The Bixby Educational Endowment Foundation (BEEF) is honored to award over $102,000 in teacher grants to Bixby’s teachers this school year. BEEF grants aim to support innovative educational projects, promoting excellence in all areas of learning across all grade levels within Bixby schools. Through the contributions of Bixby’s community businesses and citizens, BEEF has awarded over $2.7 million in teacher grants and scholarships since its inception.
This year's 47 teacher grants range from an electric kiln to ukuleles to STEM centers, microscopes, mineral collections, sensory paths, music lab & live streaming equipment to novels, atlases, and phonics & math manipulatives!
Bixby High School
Nathan Jones (Fine Arts) - "Creating a 21st-Century Piano Lab for Bixby Students" (Funded by Ramsey Family)
Janet Smith (Geology and Environmental Science) - "Beef Grant: Geology"
David Meyer (Physics and Chemistry) - "Coulomb's Law Lab Experiment/Demo"
Natalie Burnham (English - 11th grade) - "Creating Quality Podcasts"
Kevin Pearson (Vocal Music and Choir) - "Finding Your Voice: Developing Skills for Blend, Balance, and Pitch Matching in Singers"
Julie Jankowski (Art) - "Rolling and Storing Ceramic Creations"
Clare Parmele (Life Science) - "Molecular Viewers and Electrophoresis Chambers" (Funded by Ramsey Family)
9th Grade Center
Blake Dean (Art) - "Kiln for Ceramics"
Kim O'Brien (Media Specialist) - "Stay Calm and Run to the Library"
Middle School
Rayne Crunelle & Amy Dennis (7th & 8th/SPED) - "Inclusive Technology for All Students"
Lucresha Baxter (7th, 8th, Bixby Buddies) - "Bixby Buddy Stem Bins and Gross Motor Materials"
Zachary Hopkins (7th & 8th) - "Live Streaming Kit"
Central Elementary
Julie Lacy, Emily Long, Mandi Kacelmeyer, Monica Boler, Kaileigh Brady, Staci Fehdrau (Kindergarten) - “Hands on Learning and Whole Group Math”
Karla Graves, Chelsea Stamm (1st) - “Hands on for Success”
Larissa Ivey, Elaina Martin, Alison Beach, Lauren Leete, Rachel Eccles, Trish Beavers (PreK) - “Making Learning Fun”
Bridget Cook (Reading) - “Phonics Kits for All”
Jamie Copenhaver (PE) - “GLOW With Me in PE” (Funded by Kim King)
Central Intermediate
SW Winrich (4th- 6th Grade Music/Honor Choir) - "CI’s Jamming with Ukuleles"
East Elementary
Liza Simmons, Jackie Snow, April Fillman, Whitney Winn, Allie Duncan, & Julie Kane (2nd Grade) - "Guided Reading Books for 2nd Grade East Elementary"
Megan Forsberg (PreK-3rd ELL) - "Language Assessments and Screeners for Bilingual Students"
Abbey Engles (Kindergarten) - "Play Your Way Through Literacy"
East Intermediate
Rachel Horton (Music) - "Music Technology for the Modern Student"
Becky Wilson (5th/ELA) - "Flexible Seating at Its Best!"
North Elementary
Casey Cale & Betsy Leahan (PreK - 3rd) - "New Floors Same Problem - Sensory Paths to Support Regulation"
Rachel Cavin & Laura Joice (1st Grade) - "Small Group Success"
North Intermediate
Jamie Balthis (6th Science) - “Microscopes: Microbiome Unit”
Nicole Brown (Music) - “Enriching Musical Education: Empowering Elementary Students with iPads for Music Learning”
Melissa Lytle (SPED) - “Learn to Play, Play to Learn”
Kelly Zilmer (Library Media) - “ Learning in a Whole New Light”
Kelly Zilmer (Library Media) - “Picture This!”
West Elementary
Courtney Inbody, Campbell, Milburn, Petersen, Salyers, Wagner, Williams (1st) - "Decodable Readers" (with funding from Doc's Country Mart)
Miki Bray , Jazmen Weidman (PE & Music)- "Tinikling Time!"
Becky Dukes (Art) - "Center Materials for STEM exploration"
Debbie Stanhope, Barbara Banister (2nd) - "Coding for All! "
Meghan Glasscock, Jennifer Boulmay, Rachael Davis, Amy Devore, Jessica Jones, Claire Lemons, Megan Robinson, Courtney Snapp (3rd Grade)- "Math Manipulatives"
Caitlin Diffee, Hailee Speir, Lauren Purdie, Debbie Stanhope, Barbara Banister, Jody Hamilton, Sherri Fritz (2nd Grade and ELA) - "Math and Phonics Manipulatives "
Neely Scully, , Kara Sloat, Kelli Zeigler, Rachel Chesnut, Staci Hebert, Shelly Sumler, Carley Hosier (Kindergarten) - "Handwriting Without Tears"
Lisa White, Rhonda McCracken, Cristina Heald, Tosha Newsom (PreK)- "Learning Soars with Sensory"
Jessica Thornton (3 years - 3rd grade) - "Words for Life"
Lana Carr (PK-3 ELL) - "Building Language Through Play"
West Intermediate
Sarah Carr (4-6 Music)- "Instruments on Wheels"
Molli Veach (4th-6th Art) - "Funding for a Construction and Architecture Studio"
Kaitlyn Westfall (4th Grade Reading) - "Guided Reading Resources"
Traci Jones (5th / ELA) - "Novel Study Materials"
Traci Jones, Delana McManus, Traci Morris (5th / Social Studies) - "Roller Maps for Social Studies"
Dr. Delana McManus (5th Grade/Social Studies and English Language Arts) - "Writing Through History With Resource Books"
Jennifer Haught (5th - Math and Science) - "Technology Readiness"
If you would like to support Bixby schools, teachers, and students through future grants, please consider donating to BEEF through GO4Bixby or BEEF's annual Century Club campaign. Mabrey Bank matches Century Club donations up to $20,000 every year - a goal BEEF has reached for the last 38 years. Century Club donations may be made online at https://tinyurl.com/bixbyBEEF, or for information on how to mail a donation, please visit https://www.bixbyps.org/page/beef-foundation.
To learn more about this year's honorees and how grants are used in the classroom throughout the school year, follow us on Facebook and Instagram!