Manchester PTA Presents Teacher Grants

The Manchester Township PTA presented $5,123 in grants to teachers at the January 29, 2014 Board of Education meeting.

PTA President Sarita Dodd said that grant requests totaled $12,000 this year and, with a grant budget of only $5,000, making the selection was not an easy task.  Lisa Mitchell, PTA Recording Secretary and Melissa Didia, Bookfair Chairperson for Ridgeway/Regional Day,  helped Dodd present the following grants:

·         Tracey Raimondo, MTHS Vice Principal, $500 toward Challenge Day, an anti-bullying program at the high school.

·         Teena Spinelli & Ashley Gawlik, MTHS Art Teachers, $500 for a Cricut cutting machine and template cartridges.

·         Sarah Steudler, MTHS Science Teacher, $200 for books.  Her biology students will read and discuss the nonfiction bookThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

·         Megan Baumgartner, MS Special Ed Teacher, $425 for a Kindle project.

·         Jessica Gwin, MTES 2nd Grade Teacher, $250 to pay transportation cost for a field trip to Joint Base McGuire.

·         Christine McGrath, MTES 5th Grade Teacher, $180 for uniforms for the school’s Honor Guard.

·         Toni Basile, MTES 2nd Grade Teacher, $250 for a Listening to Reading project.

·         Kathleen Antonelli, Deborah Brignola & Rose Pett, Ridgeway School Special Ed Teachers, $500 for an Epson Projector.

·         Sonia Castro, Ridgeway School Music Teacher, $465 for keyboards.

·         Samantha Greenstein, Ridgeway School  2nd Grade Teacher, $148 for a Math Fun project.

·         Carla Hamernik, Ridgeway School 4th Grade Teacher, $347 for an Elmo Document Camera.

·         Crystal Policastro, Ridgeway School 2nd Grade Teacher, $398 for a Laptop for Learning project.

·         Stephanie Boyd & Lisa Gould, Whiting School Special Ed Teachers, $150 for an iPad app for autistic students.

·         Julie Clark, Whiting School Kindergarten Teacher, $147 for three iPod Shuffles for a listening center.

·         Denise Guinan, Whiting School Basic Skills Teacher, $400 for a Book Club project.

·         Leah Posner & Lindsay Yarnold, Whiting School 2nd Grade Teachers, $78 for a Butterflies in the Classroom project, and $65 for a Rocket Math App.

·         Melissa Kelley, Whiting School Special Ed Teacher, $110 for Comprehensive Quickie Cards & Magic Board.

Dodd said that without the volunteers, the PTA would not exist, and she thanked everyone who is member and who volunteers to help.  She said that this year the PTA set out to recruit more men and announced that they reached their goal of 100 male members.

Superintendent of Schools, David Trethaway, expressed appreciation to the PTA for all they do for the schools, including the grants as well as numerous assembly programs and other programs in the schools.  “There are many programs in our schools that are only available because of our PTA,” he remarked.

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