Surprised by balloons and oversized checks, 13 Beaufort County public school teachers from nine schools and the Beaufort-Jasper Academy for Career Excellence learned recently that they had won Innovative teacher grants from the Foundation for Educational Excellence, a fund of the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry.

Foundation officials visited teachers’ classrooms to deliver the news in person.

The 13 grants announced ranged from $250 to $500 and totaled more than $5,500. Funded projects ranged from a classroom butterfly project to programmable robots.

“We’re privileged to recognize and reward teachers who approach their work in such creative ways,” said Peggy May, the foundation’s chair. “The big winners, of course, are the students who benefit from these innovative and effective classroom projects.”

The Foundation for Educational Excellence Fund was established in 2007, and the first grants were awarded in 2009.  The primary function of the foundation is to raise funds for teacher grants that spur innovation. Grants of up to $500 are awarded twice each year, and thousands of students have benefitted since 2009.  The foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Here are some of the Innovative Teacher Grants from spring 2014 awards cycle:

• Torey Conner, Whale Branch Elementary: Fun with Facts

• Amy Fallon, Port Royal Elementary: Fraction Towers

• Helen Goodman, Okatie Elementary: Reading is Factual

• Ashike Lewis, Mossy Oaks Elementary: Ladybug Library.
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