Glendora Rotary Awards Grants to Local Teachers

In February, Glendora Rotary awarded over $18,000 in grants to local teachers in Rotary’s annual Mini-Grant Program.

There were over 60 teachers who were awarded grants for a variety of programs this year.

The grants have been used for projects such as lifelike dolls to teach students the responsibilities of caring for infants to computer programs to help in math and social sciences. 

In its 26th year the program has given over $400,000 to local teachers. This year’s program was dedicated to the founder and long time Rotarian, Bill Bird who lost his battle with cancer this past year. Bill had a long history of significant contributions to Rotary, the City of Glendora and surrounding communities.

Mini-Grants award competitive applications with $300 to $600 for special classroom enrichment projects. There were over 60 teachers who were awarded grants for a variety of programs this year, including Ann Huffman at Washington Elementary who won for a program to help with a reading program for Special Education Students and Kathleen Klaushie and Kelly Evans from Willow Elementary School who are going to use their grant to help produce a “Live from Willow” program for the school. Stacey Gates and Angie Golden are using their grant to enhance their reading programs to Kindergarteners, while Tricia Valentine and Denita Knox will purchase a Document Camera to benefit a variety of classes at Glendora High School.

In 1985, members Bird and Chris Lyman proposed to the Glendora Rotary Club a program in which Rotary would raise funds to give small grants to local teachers to subsidize their classroom projects. The requirement was for the teachers to write requests stating what the funds would be used for and make application for the grants.