Lower Shore schools receive $147,373 from Community Foundation

Schools in Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties received $147,373 in grant funding through the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore’s 2022 Education Grants Program. CFES saw an unprecedented number of requests from area schools, many of which focused on the social and emotional needs of students. Funds will be distributed across forty-five school-based programs. Educators and school districts were honored at an evening reception on November 10th at Stephen Decatur High School. “By investing in our students today, we are investing in the future leaders of our community,” says Community Foundation President Erica Joseph. “When we respond to needs and opportunities identified by area teachers we are able to fund projects that have an immediate impact on students.” Education Grants are made annually in conjunction with National Education Week through a competitive process to public and private grade schools on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. Grants are made to those schools that have developed innovative programs to enhance education and improve the social, emotional and physical wellbeing of their students and communities.

John Wixted won the Mary Gay Calcott Excellence in Education Award for his innovative traveling children’s theatre at Mardela Middle & High School. L to R : Peter Hutchinson, Linda Hutchinson, John Wixted.

Calcott Award of Excellence Celebrated The Community Foundation honored Mardela Middle and High School with the Mary Gay Calcott Award of Excellence and a bonus grant from the Foundation’s Mary Gay Calcott Memorial Fund, for their innovative traveling children’s theatre, which brings high school performers to local elementary schools to read with and perform for the students. The award is named for the late Mary Gay Calcott, a professor of English at Salisbury University whose life embodied her ideals of teaching students to think, to express themselves with clarity and to care about the world they live in. The following schools received Education Award Grants for the 2022/2023 school year:

Somerset County

Carter G. Woodson Elementary will purchase creative seating for social-emotional learning needs. Crisfield Academy & High will take photography students to the Salisbury Zoo to practice wildlife photography. Deal Island Elementary will create a Makerspace for students to create innovative STEM projects. Somerset County Technical High students will restore an existing nature trail for outdoor classroom lessons.

Wicomico County

Bennett Middle will create a student-run Coffee Cart business to teach life skills to special education students.

Bennett Middle will provide creative seating in the middle school world languages classroom.

East Salisbury School will install a literary vending machine to improve student literacy.

Fruitland Intermediate will provide arts integration boxes for every classroom.

Glen Avenue Elementary will enhance its Positive Behaviors program.

Glen Avenue Elementary will create outdoor gardens for growing produce and teaching science.

Mardela Middle and High will have an Honors Orchestra Festival for string students from across the county.

Mardela Middle and High will enhance their traveling children’s theatre program.

North Salisbury Elementary will provide hygiene products, anti-bullying programs, and counseling.

North Salisbury Elementary will enhance the Ron Clark House program to create a positive school culture.

Northwestern Elementary will install a literary vending machine to increase positive behavior.

Northwestern Elementary will install a Playground Communications Board for non-verbal students.

Parkside High will create a Career Closet with professional attire for students preparing for job interviews or college visits.

Pinehurst Elementary will create culturally diverse literature circles and create video presentations about the selected books.

Prince Street Elementary will continue its world music class, combining math and engineering with music education.

Prince Street Elementary will start an afterschool boys’ club to focus on academics and life skills.

Salisbury Christian School will purchase digital cameras for digital storytelling projects.

Salisbury Christian School will purchase exercise equipment for phys ed and health classes.

West Salisbury Elementary will create an afterschool program for girls that promotes self-esteem and academic success.

Westside Intermediate will create garden beds for science students to learn to plant fruits and vegetables.

Wicomico High will purchase adaptive art supplies for children with intense cognitive disabilities.

Wicomico Middle will start an afterschool boys’ club to focus on academics and life skills.

Willards Elementary will host an artist in residency program focused on mosaics and a schoolwide art piece.

Worcester County

Berlin Intermediate will launch the Girls on the Run program to address social-emotional needs of young girls.

Berlin Intermediate will host a nationally acclaimed poet for a residency program focused on mental health.

Buckingham Elementary will install flexible seating in all kindergarten classrooms.

Buckingham Elementary will create a calm cave and mobile calming kit to facilitate crisis management techniques.

Cedar Chapel Special School will purchase special equipment for a trauma-informed approach to behavior interventions.

Pocomoke Elementary will implement cozy corners to help students regulate emotions.

Pocomoke Elementary will purchase materials to enhance social-emotional skills and improve student interactions.

Pocomoke High will hold a One School One Book program, using Night by Elie Wiesel and a trip to the Holocaust Museum.

Pocomoke High will enhance its Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program.

Pocomoke Middle will provide incentives that reduce office referrals and improve student behavior.

Showell Elementary will replenish and expand the school's library collection to better meet students’ needs.

Showell Elementary will create a calm room and install calm corners and flexible seating to regulate student behavior.

Snow Hill Elementary will increase the library's collection of social emotional literature.

Snow Hill Elementary will create a calm room and implement related curriculum to help with social emotional learning.

Snow Hill High School will host a Future Rocket Launchers STEM program for students.

Snow Hill High will promote safety and inclusion for LGBTQ+ students and their allies.

Snow Hill Middle will launch a Friday Night Book Club that will engage students in recreational reading and conversation.

Stephen Decatur High will host a book club that allows students to choose, read and discuss complex texts.

Stephen Decatur Middle School will improve its Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program.