Grants for Great Ideas

Amanda Curtis received three of the 11 grants given to Helena teachers by the Helena Education Foundation earlier this week.
Curtis, a math teacher at Helena Middle School, said submitting three grant applications gave her better odds of being awarded at least one.
“The probability is higher the more you apply,” said Curtis, who always thinks with a math brain.

HEF awards grants to teachers twice a year, designed to finance projects or merchandise that goes beyond what the Helena School District would fund.
Lisa Cordingley, Helena Education Foundation executive director, said the Great Ideas Grant is an important part of what the foundation does.
“It’s a tangible measure of the value the community places on the work (teachers) do,” she said.
The grants are also a symbol of how the community values public education, Cordingley added.
“All you have to do is see them when we bring them the checks to see it’s a really important thing we do for teachers,” she said. “Whatever job it is you do, if there was a way for everyone to feel the way teachers feel when we come with grant awards, the difference in the community would be immeasurable.”

Read more in the Indpendent Record.