Lifestyles Gratitude Grants Awarded
It’s a New Year and a new round of Gratitude Grants is ready to be put into action. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, RSU 18’s Lifestyles Team challenged district administrators to submit a 1-page Gratitude Grant proposal outlining how they would use a $200 grant to teach students the values of being gracious, thankful, and giving. Since this year’s theme ties in with the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a connection to the Olympic values of respect, friendship, and excellence was also strongly encouraged.
After much deliberation, the winners were announced a little ahead of Christmas break. Six schools and the Central Office admin team all submitted proposals, and all 7 groups were granted $200 to see their project to fruition. The three winning groups were awarded an additional $200 to put towards their goal: Williams Elementary School will be hosting an event in recognition of our local first responders, James H Bean School wants to show appreciation to their hard-working substitute teachers, and the Central Office Administration is orchestrating an event to bring our whole community together in support of our Unified Basketball team.
The other projects also give a great deal back to our students and community: CPS plans to honor their many wonderful school volunteers, and CMS will be creating Clipper Community Care Packages with much-needed items for the China Community Food Pantry. BCS is planning an event to give back to their parent community, and Atwood plans to use the funds to purchase indoor recess toys that help promote empathy-building imaginative play.
The Gratitude Grants must be put to use before February Break. We will be excitedly sharing details of each project as they are completed. Congratulations to all the Gratitude Grant participants and to our three winning groups.