Dozens Of Broken Arrow Teachers Awarded Classroom Grants

More than 40 teachers in Broken Arrow are getting hundreds of dollars for their classrooms next year. This is all thanks to grants from the Broken Arrow Public Schools Foundation.

Cayley Purcell, the Speech Pathologist and Teacher of the Year at Highland Park Elementary School in Broken Arrow, was excited to find out she was given a grant to make her classroom better.

"Mine is for 'Elevating Elementary Language to 3D,' so it's 3D manipulatives that will help kids learn spatial concepts, describing, defining objects, being able to hold something in their hand," said Purcell.

The new tools will help kids be more engaged in class.

"It's not just a picture,” said Purcell. “A lot of times they teach language concepts on pieces of paper, or from a workbook. And this is something they are going to be able to hold in their hands and move around and be able to have more fun learning these things and not feel like it's work as much."

The Broken Arrow Public Schools Foundation has been giving grants to teachers like Purcell for 30 years. They said by making the classrooms better, they’re making the city a better place.

"This is extremely important,” said Frankie Catlett, the President of the Broken Arrow Public Schools Foundation. “The cornerstone of a community is the schools, and the schools build your community. And if you culture your teachers and your students, you're going to have a better community."

Purcell said the money will not only help kids now, but help the students that will go through her classroom in the future.

"It's so nice to have something that is given to me that I can use for a variety of kids,” said Purcell. “This is not something that is going to be used for one set of skills, this is used for 10, 15 skills and language concepts. And it can impact kids in the future."

Teachers from 18 different schools in the district were given these grants.