Jemison Elementary and Intermediate Schools combined to receive 13 PEECh grants this year.

The grants were applied for by teachers at those institutions and will be used for a variety of things to help students in the learning process.

Bridgett Smith teaches special education for kindergarten through third grade students at JES.

She plans to use her grant to get a social curriculum in place.

According to Smith, the curriculum is geared toward special education students and teaches them ways to socialize and appropriate behavior in those social situations.

“This year, our speech teacher and I started a social group, and we’ve tried to pull together a curriculum on our own. This [grant] will help me find some research-based stuff.”

The STREAM lab at JES will also benefit from one of the grants, said JES science teacher Beverly Wyatt.

“I want to buy several Makey Makey kits,” Wyatt said. “I went to a Makey Makey conference earlier this year, and it really set me on fire for them. It is something that would be so cool for the kids to learn.”

According to Wyatt, all the kids come through the STREAM lab once a week for 30 minutes.

Purchasing novels is a priority for many JIS teachers with the PEECh grants.

“Every year, we try to add a novel, and this year we chose ‘Where the Red Fern Grows,’” JIS teacher Tina Trammell said.

Once the books are purchased, they will be swapped around and shared amongst three classes.

“If we don’t get this [grant], we’d have to come up with it [finances] somewhere else,” Trammell said. “This makes it so much easier.”

The plan is to purchase about 30 hardback books, because although the hardbacks cost a little more up front, they are known to last longer against wear and tear.

Sarah Robinson teaches fifth grade math and science and will use her grant money to get a class set of heavy-duty headphones.

“There’s a lot of technology incorporated in the different programs that we use,” Robinson said. “This is just a way for the students to listen. Hopefully, it will cut down on the cost for the parents, because they will be here at the school for the students to use from year to year.”