Innovation is a key component of engaging students in the classroom today. Amy Bumpus, teacher at Lincoln Middle School, has found a way to do just that. And her work was recognized this school year by the Pullman Education Foundation.
The Pullman Education Foundation, committed to supporting the Pullman School District, awarded the inaugural Innovation Grant to Bumpus in August, 2017. The $10,000 award was used to purchase Chromebooks which are used to collaboratively teach English to all Pullman middle school students.
“I knew that it would be an awesome thing to have a class set of Chromebooks, but I don’t think I fully grasped just how incredible and important it would be until now. It has been fantastic,” Bumpus reported this past fall semester. Collaborations have begun not only across science classrooms, but also subjects. There is work being done with the teaching team in social studies as well. Bumpus went on to write, “Having access to Chromebooks any time we want them allowed us to do a fairly involved project the first week of school.”
The Innovation Grant has a goal of supporting projects and programming that will allow teachers, teams, or buildings to implement innovative learning initiatives that not currently in the District budget. Projects must be approved and endorsed by the District, building leadership, and any other teachers involved in the concept.
Focusing on meeting students where they are individually through learning and educational experience is a side benefit Bumpus didn’t necessarily build in to her proposal, but has grown from the project.
“Another way that learning has been enhanced in my classroom is through the use of Google Classroom and the way that platform form allows me to differentiate instruction. Here you can see a portion of my classroom stream – in it you can see 4 separate assignments, tailored to individual needs that I’ve given to small groups of students,” Bumpus wrote in a December update.
Funding for this type of award is made possible through private support from community members who give to the unrestricted fund at the PEF. Annual appeals for this tax-deductible support will be sent in early 2018.
Applications for the 2018-2019 Innovation Grant are available now through the Pullman School District with a deadline of March 1, 2018. Funding will be available to the selected grant winner in August 2018.
The Foundation (PEF) was established in 1994 to improve the quality of education within the Pullman School District by providing resources for programs for which federal, state and local funding is inadequate and to further improve the quality of education and enhance community support for public education.
For more information about the Innovation Grant, or about the Pullman Education Foundation, please contact Board President Sandra Albers at pullmaneducationfoundation@gmail.com or visit Innovation Grant Overview.
