Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Local education programs receive grants
Three arts and education organizations in Las Vegas were surprised with $25,000 grants this month.
The Rogers Foundation awarded $75,000 to the three programs to help them fulfill their missions and transform the lives of local children and young adults.
“We started the grants effort to support schools and nonprofits who work with schools in the Clark County School District,” says Michelle Sanders, director of finance and administration for the charitable foundation. “They are selected based on their program needs and desires to enhance underfunded and underserved groups of students.”
Each $25,000 grant focuses on a different area. The Gift of Imagination provides students opportunities for creative expression. The Gift of Assurance supports programs providing innovative and sustainable solutions to the critical needs of students. And the Gift of Knowledge aids schools attempting to close the achievement gap in vulnerable populations.
Organizers from The Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation (Imagination award), Reading in Motion (Knowledge award) and ProjectHEAL (Assurance award) were surprised with the good news.
“The Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation has a new music program that allows children to interact with instruments,” Sanders says. “They were lacking instruments for all students. It’s been shown that for blind children music enhances learning ability.”
Reading in Motion was awarded for its work in cultivating good reading habits in children.
ProjectHEAL was awarded for the second consecutive year for teaching students at Antonello Elementary School how to manage behaviors through trauma-informed teaching.
Students in the Grantwell program at UNLV helped to review and vet nearly 100 applications submitted by schools, teachers and nonprofit organizations.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the announcement had to be done over video chat.
“While we would have loved to have been able to drop in and surprise each winner in person with celebratory fanfare, we were thrilled to be able to connect with each of them virtually and share the winning news,” Sanders says.