Seeking alternative funding sources

WORLAND - As budgets get tighter for school districts, teachers are finding new ways to make their classroom budgets go farther, and they are seeking the public's help.

In Washakie County School District No. 1, the building supplies budget was cut this year, which means classroom budgets were also cut.

Business Manager Jack Stott said the different schools do it a little different regarding classroom budgets.

He said at East Side, kindergarten classes had $5,000 to spend and first grade had $5,400. This year with the cuts it was $4,450 and $4,000, respectively. The funds are divided among all the classrooms.

South Side had $4,000 budgeted each for second and third classes, down from $4,500.

At West Side the fourth-grade classes have $4,250 and fifth-grade $3,400, down from $4,500 and $5,400, respectively.

"That varies a little bit by schools. We let the principals decide that. Sometimes they'll put more money in a schoolwide category, so it is more of a cooperative effort. The actual classroom budget tells part of the story," Stott said.

He said each school has a building supply account and teachers can submit larger capital projects to the principals in the spring for the principals to submit with their budget proposals.

"Those are for bigger purchases that don't fit within the limitations," he said.

ALTERNATIVE FUNDING

Kimberly Moore and Lori Michaels are two teachers in the district utilizing DonorsChoose.org to help fund special projects that don't fit within their classroom budgets. This year, their projects stem from the Kagen Institute professional development workshop the district hosted in early August on cooperative learning.

According to DonorsChoose.org, the organization was founded in 2000 by a high school teacher, Charles Best, in the Bronx. DonorsChoose.org "empowers public school teachers from across the country to request much-needed materials and experiences for their students."

Moore said she heard about the organization through South Side third-grade teacher Kim Lang a few years ago. She said she utilized the program last year for the first time and has had five projects funded. One project, she said, was funded entirely by a retired teacher from Hawaii.

"It's amazing how many people are willing to help, people from all over, not just Worland," Moore said.

She said the projects she applies for are projects that don't fit within her budget or that would take up her entire budget, allowing her to make the funding go further.

She said she purchased head phones and book bags last year.

Moore said the workshop focused on cooperative learning structures and getting kids to work together. She said she wants her first-grade students to learn social skills while working together and provide a fun and engaging learning environment. One way to do that is with instrumental music playing during class time. She currently will play music during fun projects.

"Some of the items I have selected are music CDs that will help boost my students' attention to the task at hand. Other items I included are a timer, structure cards with their rules and book resources," Moore said.

Her total project cost is $291.

Michaels has also utilized DonorsChoose.org for a number of projects including a new carpet and wobble stools last year. She said the new carpet replaced an old carpet, which was used when she received it. The carpet is used when her begindergarten students are listening to stories or doing other group projects.

She also purchased the wobble stools for her students to use because "they are young and wiggle a lot. It let's them wobble around" while they learn, she said.

A third previous project was a kitchen with four baskets of "food" that the children can use.

This year's main project is Kagen Cooperative learning with appropriate-sized tables. Michaels said her current tables seat six to eight students and she wants appropriate-sized tables for four students.

According to Michaels' description of the project, "Several of my students are on IEPs [individualized educational programs], including speech and language needs. They work on academic skills, but also need time for social interactions and cooperative play. We do not have enough aide support, so I am going to try a new approach to teaching this year that requires a different set up in my classroom.

"This year our district provided us with a Kagan workshop that showed us how to organize our students and teach them in ways to maximize learning while enhancing their social skills at the same time. It was an awesome technique that I want to use in my classroom this year. The best way to use the Kagan concept is sitting students in groups of four, having two students across from two other students. This becomes a team for about six weeks and they do activities as a whole table, as shoulder partners, or face partners depending on the activity. Then the students are put into new groups after about six weeks so that by the end of the year, everyone has been together at some point."

OTHER WORLAND PROJECTS

Moore and Michaels are not the only District No. 1 staff members who are utilizing DonorsChoose.org. Four other teachers currently have active projects listed on the website. They are:

•Brittany Tideman, East Side Elementary, back to the basics through board games. Tideman wrote, "We have seen an increase in difficult behaviors as students enter kindergarten. It appears that students are lacking executive functioning skills (taking turns, accepting no, patience, working as a team, being a good winner and loser, etc.) and as a kindergarten team we'd love to work on these skills through fun board games, card games, and dice games. All kindergarten students (approximately 100) will greatly benefit from additional time working on their executive functioning skills through fun and old-fashioned board games."

Total project cost: $908.

•Tanya Kienlen, Worland Middle School, coding challenge. Kienlen wrote, "My classroom is full of students who are active, hard-working, and learn best when they have hands on projects in front of them. Being the elective tech teacher at the middle school gives me the unique opportunity to work with multiple grades including sixth, seventh and eighth. Spheros are hands-on opportunities for students to problems solve and apply coding skills. They can change the color of the ball, how it spins and moves. We hope to hold Sphero competitions through teams in which students can compete to get their colored-ball through a fun maze designed by students."

Total project cost: $902.

•Elizabeth Siegfried, Worland Middle School, relax and read. She wrote, "My students need comfortable alternative seating to read their novels every day. We have hard tile floor and the kids like to spread out. Stadium and gaming chairs allow for a bit of relaxation when reading."

Total project cost: $460.

BASIN PROJECTS

Worland is not the only school seeking help with projects in Wyoming. There are 79 projects listed under Wyoming.

In the Big Horn Basin, in addition to the six Worland projects, there are:

•Kodi Schwarz, Ten Sleep, flexible seating environment including floor seats, ball seats, wobble cushions, pillows and beanbag seats. Schwarz wrote, "According to best practice in education, having a flexible seating arrangement in the classroom dramatically promotes student engagement and learning." Total project cost: $382.

•Ashley Spatz, Riverside High School, glassware class set to help them accurately measure chemicals, and to incorporate science into agriculture. Spatz said, "A glassware set is necessary in any science course. While agriculture might not be seen as a science, there are many aspects of science in the agricultural field. Animal and veterinary science, environmental science, plant science, and soil science are huge parts of agriculture education. This glassware set is necessary to effectively learn about any of these sciences, but in my classes they are most useful within the plant and soil science disciplines. This glassware set is a valuable tool that allows students to understand soil properties such as soil texture and porosity, as well as plant physiology such as water uptake, transpiration, and photosynthesis. With the information presented in these units, students will be more interested in these careers fields, as well as more prepared to enter college or the work force in these areas."

Total project cost: $721.

•JoEllen Varian, Greybull Middle School, books for collaborative discussion. Varian wrote, "My students need classroom sets of books that tie in with our current learning themes. For example, students will use the books "Hatchet," "The Outsiders," and "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" to examine the characters experiences and analyze turning points in their own lives they can write about and discuss with their peers. They will also use the books to reinforce reading skills, standards, and literary analysis they are learning in the classroom. I teach sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders so different books will be used for different grades so students don't have repeated books through their years at our school."

Total project cost: $3,354.