BOARDMAN — Twenty-six teachers, representing 15 grant applications for various projects, were honored Thursday at a special gathering of the Boardman Schools Fund for Educational Excellence.

The mini grants covered all grades — kindergarten through 12th — and every school building in the Boardman Local School District.

“Purchasing for the projects has already begun,” BSFEE President Lynda Beichner said. “We will start seeing the results in this school year or by the start of the 2024-25 school year.”

Beichner said the funding for the grants comes from the reverse raffle held annually. Money also comes from private donations, the Boardman Education Association and, this year, a $5,000 donation from the Aimee and Lulu Seidel Foundation. Beichner also announced the foundation is going to give another $5,000 for next year’s grant round.

“This is our second-best year since we began,” Beichner said. “BSFEE has awarded nearly $130,000 in grants and projects since its inception in 2009.”

This year’s mini grants totaled $26,000 with a cap of $2,500 per grant for this cycle.

Kendal Daltorio from Boardman High School was awarded $2,460.96 to purchase three Adult CPR Manikins, an AED trainer with adult and child gel pads, an Infant Manikin with a CPR monitor and 400 CPR student training kits.

“Our present equipment is outdated,” she said. “We are hoping, with the new equipment, to train and certify our students in CPR.”

Another high school grant was awarded to teachers Marvin Aeshbacher and Karl Land, who requested funds for an Astro Shed Project. The grant for $2,500 will purchase materials for wood shop students to construct a weatherproof and secure storage shed on the high school’s campus to house the Mobile Sky Imaging and Observation Workstation.

One other high school grant included $1,600 for Jen Basista’s purchase of book sets for the school library.

At Boardman Glenwood Junior High School, Tim Harker was awarded $2,500 for one set of 12 EVO Ozobots, five Ozobot Crawlers, and a color code magnet base kit and speed kit. Another $2,500 mini-grant was awarded to Jessica Koehler at Stadium Drive Elementary School for the same equipment. The equipment and kits will help students in both schools advance their knowledge of robotics.

At Boardman Center Intermediate School, Maggie Burton, Kendra Baltes and Mindy DePietro were awarded a mini-grant for $800 for what is being called “Calm Down Corners.” The grant will fund the purchase of 50 kits equipped with quiet tools that can be used for student self-regulation in the classroom including puzzles, timers, fidgets, books, writing utensils and parchment.

BCIS Principal Michael Masucci was awarded $1,157.64 to provide light covers, yoga mat holders, a painting set, SEL card decks, positive affirmation chips, conversation cubes and a garden potting station for the BCIS Social and Emotional Learning, or SEL, Center.

“We have been practicing yoga,” said Masucci. “And in our garden, we are growing lettuce that will be used in the cafeteria.”

Also at BCIS, Dawn Laslow was awarded a $2,200 mini-grant for the In-Class Library that will provide flexible seating, books, a “check-out” system and organizational supplies.

At Robinwood Elementary, Sarah King was awarded a $300 mini-grant for speech and language vinyl vocabulary boards to support students who use augmentative / alternative communication devices.

Stadium Drive received two more mini grants with $2,252 for teachers Emily Sobinovsky, Pam Choleva, Candace Lillibridge and Tami Socie for hands-on math, science, phonics and language arts equipment. The second mini-grant was requested by Robin Stahura for $1,252 for a school-wide sensory store, which provides for sensory tools that support the functions of behavior including a mini trampoline, stretch band, sensory bin and chair, balance board, etc.

West Boulevard had several mini grants, including one for a First Tee School Program that provides a safe introduction to golf for all students. That grant was submitted by Steve Stahura.

A mini-grant for $1,601.71 was issued to West Boulevard teachers Krista Schmied, Jennifer Bennett, Dan Conway, Dawn Fleming, Shana Higgins and Maddie Krasnasky for the math department. The grant provided for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) items with storage including a Pixel Art Challenge, Picasso Challenge, Noodle Knockout, Marble Fun, Boogie Boards, Shape Puzzles, BeBlox and more.

Also at West Boulevard were mini grants for $820.28 for Dan Kibby’s request for a Voice Amplification System including wireless microphones for teachers and students, acoustic tiles and hand-on STEM items.

Principal Alphonse Cervello also received a mini grant for $2,300 for an HP Design Jet large-format wireless plotter color printer.