Special Needs-Focused Education Foundation Awards 17 Grants To Benefit Students In Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook And Washington Counties -04/25/22
Hillsboro – Northwest Regional Education Service District’s Foundation has awarded educators in Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook and Washington counties with $24,500 in grant funding.
The projects range from $225 to $2,500 and the majority of the projects will serve students who are experiencing developmental, physical, behavioral and/or mental health challenges. Other projects provide support for students who are learning English or whose families are migrant workers.
This year’s grant projects include:
- a carnival-style, year-end celebration for students who experience blindness and visual impairment
- assistive technology, flexible workspaces and iPads for students with special needs
- Kindle eBooks for children of families who are migrant workers
- engaging toys geared toward preschool students with disabilities
- a field trip to OMSI for children who are deaf or hard of hearing
- flooring for a special education color guard
Emily Recchia, a teacher of the blind and visually impaired who works for Northwest Regional ESD, was awarded a grant to take students to Oaks Amusement Park during field trip week this spring. “Students will use various cane techniques to travel around the park while navigating crowds and locating entrances,” she wrote in her application. “They will use tactile maps of the park to plan routes to rides. Students can explore activities they would not otherwise have a complete conceptual understanding of. They can learn about their preferences and gain experiences to relate to others.”
Since 2006, the Foundation has awarded $448,709 in funding for 473 grants specifically for special needs students from birth to age 21.
“This is our foundation’s mission in action to create new opportunities to allow our special needs children the ability to participate, grow, develop and learn” says Karen Foley, the Foundation’s president. “Awarding funds to support grant proposals is our most important and joyful time of the year. We couldn’t do any of this without the support of our donors.”
Foley has served on the grant selection committee for many years and says the teachers, therapists and specialists who submit grants overwhelm the Committee with their passion, care and desire to make a difference in these children’s lives.
See below for a description of the grant, name of the recipient and their school district.
2021-22 Northwest Regional Education Service District Foundation Grant Awardees
Grant title: Cultivating Family Connections Through Celebrations, Compassion and Commitment
Total awarded: $2,500
County: Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook and Washington counties - Northwest Regional Education Service District
Educator: Kimberly Medlin
Grant description: The grant will fund a year-end celebration for students who experience vision impairments and their families. The event will be a carnival theme and will include more than 150 students who are blind or visually impaired. The event will feature a petting farm and therapy animals, food and drinks, activities that are tailored to children with visual impairments and supplies and prizes. Community partners will also be invited to participate and share resources with families.
Grant title: Healthy Smiles For Life
Total awarded: $1,355
County: Columbia County - Northwest Regional Education Service District
Educator: Mary Dorry
Grant description: Many children with special needs under the age of 5 refuse to let their parents brush their teeth. This results in tooth decay and other health challenges. This grant will help Northwest Regional Education Service District staff support families with toothbrushing tools and strategies. The grant will provide specialty toothbrushes, fruity toothpaste, wash cloths, child-safe mirrors, children’s books about toothbrushing and stickers to help support families. It will also provide a toothbrushing toy so educators can show parents effective toothbrushing strategies they can try with their children.
Grant title: “Cuéntame un Cuento”(Tell Me A Story): Removing Reading Access Barriers for Migrant Education Families
Total awarded: $2,430
County: Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook and Washington counties - Northwest Regional Education Service District
Educator: Rosa Gilbert
Grant description: This grant will provide 27 kindles to families who receive services through Northwest Regional Education Service District’s Migrant Education Program. Many families in the program face significant barriers to accessing reading materials in Spanish, especially families who live in rural areas. Every parent who receives a kindle will also receive a tutorial from staff about how to use it and regular check-ins to make sure everything is functioning correctly. The kindles will enable parents to read books with their children at home in their first language.
Grant title: Highly Engaging Toys Available to Support Inclusive Settings
Total awarded: $550
County: Washington County - Northwest Regional Education Service District
Educator: Felicia Miller
Grant description: Head Start preschool programs do not always have toys that are appropriate for students experiencing disabilities. This grant will provide funding to purchase a variety of engaging toys that Head Start programs can use with children when they are receiving special education support.
Grant title: Reading and Writing Support Through Assistive Technology
Total awarded: $705
County: Clatsop County - Warrenton-Hammond School District
Educator: Cristin Shay
Grant description: This grant will provide funding for assistive technology to be used with special education high school students. The programs allow students to complete worksheets, tests and quizzes through a voice assistant and other assistive technologies. This type of technology enables students to complete work independently rather than waiting for a teacher or instructional assistant to read the assignment aloud to them.
Grant title: Poynter Little Patriots Preschool Outdoor Learning Enhancement
Total awarded: $2,490
County: Washington County - Hillsboro School District
Educator: Rachelle Mejia
Grant description: Poynter Middle School does not have a playground for preschool students to use. This grant will provide funding for outdoor equipment that will encourage climbing, balancing, stacking and taking turns. The program will purchase a climbing structure, block sets and fall mats.
