Union graduates receive funding to support Tennessee schools

Rachel Dorroh • November 25, 2024

Six recent graduates of the Education Specialist (Ed.S) program at Union Commonwealth University are putting their studies into action in their northeast Tennessee classrooms this schoolyear. As part of their coursework, these teachers learned how to find and write grants to support their schools and students, and now, they are carrying out these special projects.

 

The professor of their grant writing class, Dr. Joy Ramsey, says it’s her favorite class because it means so much to the teachers:


“They’re excited when they come in because there’s a great possibility of getting things they need to help their students. With most of these grants, they get materials or training that they can use year after year.”

One young boy holds a small robot while the other looks at a kindle fire tablet

Pedal desks to help with dyslexia

Rock Springs Elementary first grade teacher Sarah Arnold’s “Ride to Read” project gives students a way to move their bodies while they do their schoolwork. With the UTrust Mini grant funding she received, Arnold purchased three “pedal desks” for her classroom, which look like stationary bicycles with built-in desktops.


“When you learn kinesthetically, you are firing more neurons in the brain to activate the lobes that help you read,” Arnold said. “This grant was near to my heart because I struggled to read and write as a child.”


Arnold said that the educators in her school have completed an in-depth training through the Orton Gillingham Academy for dyslexia, and that every day, they are “finding new ways to accommodate students who may struggle to decipher the code of reading.”  


Coding for creativity

Pre-K teachers Julie Millard of Rock Spring Discovery Academy and Amy Bridges of Ketron Elementary were awarded a Utrust Mini Grant to support hands-on STEAM learning in their classrooms. The grant enabled Millard and Bridges to purchase two Artie 3000 coding robots and two kindle fire tablets to use with them. The pre-schoolers are learning how to think through what they want the mini bots to draw or write and then use the tablets to “drag and drop” the correct code.


[PHOTO: Millard's pre-schoolers learn to code the Arte 3000 robot.]


“In our schools many times our pre-k students look to older students to see what they are going to be doing,” Millard said. “This gives pre-k an opportunity to show the older students something new.”

Minton holds a giant check from Northeast Credit Union

Back-to-school supplies

Elizabeth Minton, Kindergarten teacher at the Wandell Early Learning Center of East Side Elementary in Elizabethton, received the Helping Teachers Teach Grant from Northeast Community Credit Union in July. She used the funds to purchase her students’ back-to-school supplies so their parents wouldn’t have to.  


[PHOTO: Elizabeth Minton poses with her check from Northeast Credit Union]


“Our school is a low-income school and I thought this funding would help parents of students in my class to not worry about the cost of schools supplies,” Minton said.


Professional Development

Jennifer Rickert, an instructional coach for the Elizabethton City School System, is helping the elementary school students in her district to become more confident, proficient writers. At the beginning of the schoolyear, her project included training in the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) writing method. Over the next two years, she will pass this training on to the teachers at East Side, Harold McCormick, and West Side Elementary schools for use with their students.

A room full of teachers sit on folding chairs at tables arranged in three long rows.

SRSD is an evidence-based writing process designed to blend writing instruction into existing curriculums. Social-emotional learning, cognitive-behavioral principles, and strategies like positive self-talk, self-regulation, self-awareness, and critical thinking are integrated into the program to help students become more engaged, motivated, and effective writers and learners.


Rickert noted that she will also be working with her fellow Union alum Lauren McInturff Pitman, who serves as the District Implementation Coach of Elizabethton City Schools. 


[PHOTO: Elementarys school teachers receive training from Rickert in the SRSD method of teaching writing.]


Seth Grindstaff, of Science Hill High School in Johnson City, received a grant to train as an AP Research instructor so he can offer the AP Research class to his students. Grindstaff has been teaching high school English in northeast Tennessee since 2012. 


Impact 

Ramsey has been teaching the grant writing at Union since 2011 and estimates that, all in all, her students have been awarded close to $500,000 for their classrooms. She says the benefit is far-reaching and long-lasting.

“It boosts morale. A lot of times teachers don’t have what they need, and it’s stressful for them,” she says, adding that it’s also stressful for a principal or assistant principal when they don’t have the funds to meet a need they know they have. “Grant writing helps relieve some of that teacher burnout. They have control. They have hope that they can get what they need to help their students. That’s a long-term benefit, I believe.”

 

Ramsey’s students often secure funding for things that benefit their whole school community, like playground equipment, sporting goods, and lab materials for biology and chemistry classes. "Knowledge of grant writing can help when unexpected needs arise, such as those created by the recent flooding and aftermath of hurricane Helene," Ramsey says.

 

About Union’s Tennessee Programs

Union’s education department offers two graduate programs for Tennessee residents: the Education Specialist degree (Ed.S.) and the Master of Educational Leadership. Coursework for both programs is available online and at the satellite school at Sullivan Heights Middle School in Kingsport, Tennessee. In addition to Dr. Joy Ramsey’s grant writing class, her sister Dr. Sandra Ramsey offers a course in grant writing for educational organizations, as well.

 

To learn more about Union’s graduate programs for Tennessee educators, see unionky.edu/tennessee or contact Debbie Morelock at dmorelock@unionky.edu.

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