Posts in 2026

A List Adventures Academic Success — $1,615

This grant expands the A-List Adventures afterschool program at Whitson Elementary by funding a dedicated academic tutor for students who are significantly below grade level in reading and math. Nearly all A-List students qualify for free or reduced lunch, many are English Language Learners, and the majority identify as Hispanic or Latinx — and A-List is the only afterschool program at the school providing academic enrichment for these students. The tutor will work four hours per week during the school year and six hours per week during the summer, providing individualized support in literacy and math with progress tracked through iReady assessments.

2026Sandy SlaytonMay 21, 2026At-risk Students

Room 111 — $22,550

This grant funds Room 111. Room 111 is a program of Arts in Education of the Gorge which is provided two days a week to every 5th and 6th grader at Wallace and Priscilla Stevenson Intermediate School. Working across three rotating workstations staffed by teaching artists, students engage in hands-on creative projects — photography, storytelling, cooking, and visual art — explicitly tied to core academic content in writing, math, science, technology, and culture, while also supporting the social-emotional development students navigate during the transition from elementary to middle school. The 2026–27 program will deepen curriculum integration with arts projects aligned to specific unit plans, from ratios and fractions to personal narrative writing to earth science, building lasting lesson materials for teachers and students well beyond the grant period.

2026Sandy SlaytonMay 21, 2026Arts, W&P Stevenson Intermediate

Mobile White Boards — $2,480

This grant funds the purchase of six mobile double-sided magnetic whiteboards for 7th and 8th grade math classrooms at Henkle Middle School, where a lack of wall space has limited options for vertical work surfaces. Research on non-permanent vertical surfaces — as documented in Peter Liljedahl's Building Thinking Classrooms — shows that they encourage risk-taking, collaborative problem-solving, and more active, student-led learning. The boards will allow teachers to implement cooperative learning and visual thinking strategies across subjects, with approximately 160 students benefiting each year.

2026Sandy SlaytonMay 21, 2026Across Subjects, Henkle Middle School

Science of Learning Book Study — $1,050

This grant funds a year-long professional book study for K–8 staff centered on Beyond the Science of Reading by Natalie Wexler, deepening educators' understanding of how students learn to read and how cognitive science translates into effective classroom practice. Teachers across three schools will meet monthly throughout 2026–27 to discuss the book, apply instructional shifts in their classrooms, and build a shared research-aligned foundation ahead of the district's upcoming ELA standards rollout and curriculum adoption. Two reading specialists will facilitate the sessions, with success measured through pre- and post-surveys of teacher confidence and instructional implementation.

2026Sandy SlaytonMay 21, 2026English Language Arts, Professional Development

HMS Robotics Class — $6,096.47

This grant funds the launch of a VexIQ robotics elective at Henkle Middle School, bringing structured engineering and programming education to 7th and 8th graders during the school day. A VexIQ classroom bundle — including 10 robot kits, field tiles, game objects, and coding materials — will serve up to 20 students per trimester, reaching roughly one-third of the HMS student body each year. Students will design, build, and program robots to tackle real-world challenges aligned with NGSS engineering standards and Common Core Math, building on a successful after-school VexIQ competition program that drew 28 students to its first meeting.

2026Sandy SlaytonMay 21, 2026STEM

WES Math Task Force — $3,000

As the White Salmon Valley School District prepares to adopt a new math curriculum in 2026–27, this grant creates a district-wide Math Task Force to build teacher capacity around high-quality, inquiry-based mathematics instruction. Funding will support job-embedded professional development — including peer classroom observations and collaborative planning sessions — and send a team of five teachers to the regional Northwest Math Conference in both 2026 and 2027. By developing in-house expertise that can be shared across all buildings, the initiative aims to raise district-wide math proficiency rates by 15% by 2028.

2026Sandy SlaytonMay 21, 2026STEM

Reading Goals for Growth — $2,595.20

This grant funds a two-year renewal of the Accelerated Reader (AR) and STAR Reading programs for 4th grade students at Whitson Elementary, extending a pilot that launched in the 2024–25 school year. Through AR, students select high-interest books, complete comprehension quizzes, and earn points toward individualized reading goals — a model that increased the share of students meeting their monthly reading goal from 35% in October to 75% by March in the current school year. The program also supports differentiation across grade levels and will give the district measurable data to inform an upcoming ELA curriculum review and adoption.

2026Sandy SlaytonMay 21, 2026English Language Arts

WSV Music Studio - $5,000

This grant funds the creation of a recording studio within an existing practice room in the HMS/WPSIS Band Room, equipping the space with industry-standard audio technology for students in grades 5–8. Gear including a Focusrite multi-input audio interface, studio monitors, condenser microphones, a MIDI controller, and a DAW workstation will support music appreciation classes, audio production and beat-making electives, and band recording projects. The studio gives all students hands-on access to professional creative tools regardless of their background or prior experience, with the goals of increasing engagement, building real-world production skills, and expanding student voice through music and media.

2026Sandy SlaytonMay 21, 2026Arts, Music, equipment

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