The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) recently awarded grants totaling $19,471 to Mitchell County schools from the Learning Links grant program. The grants provide local teachers with funding for activities designed to make required coursework engaging and relevant for their students.
Seven Learning Links grants will support projects at Gouge Elementary School, Greenlee Primary School, Harris Middle School, Mitchell Elementary School, and Mitchell High School. The grants will fund the purchase of ceramics materials, items needed to incorporate drama in the classroom, materials for exploring math concepts using food, an inflatable obstacle course and human anatomy model materials for a Health Science activity, and tools for use in student video production, audio recording, and digital content creation for Broadcasting Mountaineer Stories at Mitchell High. They will also fund an American History field trip to Washington, D.C. for juniors and items needed to design and build a mobile STEAM classroom to be used for STEAM demonstrations and activities.
“As a first-time Learning Links grant reviewer, I was impressed by the innovative ideas that WNC teachers brought to the table,” said Alana Nottage, Leadership Associate. “Learning Links grants empower educators to bring hands-on and experiential opportunities to their classrooms. It is exciting to see how these projects can create lasting, real-world connections that inspire students to think critically and creatively.”
Learning Links offers grants up to $1,000 per classroom to public school teachers in Avery, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford and Swain counties to provide experiential learning projects for students. The goal is to increase students’ enthusiasm for learning and school. The grants are funded through the Ben W. and Dixie Glenn Farthing Charitable Endowment, Cherokee County Schools Foundation Endowment Fund, Leon C. and Grace E. Luther Charitable Fund, Fund for Education, and Clyde and Mildred Wright Endowment Fund. The Dr. Robert J. and Kimberly S. Reynolds Fund also provided co-investment for the cycle. This year, 52 grants were awarded totaling $108,111.
CFWNC inspires philanthropy and mobilizes resources to enrich lives and communities in eighteen counties in Western North Carolina. Last year, the Foundation facilitated $24.8 million in charitable giving.
For more information, contact The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina at 828-254-4960 or visit www.cfwnc.org.
