Kiwanis Club Grants

Published February 23, 2012

Four Williamson County schools were recipients of grants by the Spring Hill Kiwanis Club. The club made the official presentations during a breakfast January 31.  

Bethesda Elementary, Longview Elementary, which received three grants, Independence High and Spring Station Middle will use the grants for various projects at their schools.  

Bethesda teachers Debbie Looper and Jodi Johnson will use their grant to research the history of Bethesda.  According to Johnson, students will be able to record the history of the community through archeology, which will allow them to use math, science and history.

Independence High special education teacher Dawn Schwartz plans to create a coffee shop named Common Grounds in her school.  The shop will be operated by the students.  “This will teach life skills to the students,” Schwartz said.  “They will learn to manage a store, create a profit and loss statement, order product and develop customer relations."

Longview will use its grants in the areas of math and science.

Teacher Meagan Boggs has received a grant for the past three years.  Boggs will use her grant this year to create math grab bags.  “When we have snow days, we worry the students will regress and not keep their skills,” said Boggs.  “This will allow them to grab a bag with interactive math problems and take it home to work on.”

Longview Teachers Donna Gallagher and Stacey DeBoe each received a grant for science projects.  Gallagher will use her grant to purchase a site license for science interactive activities that will be put on student computers in the fifth grade.  DeBoe will create science grab bags so students can complete science projects at home.

Anti-bullying is the focus of Spring Station Teachers Melody Smilor and Katie Barkley who will create a Move to Stand program at the school.  “They won’t be able to learn if they don’t feel safe,” Smilor said.  “This is a leadership program that makes a person active in stopping bullying.”

The Spring Hill Kiwanis Club's motto is “Change the world one child and one community at a time.”