Girls' Weight Training
Sarah Hanson, Olathe North High School - $985

This all-girls weight training class started with 5 girls and grew to over 40 participants. The purchase of fitness bars meets the particular needs of  these females replacing the heavier weights which are customarily in high school weight rooms.

Promoting Youth Fitness
Matt Jones, Pioneer Trail Middle School - $980

Fitness bars will add a new training component for those younger members of the middle school assisting those who lack the ability to use traditional, heavier weights.

Attacking Bullying
Paul Giffin and Rhonda Strecker, Santa Fe Trail Middle School- $1,700

Teleconferencing nationally with other schools will help this group of students address the social issue of bullying. A field trip to meet and conference in Columbia, Missouri will be the culmination activity that will share their results in a poster and DVD production/campaign.

PT Snack Packs
Elaine Carpenter, Pioneer Trail Middle School, $2,500

This snack pack program will provide weekend food items to students in need who are already part of the free/reduced lunch program. Food will be collected by the student body through various food drives and community resources. Lifeskills students will organize the donated non-perishable food products.

New Day After School
Lindsay Stephenson, Olathe East High School, $2,045

This proven extended-learning after-school tutoring program for students in need will begin its second year at Olathe East with help from OPSF to pay teacher stipends and provide snacks and supplies.

Active Learning Lab
Karen Leacox and Shelle Ellis, Heatherstone and Walnut Grove Elementary Schools, $1,000

Ready Bodies Ready Minds program is a proven strategy for learning. Weekly lessons will be prepared and then teachers will take their classroom to the active learning lab and incorporate physical movement into that lesson. For example, saying spelling words while jumping on a mini-trampoline will improve students’ neurological maturation while helping with academia, behavior, social and motor skills.

Play-date to Communicate
Melissa Fisher, Bentwood Elementary School, $250

Providing social play in the middle of a typical speech session allows the pathologists to compare two different environments for developing communication strategies. This grant will provide funds to purchase play items that cannot be located through a donation network.

ACE Scrabblers
Christine Walker, Arbor Creek Elementary School, $1,000

Various versions of Scrabble games will allow this extended-learning club to improve students' spelling abilities while providing a fun, challenging, competitive environment that may lead to area competitions.

Listen Up!
Chelsea Praeuner, Ridgeview Elementary School, $2,500

Portable CD players and audio books will help these second-grade students become better readers by allowing them to stretch into more difficult text without losing content.

Alternative Energies
Dennis Burkett, Olathe South High School, $850

Curriculum Bins
Carole Affholder, Kristin Dubois, & Sarah Spurlock, Harmony Early Childhood Center, $500

Theme-based bins filled with props and materials to promote dramatic play will be organized as a lending library for early-childhood teachers to use during particular units of study.

Health & Fitness at Risk
Tina Sollars, CHOICES Alternative Program, $4,300

The first health and fitness program at CHOICES will not only allow students to earn their health and PE credit but also provide an outlet for physical activity not easily had in this small clasroom setting. An exercise bike and fitness monitoring equipment will help these students learn the importance of physical well-being.

Success Academy
Amy Jensen, Oregon Trail Middle School, $3,240

Success Academy will offer targeted students the opportunity to enhance their skill sets in the areas of reading and math through an after-school extended learning opportunity. Certified teachers will focus on improving student skills on the assessed indicators through implementation of research-based strategies and hands-on activities.

Latino Mentor
Stephanie Mattingly, Olathe South High School, $1,000

This mentoring program will partner with the already-proven YouthFriends program in providing mentors for the at-risk Latino population at Olathe South. In addition to successful role-model mentors, this program will provide college campus field trips and promote parent involvement.

Home Involvement: Parent and Child
Shawn Fiscus & Ruth Henderson, Black Bob Elementary School, $1,000

Math-themed bags with electronic games, flash cards, and mental math games will go home with students over the weekend to help improve math competencies at the second and third grade levels.