From Planetarium technology upgrades and Cincinnati Zoo tickets for elementary school students to supplies for a clay studio and flexible seating options for students with special needs, we support innovative classroom initiatives.
The Vandalia-Butler Foundation awarded $26,206 in new educational grants in 2023 and disbursed an additional $11,500 in previously approved awards for innovative classroom initiatives in the Vandalia-Butler City Schools.
The grants support nearly two dozen initiatives — from Planetarium technology upgrades and Cincinnati Zoo tickets for elementary school students to supplies for a clay studio and flexible seating options for students with special needs.
The VISIONS Endowment primarily funded the grants, with significant contributions from the Arts Revitalizing Team Fund, Vandalia-Butler High School Alumni Association Fund and the Mary Ann Wietzel (“What’s in It for Kids?) Fund.
“These grants are expanding creativity and innovation in the classrooms while providing hundreds of children with top-quality learning experiences,” said Denise Eder, who chairs the Vandalia-Butler Foundation’s education committee. “We’re so grateful to all the individuals, families and businesses who generously donated to VISIONS and supported last spring’s ‘Celebrating the Magic’ benefit performance. You are making a real difference in the lives of children in our community.”
Here are the awards:
- $21,266 to Butler High School — $6,000 for wireless microphones for music and drama productions and $390 for band metronome tuners and saxophone parts (funded through the Arts Revitalizing Team Fund); $2,500 for adaptive tricycles; $1,698 for a dust collector and a Macintosh computer to operate a computer numerical control (CNC) machine in industrial technology classes; $1,200 for inventory for a PBIS (positive behavioral interventions and supports) store; $1,125 for an app that allows Spanish students to practice their language skills with trained coaches; $675 for wireless microphones for a multimedia production course and $150 for money-counting tools for an intervention program (both funded by the Vandalia-Butler High School Alumni Association Fund); and $528 for flexible seating options for students with special needs. In previously approved grants, the Project Lead the Way STEM program will receive $5,000 for the biomedical/computer science curriculum and the Drone Technology and Design course will receive an additional $2,000 for materials.
- $5,655 to Smith Middle School — $1,250 for flexible seating options for general education students at both Smith and Morton Middle Schools; $750 for a Yoto player for yoga sessions; $500 for clay and glaze for a weeklong, hands-on art class and $155 for a rolling white board for a special education class (both funded by the Vandalia-Butler High School Alumni Association Fund); and, in a previously approved grant, $3,000 for technology upgrades for the planetarium.
- $4,785 to Helke Elementary School — $2,800 for Cincinnati Zoo tickets for kindergarten-third grade students; $1,475 for social/emotional curriculum kits (partially funded through the Mary Ann Wietzel (What’s in It for Kids?) Fund); and $510 for classroom learning aids for second graders (funded by the Vandalia-Butler High School Alumni Association Fund).
- $4,000 to Demmitt Elementary School — $2,500 for playground equipment for an inclusive and accessible playground and, as part of a five-year commitment, $1,500 for books as student rewards in a book vending machine, part of the PBIS program that promotes literacy.
- $1,500 to Vandalia Preschool — a library of children’s literature to prepare students for kindergarten.
- $500 to Morton Middle School — vision boards and materials.
Since 2002, more than $240,000 has been granted or committed to support learning opportunities for students in the district.
“An all-volunteer committee of community leaders has worked tirelessly to raise the awareness and funds needed to support classroom teachers in our district. I’m especially grateful to Greg Toman, the committee’s former chair who is so adept at coordinating much of our fundraising efforts,” Eder said.
For those wishing to make a contribution to the VISIONS Endowment Fund, tax-deductible donations can be mailed to VISIONS Endowment Fund, c/o The Dayton Foundation, 1401 S. Main St., Suite 100, Dayton, OH 45409. To make an online donation, visit www. visionsendowmentfund.org.
The Vandalia-Butler Foundation and its funds are components of The Dayton Foundation. Leadership for The Vandalia-Butler Foundation rests in our own community, while fiscal oversight of our funds is maintained by The Dayton Foundation, which serves the Dayton/Miami Valley area. This partnership allows for the Vandalia-Butler community to benefit from local leadership and profit from resources pooled with others for investment growth.