Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Grants Awards topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Flanagan family awards four educator grants; two staff win Be Alight recognition
Summary
The Steven C. Flanagan family awarded four small grants and honored staff through the Be Alight program; awardees described intended classroom uses at the committee meeting.
Cindy Flanagan and other family members presented the Steven C. Flanagan educator grants and Be Alight recognitions at Tuesday’s Swansea School Committee meeting, awarding four classroom grants and honoring staff for service to students.
Cindy Flanagan said the family’s program has now funded 42 grants over 13 years, totaling “a little over $25,000,” and this year’s awards range from $500 to $1,000. The family asked each grantee to describe their proposals to the committee.
Mikaela Gonzales, a physical education teacher and unified activities coordinator at Joseph Case High School, said her grant will fund a Best Pals T-shirt design contest and free shirts for participating students so they can wear them during unified volunteer activities and field events. Gonzales said student interest is high; she reported a pool of roughly 70 students who wanted to join the unified activities group.
Tanya Provo, a school adjustment counselor at the junior high, said her grant will bring a land-based program from Known Surf to the junior high for an inclusive movement and wellness program aimed at students in unified activities and the informal care/inclusion club. Provo described Known Surf’s mission as promoting “inclusion, acceptance, kindness, and love” and said the land-based program will extend access to students who already participate in surf therapy outside school.
The committee also announced a grant to fund an additional piano/keyboard to expand access in high-school music classes, and a grant to support “Free Shirt Friday,” a weekly school-culture program at Joseph Case High School that provides winners free school T-shirts.
Separately, the committee named Tracy Bright and Todd Tewkesbury as Be Alight award recipients for their work in transition programs and for creating community connections such as the Bright Side Café. The committee read two nominations praising Bright’s initiative in preparing young adults for independence.
The presentations were ceremonial; award disbursement details will be handled administratively. No formal committee vote on the grants was recorded during the meeting.
