from the "prize patrol" Monday. "I didn't think I was going to get it," said the Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School music teacher.

What he got was $3,750 to buy 20 to 25 guitars that will help him transform a music appreciation course into a hands-on learning class. "I believe that music is about doing," said Belanger, who plans to teach both guitar and keyboard to his music appreciation students next fall.

Belanger's plan to upgrade music appreciation at the junior high school is one of nine new teaching projects rewarded with grants from the Cape Girardeau Public School Foundation on Monday.

The foundation awarded $15,000 in Great Teaching grants this year. The grants are designed to encourage innovative teaching in the Cape Girardeau public schools, foundation officials said.

In addition to the grant to Belanger, the foundation awarded:

• $3,506 to Nancy Bone at the junior high school for "Catapulting to Proficiency," which incorporates Science Olympiad tournaments into the curriculum.
• $1,860 to Linda Robert at Franklin Elementary School for "Making Meaning with the Brown Bag Book Club." The grant will help fund an organized book club.
• $1,751 to Dawn Smith at Clippard Elementary School for a "Cooking to Learn" mobile cooking station.
• $1,210 to Teresa Williams for "United We Read: Together We Succeed" at Clippard Elementary School to help motivate second-grade students to read at home.
• $1,000 to Carmen Winders for "Readers are Leaders" at Jefferson Elementary School. The project involves opening the school library to students during the summer.
• $850 to Ann Cunningham and Diana Valleroy for "Bowling for Math Scores" at Central Middle School. The project will integrate bowling techniques and the history and science of bowling to improve understanding of math concepts.
• $600 to Pam Cannon for "Science in Literacy" at Jefferson Elementary School to integrate science lessons into balanced literacy program for first-grade students.
• $473 to Lana Andrews for English as a Second Language pocket translators and bilingual dictionaries. The project will help English-As-Second-Language students in kindergarten through high school by translating what they are learning into their native languages.

mbliss@semissourian

335-6611, extension 123