Schools Receive Classroom Grant

Educators Kari Pierschbacher, Amy Priem and Kaydian Davis from Edgewood-Colesburg Community Schools and Amanda Knox from Starmont Community School were awarded a total of $2,500 from the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque’s Thomas Determan Classroom Grant program. 

The grants support classroom activities that prepare students to thrive in our rapidly changing world. Teaching global perspectives helps students understand the world beyond their own community. It builds empathy and critical thinking and helps them become thoughtful citizens. Students learn to appreciate different cultures, adapt to new ideas, and tackle big challenges that affect everyone. 

This year’s grants will support educational experiences for students, like developing career skills while working with local professionals and supporting community initiatives, collaborating with a professional composer to create a song for band and choir students to perform, and creating a cooperative public work of art. 

The grants are an extension of the Community Foundation’s Rural Teacher Corps, a partnership with the Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC) to enhance the quality of life in small towns through a focus on supporting educators and public schools.

“We really focus on retention of teachers in rural areas, because we know how important your rural schools are to our communities,” Josie Manternach, Community Foundation Program Manager and former Aplington-Parkersburg teacher, told summit attendees. “Without all of you, we wouldn't have our rural schools.”

Through the Teacher Corps, this year’s grant recipients joined 80 rural educators who gathered in Maquoketa this summer for the annual Rural Teacher Summit, a day-long retreat hosted by the Community Foundation. This year’s event was built around the theme of “thriving where you teach,” with breakout sessions and speakers focused on topics like burnout prevention, brain health and social-emotional learning. 

“This year was my second year attending the Rural Teacher Summit. I look forward to this event every year because it helps me get back into the teaching mindset for the year,” says Priem, a second-grade teacher at Ed-Co. “All of the speakers were so insightful. I appreciate the opportunity to apply for a grant for my classroom. I also like that other grant opportunities were also shown for us to pass on to people in our building. I will definitely be back next year for more growth opportunities.”

“I have gone to the teacher summit each year and I greatly look forward to this jumpstart to the school year,” says Knox, who teaches art at Starmont Community School District. “The energy is always super positive, the message is motivating and the sessions leave me inspired! The leaders for the day do such a great job with all aspects of the event.”

The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque hosts affiliate foundations in seven counties, including the Foundation for the Future of Delaware County and the Clayton County Foundation for the Future. To find out more about what your local Foundation is working on, visit dbqfoundation.org/affiliates.