Ingram Sowell Elementary receives $50,000 grant

Ingram Sowell Elementary School located in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., was one of ten public elementary schools in three states awarded a grant from the Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children, which provides underfunded schools in urban and rural areas with educational resources to make a difference in the lives of young children. Ingram Sowell Elementary School partnered with Martin Methodist College (MMC), which facilitated the grant application process, provided staff development for teachers, and supported on-site monitoring.

The Leonore Annenberg School Fund’s 2016 grants total nearly $500,000 for resources such as art and music programs, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) labs, computers and educational software, a mini-greenhouse, and books for classrooms and school libraries. The schools were chosen in consultation with regional, nonprofit partner organizations: Council for Educational Change (Florida), Center for Arts Education (New York), Public Education Foundation (Chattanooga, Tenn.), and Rural School and Community Trust (other Tennessee schools).

Ingram Sowell Elementary will use the grant to provide iPad Mini tablets and Promethean Interactive Whiteboards for in-school use; book collections for classrooms, the libraries, and families; family engagement training in literacy; and a mini-greenhouse. Ingram Sowell will focus on both literacy and STEAM. Time will be spent actively exposing students to careers, colleges, technical schools, and soft skills.

“I am thrilled to receive the grant from the Annenberg Foundation and to be working with Martin Methodist College,” said Principal Robin Thompson, who is excited to receive resources that will actively engage her school’s students in classroom activities that will ultimately lead to improved skills in reading and in the STEAM subject areas. “The children at Ingram Sowell are eager to learn, and the resources this grant will provide will open a whole new world of learning for them.”

“Providing necessary educational resources and professional development for teachers both address the glaring deficits many rural schools face across this country; it has been a pleasure for me to work with both schools to help make a real difference in the lives of children. Very simply, thanks to the Annenberg School Fund, hundreds of books will be placed in the hands of children who need them most,” says MMC’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Judy Cheatham. “I am delighted that Martin Methodist could assist in getting these schools the resources needed to enhance their students’ overall educational experience.”

Leonore Annenberg (1918-2009) was U.S. Chief of Protocol for President Ronald Reagan and wife of the late Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg. Mrs. Annenberg established the grants to support her lifelong commitment to public service, education, and the arts. All grants are made on an invitation-only basis, in consultation with a partner organization. For more information: www.leonoreannenbergscholarships.org.