Butte Education Foundation Awards Grants for Spring 2020

            The Butte Education Foundation has awarded the Great Ideas Grants for the spring of 2020. Grants are awarded twice during the school year to teachers and schools to provide funding for innovative projects and programs that are not funded by the Butte School District.  Since program inception in 2008 over $168,000 in grants have been awarded to Butte Silver Bow Public Schools.

 What student wouldn’t want to study and learn in an outdoor classroom?  This was the thought of the staff at Emerson Elementary.  They have been awarded $1200.00 to create an “Outdoor Classroom” that can be used by the entire school.  Brianna Barsness was the author of the grant application that explained that not only will the students be introduced to nature but will also benefit from better motivation, information retention, and increased concentration. Outdoor learning is an ideal way to introduce children to their world through a new lens.

 Jessica Reehl, also of Emerson Elementary, was awarded $580.00 for her grant “Safe Space for Successful Learning”.  The purpose of this grant is to provide a calm space within the classroom designed to assist students in learning to identify and manage their emotions.  Skills will be developed to return their bodies to a regulated state in which they feel safe and calm.  They can then return to their schoolwork and be effective.