East Peoria teachers receive grants for innovation

Teachers from three East Peoria schools recently received FirstGrant cash awards from the PNC Foundation and the Ruby K. Worner Trust to help accomplish creative and innovative projects in their classrooms.

Paul Bolin Elementary School teacher Marti Bierdeman, Don Shute Elementary School teacher Robyn Wernowsky and Central Junior High School teachers Jane Bach-Brummitt and Angela Poole were all recipients of the funds, designed to help instill programs that might not be otherwise funded due to budget limitations.

“Teachers are finding engaging new ways to educate students, while continuing to spark excitement about math, science and reading,” said Doug Stewart, PNC Bank regional president for central Illinois, speaking on behalf of the PNC Foundation in a Jan. 26 dated press release.

“This year’s grant recipients are among the most creative we have seen over the years.”

Bierdeman plans to use the $579 grant she received to implement Building Basics in her classroom.

“Building Basics is a math economics unit and will be implemented during the month of May,” she said. “Students will participate in a simulated home building project in which they will buy land and supplies to build a house out of Legos. They will learn to apply for a loan, write checks, balance an account, follow a budget, and work with a partner to successfully build a home.”

Bierdeman said goals for the program includes giving students an understanding of the process, responsibility and economics of home building and having them work successfully to construct models while being mindful of a budget and to work together to solve problems and complete a final project.

“PNC very generously awards grants annually to teachers in this area,” said Bierdeman, who found out in December that she was selected as a grant recipient.

She said she applies for the PNC grant and a few others each year as a means to fund special projects which apply “real world” situations in her classroom.

“Students generally come away with greater understanding of concepts, making connections with what they have learned, plus, it makes learning more fun,” Bierdeman added.

At CJHS, Bach-Brummit and Poole plan to use the $1,000 PNC grant to introduce Gateway to Technology, the junior high model of Project Lead the Way, to their students.

“We incorporate it into our science curriculum,” Bach-Brummit said. “Our goal, by using the GTT curriculum, is to integrate STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) components into our student’s every day lives.”

She added that because implementing these components can be costly, help through grants is often sought.

Wernowsky, awarded with a $600 grant, said she plans to use the money to purchase new math materials that focus on problem solving and “thinking out problems with a deeper level of understanding.” She said this will help to better prepare her students to meet the soon-to-be-implemented Common Core Standards.

“The impact that these new standards will have on education is immense,” Wernowsky said. “Students will be required to learn how to think on a deeper level, as opposed to reciting facts that they have been taught. It is important that teachers begin to make instructional changes in our classrooms now.”

The materials she plans to purchase will be placed in the school’s resource room for use by other Shute teachers.

“I hope we will be better prepared to make necessary changes when the standards are adopted,” Wernowsky said. “All teachers have visions of improving instruction for our students, yet funding is becoming more and more scarce. With grants such as the PNC grant, we have a greater opportunity to make those visions a reality.”