The Niles Education Foundation (NEF) selected four applicants for the 2013-14 school year, to be awarded an Innovation Grant.

• Northside School, Patricia Rogers — $1,000 for Samsung Galaxy Tablets and applications to meet individual students’ educational needs. These needs include, but are not restricted to English language learners, fine motor skills, math skills and language arts skills.

The staff will be able to provide activities for every child based on the needs of the student. It will open a whole new world to their non-English speaking students. This grant impacts 220 preschool and kindergarten children and all of the staff involved in their journey.

• Southside School, Roberta Craig — $1,000 for an anti-bullying program, including a heat press that will be used for making t-shirts to promote the program. This press will also be used for future t-shirt making. There will be weekly themes.

Niles has made a clear mandate that bullying in any form; verbal, physical, print or electronic means will not be tolerated. This project is addressed to these four points.

This is a three-year project with Southside developing the program with its students and staff. Then, it will expand the next two years to cover the whole Niles Community Schools, if possible.

• Southside School, Janet Maciulski — $850 to purchase Gaiam Balance Ball Chairs that will benefit 62 students at Southside. The chairs will be available for students who require the availability of movement and extra assistance staying focused during class activities.

Southside has students from fourth grade to the age of 26, and these chairs accommodate students of all sizes. The hope is that on-task behavior will increase and teachers will spend less time correcting off-task behavior.

• Howard-Ellis Elementary Kindergarten/First Grade Teachers — $860 was given for “Can You Hear It-Say It-Show It?” The purpose of this grant is to provide these teachers with materials to explicitly and systematically teach phonemic awareness to their students. Five English kindergarten curriculum books and seven English primary curriculum books will be purchased, all titled, “Phonemic Awareness: The Skills That They Need To Help Them Succeed!” Approximately 200 students will be impacted by this grant.

Since its establishment in 2009, the Niles Education Foundation has invested more than $60,000 for the enhancement of public education at Niles Community Schools.

The role of the Niles Education Foundation is to garner private support and public engagement for Niles Community Schools. As a tax-exempt, non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, the Foundation provides Niles Community Schools with funding that is typically more flexible than restricted tax dollars. The funding and extra resources for the students, teachers, and schools helps to cover the gap that exists between what school budgets can cover, and what is needed to ensure the academic success of our students. Gifts are tax deductible for income and estate tax purposes.

For more information on specific giving please call the Foundation office at (269) 683-0732 or www.nileseducationfoundation.org.