Kennebec County retired educators grants available to teachers

AUGUSTA — The Kennebec Retired Educators Association, in an effort to give back to the schools where members spent many years, yearly awards two $150 grants to two educators in the county for classroom use.

The grants are to supplement expenses for student-centered, inter-disciplinary projects and may be expended for materials used in the classroom, speakers’ fees, project development expenses, and more. The association comprises retired educators from 60 schools in 31 cities and towns.
Grant description and applications for this year’s program have been given to every principal of all elementary, middle and high schools in the county to make available to teachers.
The deadline to submit grant applications is Oct. 31. The winning applicants will be notified and receive their grants by Dec. 1 and will receive the grant money.
Michael Praschak, who teaches middle school science in Windsor, received a grant last year to buy books for his seventh graders.
“The discussions we had,” he said. “The kids impressed me so much with their insight into agriculture and how food is handled here in this country. They were able to start realizing how advertising and word choice influences buying options and just what is available in our grocery stores. I am very grateful (to) KREA for allowing this to happen.”
George Davis, retired principal of Winslow High School and chairman of the Innovative Classroom Grant Committee, said, “Students remain our primary focus long after we leave our classrooms.”