The Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors (GBRAR) recently announced the winners of their first annual Teacher Grant Program. The purpose of the program is to enhance education in East Baton Rouge Parish public schools by providing funds to school site personnel for instructional, research-based projects providing direct service to students.

The recipients of the 2009-2010 awards are:

Anne Maverick, McKinley High School Librarian, was awarded $1,000 for her project entitled Books to Encourage Accelerated Reading (BEAR).  Funds from the award will be used to purchase high interest, low reading level fiction and non-fiction library books for ninth and tenth grade struggling readers.

Arlington Preparatory Academy Special Education teachers Cherryle Raganut, Ronald Bates, Patricia Phillips and Agriculture teacher Sharon Terrell were awarded $1,000 for their project, Watch’em Grow! The team will use their award money to purchase supplies and materials for their ninth- through 12th-grade special needs students to plan, create and maintain their own vegetable garden and flower beds.  This hands-on outdoor classroom project is designed to provide numerous opportunities for students to gain valuable knowledge, skills, and experiences. Surplus vegetables harvested by the students will be donated to the community’s elderly.

Narva Smith, Special Education teacher at Arlington Preparatory Academy, is the recipient of a $667 award for her project, Look Who’s Talking.  Funds from the grant will be used to purchase communication devices, called Talkables, for non-verbal, severe and profound high school students. The devices will allow these special needs students to actively participate in group and class discussions and to interact with their peers and teachers.

Wildwood Elementary School pre-kindergarten teacher Cynthia Murphy was awarded $1,000 to build a small outdoor center called Our Town. A university design engineering team, local Eagle Scouts and PTA and community volunteers will assist in the actual planning and construction of the project.  The model town will include a 5-foot-wide concrete tricycle and wheelchair road with street signs and wooden building fronts depicting such businesses as a gas station, grocery store and fast food drive-through.