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Angola ISTA members awarded $5,000 NEA Foundation grant
08/18/2017

Congratulations to ISTA members Becky Knight and Jen Wiggins for receiving an NEA Foundation grant to boost their classroom learning. The NEA Foundation awards grants and fellowships to NEA members for professional development and to improve teaching and learning. Learn more at neafoundation.org.

Blog submitted by Becky Knight. 

ISTA members and Angola Classroom Teachers Association executive board members Jen Wiggins and Becky Knight recently received a $5,000 NEA Foundation grant to purchase Lego kits for their school’s newly created makerspace. Wiggins and Knight both attended makerspace training in spring 2017. As a part of that training, they received a one-time disbursement of $500 to help start their space. But, as they discussed options for spending the monies they had been granted, it became clear that they wanted to purchase some Lego sets, but the amount they had would not cover it.

At a District Council meeting, they were made aware of the NEA Foundation and its grant opportunities. Soon after, the pair of elementary teachers began developing their proposal. They would focus on increasing student proficiency of the newly adopted Indiana Science Standards. Specifically, they would address the engineering and simple machines standards. They laid out a budget that would allow them to purchase 10 simple machines kits for primary grades and 10 for upper grades. They also planned to purchase kits that the speech and developmental preschool programs could use to promote language development.

Wiggins and Knight received word in April that they had been awarded the NEA Foundation grant. The kits were ordered and have arrived, just in time for the start of the 2017–18 school year.

“We are excited to see kids engage with the LEGO sets and to see the interest in STEM that these kits will generate during the school year,” said Knight. 

If you’re interested in submitting a blog or magazine article to appear in an ISTA publication, contact communications@ista-in.org.