The Santa Barbara Education Foundation will award 64 grants to teachers in the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD), totaling $100,000 to help meet the needs of their students.
Since 2018, the Santa Barbara Education Foundation has offered SBUSD teachers grants from $250-$5,000 to promote innovative teaching and buy classroom supplies. With this grant cycle completed, SBEF has awarded about $375,000 in funding to teachers over the past four years.
“The teacher grants committee is always amazed by the diverse requests from our teachers. They are constantly striving to provide students with new learning opportunities, experiences, and materials to strengthen the whole child,” said Katie Szopa, SBEF programs manager.
This year’s grants will help purchase a variety of items, including school gardens, physical education equipment for special education students, new speakers for the band room, and a field trip to Santa Cruz Island.
For Dylan Aguilera, the instrumental music and band director at Santa Barbara High School, the grant will allow for some long-overdue upgrades for his students’ performances.
“The Santa Barbara Education Foundation’s grant programs have just gifted us with much-needed electronic sound equipment,” he said. “We have been using outdated materials for many years, with many tech-scares mid-performance. But now that we have funds specifically given to us to update our hardware, we can rest at ease, knowing that our electronics will carry our students to new experiences.”
April Salas, a deaf/hard-of-hearing specialist at McKinley Elementary School, will use her grant to better support and provide access to essential curriculum.
“Literacy in both English and American Sign Language is crucial yet challenging for our deaf/hard-of-hearing students in SBUSD. With the help of the SBEF grant, our program is able to utilize specialized curriculum and assessments that best support the significant language needs of our students,” she said.
“These materials not only help build critical literacy skills but also allow for accessible learning. When learning is accessible, students are successful,” she said.
The Santa Barbara Education Foundation will host an awards presentation to celebrate the teacher grant recipients on Wednesday, Jan. 5.
Santa Barbara Education Foundation promotes private support of Santa Barbara’s public education system, serving some 12,700 students in 21 schools. For more information, visit www.santabarbaraeducation.org.