Lufkin Education Foundation grants $75K to teachers across 10 area districts

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - Some teachers in Deep East Texas got some much-needed financial help.

It came in the form of grants from the Lufkin Education Foundation, which also came with a celebration today.

President of Lufkin Education Foundation, Chase Luce said, “We gave out the most to date this year, $75,000, and that was 10 campuses throughout LISD, and it was over 20 teachers.”

Those include Lufkin High School, Herty Primary, Dunbar Primary, Garrett Primary, Brandon Elementary, Trout Primary, Anderson Elementary, Burley Primary, Kurth Primary, and Lufkin Middle School.

“They give the students an opportunity to get things in their classrooms at the operating budget of the school district wouldn’t normally cover, so they’re very innovative and they help the students a lot and the teachers,” said Luce.

Second grade GT teacher at Dunbar primary, Christen Baize said her grant will go towards a closet at Dunbar where students will be able to read a collection of books.

“Kids need to have books that they can relate to and things that are more relevant to their lives instead of sometimes the older books that they can’t really make connections with, and they also need to be able to see themselves in the characters instead of dogs or cats and things like that,” said Baize.

A third grade social studies teacher at the Brandon Elementary School, Angela Duncan, was awarded all four grants she applied for.

“They all center around improving students writing skills in unique and authentic ways, not just I like to teach and to get the children involved. Not just through worksheets, but to really bring learning alive for the students,” said Duncan.

Music teacher at Anderson Elementary, Miki Lynn, said many students do not get the opportunity to take piano lessons outside of school.

“This is a way that we can expose them to that, let them explore it, but it’s also a really good tool for explaining some of the rudiments of music theory,” said Lynn.

This marked the education foundation’s tenth year awarding teachers with grants for their classrooms.

Teachers will be given the chance to apply and be selected for grants yearly.

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