Local foundations grants fund twists on teaching

Students in Natalie Powell's special education prekindergarten/kindergarten class at Mattie Lively Elementary work on letter identification using a classroom iPad earlier this month. - photo by Special

iPad in classroom — Students in Natalie Powell's special education prekindergarten/kindergarten class at Mattie Lively Elementary work on letter identification using a classroom iPad earlier this month. - photo by Special

Ten mini-grants will buy a total of six iPads at three Bulloch County schools, enable cartoon-based learning on two campuses and fund a Georgia history field trip, a lunchtime book club, a school play, a motivational speaker and the Whoville Shopping Village. Not from the government or some billionaire, these are the 2014 Spring Innovation Grants from the Foundation for Public School Education in Bulloch County. Founded in 2006, the tax-deductible nonprofit supported by local donors has provided teachers, exclusively in Bulloch County's public schools, $120,141 for innovative teaching projects since launching the grants in 2007.