By Crystal McGough, Editor
TRUSSVILLE – TCS Foundation presented several MUSH grants to faculty members of Hewitt-Trussville High School at Monday night’s Board of Education meeting, which took place at the TCS Board of Education Central Office located at 476 Main Street.
TCS Foundation President Melissa Donaldson introduced the grants, along with foundation members Leslie Armstrong, Heather Johnson, Nikki Franklin, Niki Lincoln, Virginia Morris, Brad Wideman and Jasen White.
“This, by far, is our most favorite time of the year of being a part of the Trussville City Schools Board Foundation,” Donaldson said. “These grants are funded 100% by the community here of Trussville. They are funded by parents, they are funded by businesses, they are funded by teachers, employees. This is just one of the great, great ways that we are able to give back to Trussville City Schools.
“We had a record number of grants that were submitted this year. We had 67 grants that were submitted this year. That is by far the most we have ever had, almost by double. … It even makes us more excited because we’re able to give more money back to our teachers.”
She said that grants will be awarded to Trussville’s middle and elementary schools on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023.
Nikki Franklin presented Laura Massey with a check for $800 to go toward her “Destressing in the Library” project.
“As we all know, our high schoolers have very busy schedules these days,” Franklin said. “This grant will allow our library to serve as a place where our high schoolers can come and take a breath during their lunch and study period. They will be able to work on puzzles, they will be able to color, they will be able to work on Picasso magnet blocks, or just sit and think.”
Next, Heather Johnson presented Rebecca Munkachy with a check in the amount of $1,200 to be used by the high school ceramics program to purchase spray glaze equipment.
“In the grant application, the ceramics teacher explained that, up until now, students have only been able to paint the glaze on their pottery, which sort of limits their creativity to a certain degree,” Johnson said. “So, one of the cool techniques that she’s often talking to her students about is spraying on the glaze. So she applied for this grant for an air compressor, a booth to spray the glaze on the ceramics and an airbrush. … This will not only benefit her current students, but they’re working on an AP program for ceramics at the high school, and so it will benefit a lot of future students, as well.”
Niki Lincoln presented a check for $1,500 to George Logan for the purchase of virtual reality headsets: VR2RW-Bridging Skill Gaps for Virtual Reality to the Real World.
“I’m particularly excited to tell you about the grant that we will be awarding tonight to the electrical construction course and program and teacher George Logan, particularly because I am a parent of a child in his class and I see first-hand the positive impact that his course has, as well as my husband works with him a lot with real world experiences from classroom to the construction world,” Lincoln said. “His grant is for virtual reality headsets and for his kids to be able to practice and bridge the skill gap in the virtual world to the real world. It provides a little bit more of a safer environment for some of these kids, and it just provides so much more practice and experience.”
Melissa Donaldson presented Anna Hallman with a $1,500 grant for Espresso Express, a project by the Business Culinary Academy.
“I have had the amazing privilege of working with Chef Hallman through lots of things, but most recently even on her advisory board,” Donaldson said. “One of the things with Chef Hallman and her program that many of you probably know is that it is top of the line. We have had the culinary program actually cater our functions through the Trussville City Schools Board Foundation and every time there are more and more compliments that we continue to get from her students; not just on the food that they are providing, but also the service that they are providing.
“The grant that we are awarding tonight to Chef Hallman is actually another way for her students to not only work on their skill, but also work on their skill of service. Chef Hallman has written a grant for an espresso bar for – get this high school teachers – to have espresso for high school teachers once a week during fourth period. So, during this opportunity, not only will the students be able to converse with service, but this is also going to be a chance for them to be able to raise money for all of the things that go into their program. So, it’s a win-win situation in our book.”
Virginia Morris then presented Thomas Cook and the engineering academy with a grant in the amount of $1,498.60 for a Principles of Engineering Electricity unit upgrade.
“I’m personally excited because I have two boys, twin boys, that are ninth grade and have started out in the engineering academy this year and love it,” Morris said. “… This is Mr. Cook’s grant that he submitted; it’s for new electrical unit equipment. … They’re needing to buy some new soldering irons that are safer for students to use, some power supplies that will allow them to do not just demos for the whole class, but the kids can do individual labs with those and it will increase the safety and help them learn how to make circuit boards, I think.”
Brad Wideman presented another grant to the HTHS engineering academy, with teacher Jason Dooley receiving a $1,485 check for “Printing the Future.”
“The funds are going to be to purchase a multi-color 3D printer for our engineering academy,” Wideman said. “They’re building to print digital designs to life through 3D printing, provide students with a tangible representation of their ideas – so their ideas are going to be able to come to life with some of their designs. So, I’m extremely excited on behalf of the Trussville City Schools Foundation and the Trussville community to provide a check to Mr. Jason Dooley for $1,485.”
Finally, Jasen White presented a grant to Dawn Kilgore and the Alternative Learning Center for a Stress Relief Room in the amount of $1,500.
“It’s just going to allow students to be able to have an outlet to work on their stress, work on more positive outcomes, and just any situations that are frustrating,” White said. “Just have a room that you can go to and work everything out.”
Donaldson ended the presentation by explaining that all of the grants were judged by a panel and that a percentage of all the grants received for each school are distributed evenly throughout all of the schools.
“If you want your school to receive more grants, guess what that means,” Donaldson said. “Apply for more grants! That’s how this works.”