White River Valley Electric awards several Lakes Area Schools to grants to help provide additional resources for teachers and their classrooms.

According to a release from the cooperative, $75,000 has been awarded to 23 schools in the White River Service area of Christian, Douglas, Ozark, Stone, and Taney counties. Eligible teachers submitted proposals for funding to aid their teaching efforts with extra supplies and resources.

A separate release from the Reeds Spring School District reports their district received around $2,750 total for five different projects, including Elementary Teacher Dawn Schade, who  will use $650 to purchase five Sphero robots for her Makerspace class. These codable robots require students to think critically to write code. In addition, Lexi Messenger of the Intermediate School will use $600  to buy keyboard skins to help students develop essential typing skills.

Blue Eye, Bradleyville, Branson, Forsyth, Galena, Hollister, Hurley, Kirbyville, Nixa, Ozark, Spokane, and Taneyville were among the other schools receiving grants according to WRVEC. 

The full release from the Reeds Spring School District is below while the full release from WRVEC can be found on their website.   

Five Reeds Spring School District teachers earned Power Up Grants from White River Electric Cooperative. Those five grants add up to $2,752 that will be spent on improving classroom experiences for students. 

The recipients are: Dawn Schade (Elementary School), Lexi Messenger (Intermediate School), Malissa Sullivan (Intermediate School), Cheryl Gibson (Intermediate School), and Bob Bruffett (Table Rock Career Center).

Mrs. Schade will use $650 to purchase five Sphero robots for her Makerspace class. These codable robots require students to think critically to write code.  

“This coding will make the robots move through obstacle courses that the students will build,” Schade said. “I have had Sphero robots in the past and my students LOVED them! I'm excited to be able to offer them again!”
Mrs. Messenger, the librarian at Reeds Spring Intermediate School, plans to use her $600 to buy keyboard skins to help students develop essential typing skills. 

“This tool encourages students to memorize the keyboard layout without relying on looking at each individual letter, improving their speed and accuracy over time,” Messenger said. “By strengthening their typing proficiency, students will be better prepared for digital assignments, assessments, and future academic and career success. We are so grateful for the opportunities that White River Electric provides!”

To be considered, proposals need to promote higher learning and meet school standards. Teachers are required to submit their plan, an itemized list of supplies not to exceed $750, and a letter of project approval from the school district’s administrative office. 

Since the program began in 2006, White River Electric has given over $948,000 in grants to local teachers.