December 2025 Grant Recipients

I teach an elective class and we currently have a Lego kit called the EV3 sets that came out in 2013. Beginning with the most recent update, our app that controls our kits no longer work. The reason Lego has stopped supporting the app is because they have a new and improved kit called Lego Spike Prime. Students really love this elective class, and we would really like to keep the elective course. However, we need to come up money, as each kit costs $399.95. We are trying to collect up to 10 kits to support our 20 student course. The grant can help us get started.

Students learn many things with this elective. First, they learn group work and communication skills as they work together to build different legos. After the legos are built, students learn coding skills to program the robot to complete different tasks. During both processes students learn problem solving skills to find out what goes wrong. Additionally students are given challenge tasks and they have to figure out how to have the robot complete the task.

Our project will equip the School with Timekettle translation earbuds to break down language barriers between educators, students, and families. In a rural community with a growing population of Spanish-speaking and newcomer families, communication challenges often limit engagement and access to resources. These AI-powered earbuds provide real-time translation, enabling staff to hold meaningful conversations with parents, support English Language Learners in classrooms, and foster inclusive participation in extracurricular activities.

By integrating this technology into family meetings, discipline conferences, and community events, we will ensure that all voices are heard and valued. The project advances equity by creating immediate, practical solutions for multilingual communication, while strengthening trust and partnership between schools and families. Ultimately, this initiative empowers educators to connect more effectively, supports student success.