Sahuarita Unified School District Educational Enrichment Foundation

Teacher mini-grant program: the teacher mini-grant program is one of seef's most popular offerings. It allows a district teacher to complete an application and request up to $500 to enable implementation of a project that will contribute to the appropriate education of his/her students. Mini-grant funds can also be used to purchase equipment or classroom supplies that enhance the education of students but can't be purchased through the district.during the past year, 18 teachers were selected to receive a mini-grant. Typically, each year's mini-grant applications have been quite different and covered varied topics. A few examples of recently funded mini-grant projects:-picture books to aid in comprehension & social emotional learning/understanding (for 5th grade students)-the living german classroom: resources, play and motivation (for students learning german)-copper view elementary school, classroom instruments (to enable students to improve their musical reading and playing skills)-robotics for an enrichment class (supplies for a lesson on robotics for enrichment class students

Sahuarita communityshare fellowship program: in 2020, seef began support of a fellowship program for teachers called communityshare. This program is offered in conjunction with the city center for collaborative learning in tucson and its mission is designing, implementing, and advancing exemplary practices in teaching and learning that transform the lives of young people and their educators. Initially, a small number of district teachers participating in the fellowship attended meetings in tucson. For academic year 2022-23 and again for 2023-24 approximately 20 teachers participated in the sahuarita communityshare program and 18 teachers completed all program components including a unique project that was undertaken with the assistance of one or more community member participating in the local sahuarita communityshare program. It is estimated that well over 400 individuals. Both participating teachers and their students realized the benefits of the program during the past academic year. Additionally, the foundation is grateful that numerous community partners, artists, scientists, business leaders and others were willing to share their "real-world" experiences with students in their classrooms and outside classrooms where artistic projects (e.g., murals or creative walls) were implemented.below are a few examples of projects undertaken and completed during the past year:-local ecology bracket competition: 10th grade students researched local wildlife and ranked their adaptation skills, then pitted them against each other in a march madness-style bracket.-yoga and physics: fourth grade students explored movement and physics through their own bodies and demonstrated their learning at a physics night.) -ell (english language learners) student podcast: fifth grade ell k-5th grade students interviewed each other and told stories on a podcast recorded at a local studio.the foundation's board of directors has been pleased with the sahuarita communityshare program and hopes to be able to support implementation of the program during the next year. The teacher serving as the sahuarita coordinator has indicated that she expects that the program will essentially operate during the current year as it has in the past. However, she would like to involve a few more teachers (e.g., 25) and have two coordinators instead of only one. The foundation is committed to helping identify the resources to enable these changes.communityshare impact statement (as offered by the sahuarita program coordinator):community-engaged, project-based learning represents best practices in education. The community fellowship supports teachers in planning and implementing these projects that increase student engagement, build real-world skills, promote executive functioning, and potentially impact classroom culture. Teachers report their participation in the sahuarita united school district's communityshare program boosts their morale and makes them feel valued and celebrated in the educational community.