September 2024

Sixth graders are unique animals! They all have different maturity levels. They are struggling with pressure from peer groups and parents, and they are trying to learn to be leaders. Then, they have to think about and make choices for middle and high school.

Calli Smith, a counselor at Preston Elementary, and Jason Sharp, a counselor at Lindsey Elementary, had an idea to help ease some of this stress. And they turned it into a grant application that will impact every Allen ISD elementary campus.

"Allen 6th Grade Leadership" is a grant for 2024-2025 that will provide all sixth graders a visit to both Allen High School and Lowery Freshman Center this fall. The entire sixth grade from each campus will visit the "big schools" between October 11 and December 10. They will break into small groups and have a campus tour plus activities for part of the day; all of this will be led by the PALs students at Allen High School and Lowery Freshman Center. 

"Our sixth graders begin figuring out their middle school schedules in January. We hope that with this grant they have an opportunity to physically experience AHS and LFC, to see some of the electives and special activities, to see the possibilities," Calli said.

Both Smith and Sharp had taken their respective sixth graders before and the impact was so positive that they wanted every sixth grader to have the experience. So, they wrote a grant to the Foundation to cover the transportation expense, and it was funded for $4,680. With nearly 1,600 Allen ISD sixth graders impacted by the grant, that is a cost of less than $3 per student. 

"Our sixth graders get to see the CTE classes, the gym, the PAC, so many amazing opportunities," Calli said. "The key is that the high school PALs are in charge and the two student groups can relate to one another.”

PALs also conducts team building and leadership activities with the sixth graders.

"When we returned from taking our Lindsey students last year, they were so noisy about it –  in a good way," said Sharp. "They were so enthusiastic and had questions, and many wanted to know how to become a PAL. We wanted this experience to benefit all our Allen 6th graders."

The trips will occur right before the sixth graders meet with counselors to create plans for seventh and eighth grade and beyond.

September 2024

Ann Widmer loves robots and all things technology! And she loves helping teachers utilize technology in their instruction. Ann was awarded a grant for the 2024-2025 year of $6,376.00. The grant is called, “Why did the robot go to school? To get a byte of knowledge!”

Improving computational thinking , coding knowledge, and supporting the new Technology Application TEKS are some of the goals of this grant that was awarded to Ann when she was a part of the Digital Learning Team in Learner Services. The grant will provide for a collection of robots including Kaibots, Ozobot Evos, and Dashes. Once the robots are received and inventoried, they will be available for checkout through campus librarians for pre-K to 8th grade teachers. Library Services and Innovative Learning Coordinator Crystal Hume is also planning professional development opportunities using the new robots.

“We’re thrilled to add new and updated coding robots for checkout in our elementary and middle school classrooms and libraries,” said Ann. “These robots help make learning interactive and engaging - and they are helping Allen ISD meet the state’s computational thinking standards.”

The grant was made possible by funding from Hilltop Securities and the Foundation For Allen Schools. For the 2024-2025 year, the Foundation awarded 119 grants totaling $216,000. Grant applications for 2025-2026 will open on Dec. 9, 2024 at AISDfoundation.org.