SALISBURY – Schools in Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties received $116,144 in grant funding through the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore’s 2023 Education Grants Program.
CFES saw another record-breaking number of requests this year and a wide variety of needs. Funds will be distributed across forty school-based programs. Educators and school districts were honored at an evening reception on November 9th at James M. Bennett High School.
“The Community Foundation is proud to offer support to our schools, educators, and students,” said Community Foundation President Erica Joseph. “When we invest in education, we are building long term impact for the future of our local community and the success of our future leaders.”
Grants through the program are made annually in conjunction with National Education Week through a competitive process to public and private grade schools on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. Grants are made to those schools that have developed innovative programs to enhance education and improve the social, emotional and physical wellbeing of their students and communities.
The foundation honored North Salisbury Elementary School with the Mary Gay Calcott Award of Excellence and a bonus grant from the Foundation’s Mary Gay Calcott Memorial Fund, for their innovative program that engages English Language Learners in running a school-based business to improve language proficiency with real-world application. The award is named for the late Mary Gay Calcott, a professor of English at Salisbury University whose life embodied her ideals of teaching students to think, to express themselves with clarity and to care about the world they live in.
The following schools received Education Award Grants for the 2023/2024 school year in Worcester County.
Berlin Intermediate will stock the school’s House store with incentive items for their positive behavior program.
Cedar Chapel Special School will purchase adaptive tricycles for students with diverse abilities.
Cedar Chapel Special School will use a curriculum that teaches students with diverse abilities about boundaries and self-awareness.
Ocean City Elementary will provide targeted enrichment instruction for Tier 1 students through literature text sets.
Ocean City Elementary will improve the library collection and increase student engagement in recreational reading.
Pocomoke Elementary School will install a book vending machine to promote excitement about reading.
Pocomoke Elementary School will create a diverse outdoor classroom space for art, music, physical education, and STEM lessons.
Pocomoke High School will partner with Cedar Chapel Special School to bring awareness and acceptance of those with special needs.
Showell Elementary will install a book vending machine to promote excitement about reading.
Showell Elementary will purchase iPads and Lego Education Kits to enhance the school’s makerspace.
Snow Hill Elementary will expand the school library’s picture book and chapter book selections to engage readers.
Snow Hill High School will boost the school’s positive behavior program with exciting rewards and incentives.
Snow Hill High will host a Friday Night Book Club that allows students to select titles from current and engaging themes.
Snow Hill Middle’s RISE program will allow at-risk students to practice life skills and social etiquette in real-world social settings.
Snow Hill Middle’s “Pathways to Resilience” initiative will fortify the library’s Social-Emotional Learning resources.
Stephen Decatur Middle will expand the library’s nonfiction resources and build a collection of books written in Spanish.