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WASD Awarded $74,290 in Grants to Support Projects, Program Enhancements

District Wide

November 29, 2022 | WASD Education Foundation

Fall 2022 Check Presentation Grid

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (NOVEMBER 29, 2022) — The Williamsport Area School District recently received a total of $74,290 in a combination of grants from both the Williamsport Area School District Education Foundation (WASDEF) and the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania (FCFP).

Four grants from WASDEF’s Annual and Teacher Mini-Grant funds were awarded to support the following programs and projects across the district:

  • $10,883 to Heather Way, the district’s mental health and trauma coordinator for grades seven through 12, to create and furnish a “Focus Zone” room at Williamsport Area Middle School (WAMS). The room will serve as a space for students to self-regulate using calming visual, auditory and tactile methods for students to de-stress.

  • $1,300 to the WAMS’s special and health and physical education departments to create the district’s first-ever unified athletic bocce ball team comprised of both special and regular education students.

  • $1,500 to Williamsport Area High School (WAHS) and Curtin Intermediate School art teachers Dr. Andrea McDonough and Esther Brennan, respectively. Funds from the grant will support a partnered effort to create a permanent, large-scale art installation that will be used as an emotional regulation resource after an initial yoga immersion experience primarily intended for autistic support students at Curtin.

  • $650 to Lycoming Valley Intermediate School Assistant Principal Dr. Ryan Carper to support the purchase of a gaming console for the building’s School-wide Positive Program as well as its STEM Lab for video game coding.  

Additionally, WAHS drama teacher Marie Fox was awarded $59,956 to support the reconstruction of the high school’s TV Productions course. Funds will be used to purchase updated, state-of-the-art equipment for the high school’s studio space to mirror industry standards to best prepare students leaning toward a career in broadcast communication/journalism or a related field.  

Grant dollars for the studio space were awarded from both the education foundation’s Annual Fund ($7,735) and from FCFP through Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) donations ($52,221) received from C&N, First National Bank of PA, M&T Bank, and Woodlands Bank.

WASDEF is a recognized nonprofit affiliate of the school district. Led by a 20-member volunteer board of directors, the education foundation facilitates charitable giving and permanent legacies based on individual areas of interest in educational innovation, the arts, athletics and scholarships. For more information, visit www.wasdeducationfoundation.org.

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