EXCEL awards grants to teachers

The EXCEL Foundation doled out more than $50,000 in grants to teachers in the Coeur d’Alene School District during its annual awards show last week at CdA Project alternative school.

About 41 teachers got 28 grants this year, the largest going to Coeur d’Alene High Spanish teacher Mike Nelson. Nelson received $3,955 for language projects.

Second in line was Sorensen Elementary Principal David Miller, who received $3,400 to fund a music project.

Another Sorensen employee, fifth-grade teacher and juggler extraordinaire David Groth, received $1,147 to buy juggling equipment for every student at Sorensen. The school’s art teacher Anne Couser was awarded $3,185 for the school’s pottery program.

Others receiving money include Coeur d’Alene High School teachers Bryan Duncan, who got $3,335 for bug-catching and examination equipment, and Ben Jones, who received $3,286 for science laboratory technology.

Hayden Meadows fourth-grade teacher Vern Harvey received a $2,100 grant funded by a donation to the EXCEL Foundation from the Potlatch Corp. to help build a bird sanctuary around the greenhouse his students helped him build last year.

The nonprofit group charged with fundraising for the district has given away more than 525 grants totaling more than $660,000 since 1986. Teachers in the district apply for grants each year.

A healthy celebration

Lakes Middle School received a second-place award from the state Department of Education for the Healthy Harvest celebration it hosted in September.

Lakes is the only in school in the Coeur d’Alene School District and one of just 25 in the state selected to serve free fruit and vegetables to all students every school day as part of the state’s Healthy Harvest program.

Every day a few minutes before 10 a.m., cooks roll out carts with individual servings of a variety of fruits and veggies. Kids can take up to two servings.

Each of the 25 schools was encouraged to hold a celebration in September to showcase the program.

Lakes tied its celebration in with its annual open house for families. Students and their parents decorated potatoes, shucked corn and a variety of other food-related activities, all using Idaho foods.

“There’s some kids that had never (done) that at all before,” said Ed Ducar, director of food services for the district. “They were like ‘I thought corn came out of cans.’ “

A $42,000 grant from the state Department of Education has funded the purchase of the food for the approximately 565 Lakes students from when the program started in January 2005. The money should last through June 2007, Ducar said.

The Lakes kitchen staff will receive new aprons because of the second-place award.

“We’re pretty excited about that,” Ducar said. “It’s a really great program that we have … I’m just pretty proud that we did this, and it was a whole school effort.” Photos of Lakes’ award-winning celebration can be viewed at http://www.cdaschools.org/lakes/community.html.

First place went to Gooding Elementary/Middle School in Gooding and Ucon Elementary School in Idaho Falls.

Kellogg Middle School’s celebration earned honorable mention.

Principal Cal Ketchum said the school invited a local woman with an organic farm to come to the school and bring in some of the fruits and veggies she grew.

“It’s kind of an eye-opener for the kids,” Ketchum said. “They eat it up and love it.”

NIC student earns scholarship

A fine arts major at North Idaho College was recently awarded a $300 scholarship from the Coeur d’Alene Art Association.

Laura James of Hayden expects to graduate from NIC in December and hopes to enroll at the University of Idaho next year, double majoring in fine arts and business. She wants to own an outdoor gear shop with an art gallery inside, according to an NIC news release.

She said the extra money will help pay for art supplies.

“Art is an expensive major because you have to buy your own art supplies, which aren’t cheap,” James said in the release. “So this scholarship will help with that.”

The Coeur d’Alene Art Association awards scholarships of varying amounts to students twice per year.