The Suffolk Education Foundation has announced $15,000 in grants to help educate the city’s public school students over the next school year.

Outlined in a foundation news release, the classroom programs funded span a broad range, from $1,500 to allow 10 teachers to take a Chesapeake Bay Foundation course on supporting local farmers and raising vegetables in the schoolyard, to $1,000 for Nansemond Parkway Elementary School to expand its selection of electronic books.

A committee from the foundation’s board of directors selected the programs receiving funding. Selection criteria included “academic impact on the most students, collaboration with other programs and potential for sustainability,” according to the foundation.

Other projects receiving funding include:

• One-on-one online “Study Island” tutorial sessions designed in a fun, game-like atmosphere to enhance reading, math, history and science lessons. (Forest Glen Middle School – $1,000).
• Kicking off an e-book collection with online access to popular titles, as well as reading materials to support English, social studies, math and science classrooms. (Forest Glen Middle School – $1,000).
• Family engineering nights, engaging parents and students in interactive projects exploring STEM (science, engineering, technology and math) concepts and impacts (Hillpoint Elementary School – $1,800).
• Using caloric pedometers and the scientific method to assess and graph data collected during physical education classes (Oakland Elementary School – $400).
• A library of quality children’s books to improve reading and writing scores (Booker T. Washington Elementary School – $1,700).
• Interactive building kits to create visual models of life at the molecular and cellular level  (King’s Fork High School – $900 – Sherri Story).
• Computer notebooks to access Google Apps, read e-books and conduct online research (Pioneer Elementary School – $4,000).
• Scholastic Magazines to provide high-interest articles provoking student-led discussions. Teachers will also have web-based resources for lessons, projects, and differentiated instruction (John F. Kennedy Middle School – $1,700).
• A wireless weather station for a mobile classroom that uses renewable energy resources, such as wind turbines and solar panels (John Yeates Middle School – $500).
• Desk atlases plus individual subscriptions to a weekly current-events reader (Forest Glen Middle School – $1,700).

The foundation has funded almost $250,000 in instructional grants over the years; anyone interested in contributing can send a tax-deductible donation to P.O. Box 394, Suffolk VA 23439-0394.

Donors should note which fund they’re supporting. General donations are also accepted, to support things like college scholarships, Teacher of the Year and Star Award employee recognitions, staff development and tuition assistance for dual-credit high school students.