National Educators Awards and Grants

The P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children's Education is pleased to announce the recipients for the 2011 Moss Foundation Grants:

Melanie Huffman of  Goddard High School, Goddard, Kansas - $800.00 for an "Introduction to Art" class that explores opportunities available in each semester-long class offered at Goddard High School.  The student may choose the succeeding class in which they would prefer to enroll.  The class provides units in drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, and fibers allowing a "feel" for the media they might enjoy the most.  The program also allows students with disabilities an opportunity to find a modality of art that allows them use of their strengths and find success, while encouraging growth in weaker motor skill and visual areas.

Christine Salazar of Sul Ross Middle School, San Antonio, Texas - $700.00 for "Rebel Mural", a hands-on artistic program as students engage in tactile, visual, and kinetic learning using creative expression through original artworks producing drawings, paintings, prints, constructions, ceramics, sculpture, photography and fiber art. The program will empower students with the self-confidence to communicate artistically by making a historical mark at Sul Ross Middle School.

Tonya Griffin of Gatewood PEEP, Newport News, Virginia - $500.00 for "Creatively Yours", a program to provide students with developmental delays and sensory issues the opportunity to experience concepts of art.  The students will develop or increase fine motor skills as well as hand-eye coordination.  This program, centered on art, shapes, colors and a sense of pride in a finished product would be obtained.

Patricia Stoneback of Lehigh Learning and Adjustment School, Orefield, PA - $500.00 for an art project to better engage students in classroom learning and broaden their knowledge of and learn the study the study of arts, architecture, and artifacts have been key to unveiling the history of various cultures, thus gaining knowledge regarding various art forms.

Susan Gottlieb of West Babylon Junior High School, West Babylong, NY - $500.00 for a program to nurture and reinforce the importance of being self-motivated learners and teach the importance of community service.  Students will participate in a reading program, during which they read novels of their choice.  Each student will creatively illustrate and decorate a tapestry square depicting a scene from the novel. Additionally, students will write friendly letters to their peers in a local hospital, encouraging them to "snuggle up with a cozy blanket and a good book."  The squares decorated will be quilted to form five blankets and donated to the hospitals' children's ward, along with select copies of the books illustrated.   

Jo-Lin D. Owens of West Irvine Elementary, Irvine, KY $500.00 for an Barn Quilt art program. This endeavor will expose children to the elements of art through the use of appropriate languages and processes. This program will help bring a piece of Appalachian culture/art to our students in a project that allows them to learn about barn quilting first-hand from local artists. The Appalachian Barn Quilt Trail will be explored through internet, pictures, and local newspapers featuring the Trail. Students will create their quilt pattern using a variety of methods, including but not limited to painting, paper collage, and drawing with colored pencils.

Julie J. Carter of Center High School, King and Queen Courthouse, VA - $500.00 for a program to allow students to see ceramic pieces at the DeWitt Museum in Colonial Williamsburg, giving students a better idea of how functional ceramic pieces were created during Colonial times.  The DeWitt Museum allows museum patrons to view in detail the process used to create Tory mugs and fine porcelain china.  The students will come back to school and create Tory mugs using the three ceramic hand building methods.

For educators who need assistance to further their program goals, the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education has grants available for up to $1,000 to be awarded for year 2012 with the grant monies to be used in 2013 programs. Applications will only be accepted May - September 30, 2012.  

Applications may be made for a grant up to $1,000 to support a new or evolving program that integrates the arts into educational programming.The purpose is to aid and support teachers who wish to establish an effective learning tool using the arts in teaching children who learn differently.

Please download the application for more details.