Teachers at Woodington Middle School paced winners of Lenoir County Education Foundation mini-grants with 17 grant awards. Eighty-nine grants valued at $37,000 went to teachers at 14 LCPS schools, all visited Wednesday by a Prize Patrol of program supports bearing checks and celebratory balloons. 

They’re called mini-grants – the grants capped at $500 that the Lenoir County Education Foundation has awarded to Lenoir County Public School teachers for more than 20 years -- but this year’s totals are major.

Strong community support for fundraising events sponsored by the Education Foundation and its parent organization, the Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce, translated into a record 89 grant awards valued at a record $37,000.

Teachers at 14 schools received their winnings Wednesday when a delegation christened the Prize Patrol toured the county. Among the presenters were LCPS Superintendent Brent Williams, chamber of commerce staff, members of the grant selection committee, Education Foundation board members and organizers of the two annual fundraisers that support the mini-grant program, the Education Foundation Superball Tournament and the Adult Spelling Bee.

“It was wonderful to be able to go to all these different schools today. We were passing out grants to fund all these different projects for all the classrooms,” April Houston, Education Foundation chair, said as the Prize Patrol wrapped up its tour. “It was an honor to be able to present the awards to these teachers. They put in a lot of hard work writing these grants and are going to be putting in more hard work in fulfilling them.”

Science, math, reading, writing, art, music, history, gardening – the variety of proposals funded through the mini-grants reflects the range of teacher interests and the breadth of the LCPS curriculum from elementary to high school.

Schools in all grade spans had grant winners. Woodington Middle School recorded the most awards with 17 grants, following closely by Pink Hill Elementary School with 15. Among high schools, North Lenoir led with eight winners. Because several of the grant proposals were submitted by grade-level teams, the purchases and projects will impact students in about 130 classrooms.

“Beyond the basic opportunities we offer all students, these grant dollars increase opportunities for our young people,” Superintendent Williams said. “We’re always excited about that.”

Grant winners by school were:

Moss Hill Elementary – Kayla Harris; the team of Casey Carlson, Lindsey Howard, Sarah Hughes and Irish Williams; Sharon Dellinger; and Catherine Lynch

Contentnea-Savannah K-8 – Mary Riddick; the team of Meredith Criswell, Deanna Jenkins, Katie McCarter, Melissa Manning and Jelishia Crawford; the team of Tracy Raynor and Diane Tilghman; the team of Annie Kornegay and Katie McCarter; Stephanie Parris; Kristin Taylor; Chanelle Williams; Jessie Van Cura; Stephanie Perry Bradshaw; the team of Adrienne Evans, Tova Marks, Abigail Hendrix, Joshua Dixon and Debra Holmes

Southwood Elementary – Christopher Judy

La Grange Elementary – Alicia Davis; Davida Sutton; Jessica Miller; Kelsey Gray Turner; David Miles; the team of Katherine Sowers, Kelsey Gray Turner, Deshona Ingram, Jessi Stanley; the team of Jamie Moore, Janice Johnson, Zach Fritz, Georgia Tingen and Pam Creech; the team of Sarah Winnie, Kiara Rouse, Emily Daniels, Stephanie Davis

Northwest Elementary – Cassandra Aldana; April Modlin; Kaitlyn Stroud; the team of Jessica Avery, Sarah Carraway, KC Hart and Jessica Perry; the team of Erin Greene, Emily Tribula and Ashley Stephens; the team of Karan Croom, Stephanie Moore, Amber Faulk and Leah Jones

Pink Hill Elementary – Melissa Boone, Jennifer McLawhorn, Walter Upthegrove, Allison L. Whitfield, Madison Beyer Howard, Shanella Roberts, Betsy Mercer, Breanna Tyndall, Aaron Murdock, Kelly Bluhm, Leah Anne Hall, Katie-Beth Hill, Sherri Grubbs, Brenda Griffin and Jean Turner

Banks Elementary – Austin Reese, Bobbi J. Colie and Weil Sawyer

Woodington Middle – Monica Johnson; James Robert Blake; Majesty McPhail; Melodie Salley; Jawanda Waters; the team of Wendy Williams and Ben Daniels; Kara Howard; Caroline Suddreth; the team of Traci Howard and Anna Rouse; Jessica Jones; Bryan Potter; Shannon Jones; Selina Shoaf; the team of Haley Quarles and Emma Hunter; Madelyn Coates; Amelia Swenby

EB Frink Middle -- Pamela S. Pate; Vicky Newberry; the team of Frances Bryant and Danneka Sutton; Christy Hyde; and Elizabeth Hamm

Lenoir County Early College High School – Porche Bell and Dr. Travis Towne

South Lenoir High – Marietta Floyd, Ryan Gardner and Ramon Jones

Kinston High – Jessica Powell, Crystal Payton-Demry, Prishonda Daniels and

Sabrina Fourre

North Lenoir High – Brandi Stallings; Samantha Newcomb; Ashley Holland; the team of Heather Kennedy and Jennifer Ginn; Treva Romig; Molly Feezor; Kimberly Chapman; and Joshua Wallace

Lenoir County Learning Academy – Tracy Newkirk and Elizabeth Moon