WILLS POINT ISD EDUCATION FOUNDATION

Through the generous donations of community individuals and businesses, as well as area school teachers themselves, the WPISD Education Foundation was able to provide $53,059 in valuable grants and scholarships to help enhance learning for the WPISD students. Another $12,327 in grants were given to hardworking Wills Point ISD teachers to assist them in providing a quality education to the students they teach. An additional $9,338 was given to provide school supplies, backpacks and other items for needing children in the district. Grants to the Foundation have also been used to fund various learning programs such as Read Like a Writer and Write Like a Writer. These specific programs have as their goal to help teach students to read like writers, instill in them an appreciation for the authors craft, obtain a love of language, write with self-confidence, develop their own personal written form as well as experience the joy of writing, and help equip them to communicate through the written word as well as orally. The Foundation has also made a significant investment in Chromebooks, with a goal of providing a Chromebook for every student. These will help equip the students with the ability to pursue necessary research, as well as give them opportunities to innovatively create computer animated programs for their various studies. The Androids for Pre-K program gives students help to enable them to navigate specific software programs designed to enhance the development of age appropriate concepts. They will also be used to educate these children on the various parts of a computer, which in turn will help them to create and express themselves on these devices and understand the beauty of technology when it comes to learning. One of our most innovative program achievements to date is the Robot Dreams of the Future. This program approaches math, science, engineering and technology in a uniquely different way than the traditional classroom experience. Instead of students continually sitting through endless worksheets, this affords them an exciting way to learn these subjects in a hands-on format. For example, in learning measurement, the students have an opportunity to build a robot and then program it to be able to measure the perimeter of the classroom. Studies have shown that people retain information better through this way of learning. Students will use Lego-EV3 kits provided for them to help build programs for these robots to be able to complete their required missions. This, along with power point presentations, will afford them the hand-on activities to help deepen the learning experience, which is beneficial to both teacher and student alike. Finally, the Foundation is helping to increase student engagement through the use of Interactive Panel learning. Students will be able to do assignments and activities and the teacher will be able to see the assessments in real time. Students and teachers can interact in real time to the material which allows the teacher to spot any misunderstandings or struggles the students may be experiencing.