35 Ventura Teachers Win Grants for Innovative Work

Members of the Ventura Education Partnership, a nonprofit support group of the Ventura Unified School District, have awarded a total of $14,900 in grants to 35 teachers whose classroom work promotes innovative techniques in education.

Individual grants ranging between $300 and $500 were hand-delivered last week to teachers who work at 18 different schools in the district, said Virginia Mendoza-O’Neil, the partnership’s executive director.

The largest number of grants went to educators at E.P. Foster School, where five teachers were awarded a total of $2,050. Four teachers at Buena High School and the Pierpont School each received $500 grants.

“The community realizes that education is changing and are providing teachers with the support they need to bring innovation to the classroom,” Mendoza-O’Neil said, adding that public donations fund the grants.

This year, the board of directors for the partnership received a total of 70 grant applications.

Previous grants have been awarded for kindergarten gardening projects, art enrichment programs, parent-child homework activities, advanced mathematics and computer technology.

This year’s grant recipients will be honored at an evening reception at Ventura City Hall on March 23, where they will meet Mayor Jim Friedman and grant sponsors.

For information about the grants or to make a donation, call the partnership at 652-0887.