Mid-Prairie School Board tries out robots September 10th. Photo by Sam McIntosh.

Robots, portable art displays, and algebra tiles were just some of the topics presented during the 2017-2018 Mid-Prairie Fund for Academic Excellence grant presentation.

Teachers presented how the grants they received impacted their classrooms at the recent Mid-Prairie School Board meeting. This was the second year of the educational endowment program that was started by the alumni class of 1966. Business manager and steering committee member Jeff Swartzentruber spoke on behalf of the program, “We’re just excited when we see the things that we’re doing. It’s really neat to see the passion that comes out in the teachers and in the students, but it doesn’t take a lot and it’s been a great experience.”

The fund has so far given 16 grants for a total of $5,800. The fund’s balance is $98,000 and Swartzentruber says they hope to raise $60,000 more by the end of this fiscal year. They are soon accepting grant proposals for the 2018-2019 cycle according to Swartzentruber, “We’re also encouraging teachers to submit joint proposals for projects, you saw a couple this evening and we’re looking for individual teachers’ projects but we think it can be really a good thing to boost collaborative programs.”

The steering committee has recently added another student to have a junior and senior help select grant awards, as well as parents, faculty, and alumni. Swartzentruber encouraged administrators and board members to join the committee.