Lakewood Rangers Education Foundation awards nearly $44,000 in teaching grants

Community NewsLakewood High School. (John Benson/cleveland.com)John Benson/cleveland.comBy John Benson, special to cleveland.comLAKEWOOD, Ohio -- The Lakewood Rangers Education Foundation (LREF) boasts the simple mission to support the students and staff in the Lakewood City Schools.Part of that effort annually includes awarding teacher grants that enhance innovative learning experiences. “We put out grant applications to teachers for any idea that they have to use in their classroom or outside of their classroom that goes above and beyond their typical curriculum,” Lakewood Rangers Education Foundation Executive Director Mary Sharpe said. “It could be field trips, it could be software or things brought into the classroom. It could be clubs.“This really allows teachers to be creative and have out-of-the-box thinking.” New grant initiatives include “Shake, Build and Grow: Preschool Engineering in Action,” “Navigating History through Map Literacy” at Garfield Middle School, “Phones Down, Sketchbooks Up” at Lakewood High and “Creating Beyond Paper: Expanding Creative Possibilities with Chomp Saws” at the elementary art level.Grants were also awarded to successful, long-standing programs such as “Battle of the Books” at the elementary level, “Soccer Club at the middle school and the “Stock Market Game” at the high school.“Over the past five years, LREF grants have allowed over 200 LHS students to participate in the Sifma Foundation’s ‘Stock Market Game,’ a hands-on investing simulation in which student teams manage a hypothetical $100,000 portfolio of stocks, bonds, ETFs and other investments while responding to real-world market conditions,” said Lakewood High School teacher Ron Lewis in a press release. ““Students develop valuable skills in research, mathematics, critical thinking, communication, collaboration and financial literacy. “Only through the generous support of LREF has this valuable opportunity become a reality for our high school community.”The number of foundation-awarded projects has grown over the years. Sharpe noted this year’s 36 projects are nearly double the number awarded just three years ago. Grants are made possible through a number of dedicated funding sources such as the Margaret B. Warner Fund and the Meinke Creative Teaching Grant Fund, as well as the foundation’s general fund. “We’ve had a lot of generous donors,” she said. “We also in our budget have prioritized teaching grants because that is the second largest thing we do. “Obviously, senior scholarships are our highest funding.” Read more news from the Sun Post Herald here.