The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois (CFNIL) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 Blanche Martin Mini Grant (BMMG) Awards. The BMMG program was established by the Zeta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International whose members are women educators from Boone and Winnebago Counties. 

Blanche Martin Mini Grants are awarded to qualified Early Childhood through Grade 12 educators currently teaching in Boone and Winnebago Counties. The grants are used to fund special classroom activities, purchase education materials, attend workshops, or implement other projects that enhance or improve the quality of education. Learn more at https://cfnil.org/grants/blanche-martin-mini-grant 

The six grantees for the 2021 cycle are:

• Kelly Duncan, Guilford High School, “Bringing Remote Students into the Classroom”: Teachers have faced immense and shifting challenges while working to teach both remote and in person learners. It is difficult to provide remote learners with the same sense of community experienced by students learning in person. Guilford will invest in technology to allow teachers to simultaneously project their lessons and see remote students, improving their connection to the community of the classroom. 
• Doug Elfstrom, Prairie Hill School District #133, “Willowbrook School Garden Project”:  Willowbrook will form an after-school club to help plan, plant, manage, harvest, and cook and enjoy the produce from a new school garden. Classes during the school day will have access to the garden for leisure or study.
• Sarah Logemann, Rockford East High School, “Solar-Powered English”: Newcomer students will work in small teams to build a solar-powered device using a Flinn Scientific kit. The teams will use English to communicate while learning about solar energy and basic mechanics and build a functioning device. They will build on background knowledge of physical science learned in their home countries while bridging that knowledge to their English-language learning. 
• Erikka Coletta, Stone Creek School, “Alternative Seating for Active Kiddos”: Students need opportunities to have movement in the classroom while still being seated. This is particularly true as students spend more time in front of a computer, and in this time of pandemic. Wobble stools have been effectively used to help students engage core muscles and help with focus and attention. Ms. Coletta will purchase additional stools to increase the number of students in her class who can utilize this alternative form of seating. 
• Jill Nicosia, Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, “Glow Party Kit”: Thurgood Marshall will purchase a glow party kit to utilize for class activities and parties. The kits are designed for use in any subject area and activities allow social distancing. Thurgood Marshall has already acquired a black light and created a reusable set of education games to be used with the glow party kit.
• Lindsey Cogar, Willowbrook Middle School, “Lindsey Cogar’s Classroom Library”: Ms. Cogar will purchase a variety of nonfiction texts to supplement her classroom library and use as models for writing projects. Students who have learned to write in a traditional paragraph-method will use the new texts to learn about format and structure of nonfiction writing and more creative approaches to presenting information. They will then apply those skills to their own creative writing project.