Waukee Teachers Win Literacy Grants from Nu Alpha Gamma Chapter

Recently, Nu Alpha Gamma Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International announced the 2016-2017 winners of their annual Literacy Grants. Eight out of the 12 winners were Waukee teachers, and each received awards up to $125.

Waukee 6th grade teacher Christina Schmitt from South Middle school was a recipient of the $125 grant that will be used for supplies to help her improve the literacy program in the 6th grade Language Arts classrooms.

Brookview kindergarten teachers Linda Warman, Barb Mullenbach, Jen Johnson, Kate Virgil, Sarah Schrodt; South Middle School 7th grade Language Arts teacher Erica Beals; and Maple Grove first grade teacher Desiree Miller were all winners of a $40 stipend.

Schmitt’s project to improving the 6th-grade Literacy program at her school was to purchase Scholastic magazine subscriptions for the students. Purchasing these subscriptions means the classes will gain access to online materials such as videos connected to the articles, audio versions of the article, texts at different reading levels and reading/writing prompts and activities that support the Common Core Curriculum.

“This grant will impact literacy in the classroom because the magazine articles are high-interest, current and relevant to 6th graders”, Schmitt said. “It will also allow me to differentiate to meet the variety of needs in my classroom.”

Each 6th-grade team at South Middle school will receive 13 magazines for each of the 12 issues.

“I feel excited to be a recipient of the grant. Due to prior experiences using Scholastic magazines in the past, I know they can be used to practice a variety of literacy skills and are engaging to students,” said Schmitt.

The Nu Alpha Gamma Chapter consists of retired and current women educators who work or live in Dallas County. Its mission is to “promote the professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education.”

“We recognize that literacy is very important to attaining excellence in education and one of our missions is to assist all educators in facilitating literacy,” said Nu Alpha Gamma.