Grant title: Color Guard Performance Floor Safety First
Total awarded: $1,400
County: Washington County - Beaverton School District
Educator: Pat Carley
Grant description: The funding for this grant will be used to help purchase a new performance floor for a special education color guard program at the Beaverton School District. The floor will ensure the students have a safe space to dance, twirl and toss flags.
Grant title: Dungeons & Dragons Social Emotional Learning Group
Total awarded: $914
County: Washington County - Northwest Regional Education Service District
Educator: Lesley Upham
Grant description: Dungeons & Dragons has been a successful social emotional learning club at Northwest Regional ESD’s schools in recent years. The grant will enable the schools to purchase a library of Dungeons & Dragons source and adventure books, which will provide a curriculum to facilitate these groups. The game brings together students who might not normally interact with one another and teaches them critical thinking, creative problem-solving, collaboration, perseverance, communication and digital literacy skills.
Grant title: Ecotherapy Expansion
Total awarded: $865
County: Washington County - Northwest Regional Education Service District
Educator: Jillynn Garcia
Grant description: The goal of this project is to help students disconnect from screens, slow down and immerse themselves in the natural world through birding. This grant will provide a set of 12 binoculars with tripods and wild bird seed for a social emotional learning group at Pacific Academy, a high school program for special education students with intensive behavioral and mental health needs.
Grant title: Sensory Friendly/Flexible Working Spaces for Children with Special Needs
Total awarded: $2,500
County: Clatsop County - Astoria School District
Educator: Colleen Overman
Grant description: This grant will provide two standing desks with four stools for elementary-age students who have autism or other severe disabilities. Standing desks accommodate a child’s need for movement while allowing them to complete work and participate in class. When students cannot meet their need to move, they can become overwhelmed and flee the room or jump up and down and disrupt the teacher and other students.
Grant title: Supporting Families with a Book - Dream to Go Far
Total awarded: $640
County: Washington County - Northwest Regional Education Service District
Educator: Abbey Lutskovsky
Grant description: Having a disability is a natural part of the human experience, but when young children are first diagnosed with a disability, the experience can be overwhelming for parents. This grant will enable Northwest Regional Education Service District’s Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education program to provide parents of children who have recently started receiving special education services with an inclusive storybook that is meant to support families of young children experiencing disability. The book is called “Dream to Go Far” and is available in multiple languages. It was created by FACT Oregon, which is an Oregon-based advocacy organization that supports families of children who are experiencing disability.
Grant title: You Teach Me and I'll Teach You - Bilingual sharing and fun K-1
Total awarded: $500
County: Tillamook County - Nestucca Valley School District
Educator: Dia Norris
Grant description: The goal of this grant is to infuse bilingual (English-Spanish) activities such as songs, stories, celebrations and key vocabulary into kindergarten and first grade classrooms at Nestucca Valley K-8 School. The funds will provide bilingual books and materials for the lessons and will also provide a stipend for a bilingual parent or older student to help advise on and produce materials.
Grant title: All Kids Bike
Total awarded: $2,500
County: Tillamook County - Northwest Regional Education Service District
Educator: Kim Lyon
Grant description: This grant will help provide funding for 12 balance bikes with adapter pedals, 12 bike helmets and an early learning curriculum with lessons for teaching children how to ride bikes. The bikes will be used by Northwest Regional ESD’s Early Childhood Special Education program in Tillamook County. Physical and occupational therapists will consult with teachers on any modifications needed for each participating child based on their disability. Northwest Regional ESD also plans to work with other early childhood education partners in Tillamook County to offer the experience to their students as well.
Grant title: Expanded Core Curriculum Skills at Oaks Park
Total awarded: $225
County: Washington County - Northwest Regional Education Service District
Educator: Emily Recchia
Grant description: This grant will enable students ages 10-15 who are blind to go to Oaks Amusement Park during school field trip week. The experience will give students the opportunity to practice using cane techniques to travel around the park while navigating crows and locating entrances, use tactile maps in the park to plan routes to rides, navigate waiting in line, engage with other students who are blind, practice advocating their needs to park staff and make decisions as a group.
Grant title: Handwriting Help - Technology To The Rescue
Total awarded: $2,497
County: Clatsop County - Astoria School District
Educator: Colleen Overman
Grant description: Students with profound handwriting challenges benefit from practicing their handwriting in a digital context. This grant will provide six iPads, styluses and handwriting applications for special education students who attend John Jacob Astor and Lewis & Clark elementary schools. The technology will provide a fun and rewarding way for students to practice their handwriting.
Grant title: Science Day
Total awarded: $500
County: Washington County - Northwest Regional Education Service District
Educator: Karlyn Weaver
Grant description: This grant will provide a science day field trip to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The students will have the opportunity to explore together and learn more about the world around them.
Grant title: Student stream monitoring project
Total awarded: $2,000
County: Washington County - Northwest Regional Education Service District
Educator: Ronald Dolen
Grant description: Special education students who attend Pacific Academy will have the opportunity to participate in a stream monitoring study that will teach them how to collect chemical, physical and biological data in order to measure the health of local and coastal range creeks. The goal of the study is to help students understand how human activity can harm local watersheds.