Grants totaling a record-breaking $203,000 were awarded to Santa Barbara Unified School District educators at the Santa Barbara Education Foundation’s annual Teacher Grants awards reception held Jan. 29.
This year’s program will benefit 96 teachers by funding innovative projects across 21 district schools.
Since its inception in 2018, SBEF’s Teacher Grants program has presented 483 grants totaling more than $888,000. The program directly supports teachers and students by providing creative, hands-on learning opportunities in classrooms. It is funded entirely through private donations and grants.
The celebration, held at the Carrillo Ballroom, featured performances by the Santa Barbara High School Dempsey Jazz Trio and the school’s Donettes Dance Team.
“This is where my heart is,” said former teacher Mercedes Millington of the John C. Mithun Foundation, one of the grant program’s donors. “Teachers, we know that you have the most important job that anyone could have. It’s difficult. It’s challenging. But when you get it, and the students get it, it feels so good.”
One instructor making an impact is Deborah Reid, a special education teacher at Santa Barbara High School. She described how her grant will provide hands-on learning opportunities for her students through a glassblowing class.
“Having turned a mixture of sand, soda ash, and limestone into a bowl, my student looked at me and said: ‘Now I understand why Merlin was considered a magician. I get that this is science, but it’s also really magic,’” she said.
Teacher Ian Moore accepted a $10,000 tech-focused STEM grant awarded on behalf of Goleta Valley Junior High School for a new computer lab supporting computer science and robotics programs. The tech upgrades will enhance the STEM education for 750 Goleta Valley Junior High students.
“We are thrilled to be a part of innovation,” Moore said.
This year marked the start of the Margie Yahyavi Grant for Excellence in Music Education, named in honor of SBEF’s former executive director who passed away last year.
The $3,000 grant supports instrumental music and vocal music teachers to inspire creative and cultural programming that promotes student engagement and collaboration in the classroom and community, SBEF said.
For Carissa Corrigan, who teaches music at Harding Elementary School, the Margie Yahyavi Grant will help foster collaboration and teamwork among her students through a new hand chime music program.
“I am extremely proud of the Teacher Grants program’s impact on our schools,” said Pedro Paz, SBEF executive director. “The generosity of our community has empowered teachers to develop creative and engaging opportunities for their students, making a lasting difference in classrooms across the district.
This year’s grant program is made possible by donors, including the Gainey Foundation, John C. Mithun Foundation, and the Gretler Foundation, plus numerous other individual donors and local businesses. SBEF also thanks award ceremony event sponsor, Whole Foods.
The Santa Barbara Education Foundation works to generate private support for Santa Barbara’s public schools, impacting almost 12,000 students.
To learn more about Teacher Grants and the foundation’s other programs or to get involved, visit www.santabarbaraeducation.org.