Spring Membership Drive: Non-profit Organization OEPE Looking for NEW Members!
OEPE Kicks Off Spring Membership Drive:
Non-profit Organization Looking for NEW Members
Oxford, Miss. – The Oxford Endowment for Public Education (OEPE) is kicking off a membership drive to fund spring grants. More members means more money available for grants to teachers. In the fall, OEPE funded more than $10,000 in grants for items including library books, calculators, ipads and cameras.
“I’m so grateful OEPE funded a grant to provide two iPads for my ELL classroom at Bramlett Elementary,” says Julie Cantrell, an ELL teacher at Bramlett Elementary. “For students new to English, there are apps that help teach functional communication skills, and my students can monitor their own pronunciation of English words, helping them reduce their foreign accents and train their ear to process specific English phonemes.”
Ms. Cynthia Ferguson, a journalism teacher at Oxford High School, received a grant to purchase online streaming equipment for the school newspaper. “The equipment we were able to purchase with the OEPE grant funds has made a tremendous impact on our online streaming project,” Ferguson says. “The equipment is professional-grade equipment, allowing students to get real-life practice with video equipment.”
Thomas Field received money for calculators for his math class at Oxford Middle School. “The calculators have made a huge difference,” he says. “Students who are missing years of fundamental skills are able to access some higher levels of mathematics that were previously inaccessible, and are now comfortable doing so.”
Kimberly Caraway used her grant to purchase more than 60 high-interest, low-reading level books for The Oxford Learning Center. “For real, long-term gains in reading comprehension, it is critical to get at-risk students to not only read, but to enjoy reading,” she says. “It’s exciting to see the turn around in their attitudes towards reading.”
OEPE funds projects proposed by teachers that enhance and enrich the education of all children in Oxford. Funded proposals have included books, software, musical instruments, lab equipment and other items that teachers need but do not have the funds to purchase. All proposals are approved by OEPE board members, the superintendent of education and the Oxford School Board.
(Click here to see OEPE’s list of funded projects in Oxford)
For more information about OEPE, the grants funded,
or to become a member:
visit www.oepe.org
About the Author
Newt Rayburn Newt Rayburn founded THE LOCAL VOICE in March of 2006. Previously, Newt was Editor of PROFANE EXISTENCE in Minneapolis, and Art Director for Ole Miss' LIVING BLUES magazine. Newt won a National Magazine Award in 1999 for his SOUTHERN MUSIC ISSUE with THE OXFORD AMERICAN. A seventh-generation Lafayette County, Mississippian, Newt Rayburn's alter ego—Neuter Cooter—lead the Mississippi band THE COOTERS to Rocknoll Glory across the USA from 1993-2018. Newt is a family man who also is a publisher, photographer, writer, musician, landlord, and Civil War enthusiast.
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