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Bardeen Teacher Incentive Grants

The Teacher Incentive Grant Program has been supporting special teacher training, high tech equipment and unique innovative programs at Vicksburg Community Schools since 1986.

Students from Sunset Lake Elementary use a new iPod Touch acquired through a 2011 Bardeen Grant.

The purpose of this grant is to fund individual research and personal/professional development activities that will result in new teaching and learning practices. The grant can also be used to purchase materials necessary for implementation of creative and innovative teaching and learning practices where those materials are outside of the scope of normal curriculum materials, supplies or equipment supplied by the District.

The Grant's name is an acknowledgment of the contributions of Maxwell Bardeen. Max was the longtime General Manager of Vicksburg's Lee Paper Company, one of the founders of the Vicksburg Foundation and the Western Michigan University Paper Science & Engineering Department. He was a pilot who also helped start-up the High on Kalamazoo Air Show and a champion of the Vicksburg Community Schools and Vicksburg Teachers.

In 1994 when Maxwell Bardeen passed away, both the Vicksburg Community Schools Foundation and the Vicksburg Foundation voted to expand their support of the Teacher Incentive Grant Program. In acknowledging Max Bardeen and his family as founders of the program, it was officially renamed the Bardeen Teacher Incentive Grant Program. Simultaneously, the Vicksburg Foundation made a five year renewable commitment to the fund and increased their annual donation from $7,500 to $10,000. The Vicksburg Community Schools is grateful to Max Bardeen for his vision and long-standing commitment to the students and teachers of Vicksburg. We are also grateful to the Vicksburg Foundation for supporting teacher innovation and excellence.

The Vicksburg Foundation makes grant funding available in the amount of $10,000 each year. Grant awards are generally limited to $1,000 each although exceptions may be considered based upon the merit of the project proposal and funding availability. That amount may be supplemented by District or private funds.

Grant Guidelines

Expenditures for meals and mileage should fall within District guidelines (meals that are included in conference registration cost would be an exception).

Teaches may include expenses for equipment, supplies and materials; however, all items purchased with grant funds become the property of the District.

Individual teachers may apply each year; however, previous year recipients may receive lower priority in the allocation of grant funds. (The VCSF reserves the right to fund any special funding request throughout the year.)

The Vicksburg Community Schools Foundation Allocations Committee reserves the right to recommend funding for a portion of a grant request.

How to Apply

Bardeen Teacher Incentive Grant forms are available in each school office. It is also available for download here. If you have any questions, please call Amy Manchester @ (269) 321-1006.

Application Deadlines

Applications are accepted annually and due by the first Monday in March.

2011 Grant Recipients

Dustin Morris
Attend the Michigan School Vocal Music Association's Summer Workshop at Michigan State University. The workshop is a three day event which includes sessions presented by master teachers, university choral directors and other choral music experts. Focus will be on practical topics and materials for use in the choral or general music classroom.

John O'Toole
Teachers will have the opportunity to travel to the Madison Consolidated Schools in Madison, WI to observe Balanced Mathematics classrooms and to discuss with teachers implementation suggestions and classroom preparation. This visit will give a clearer picture of how Balanced Mathematics is organized and taught. Teachers attending will share their knowledge with staff in 2011-2012.

Paula Branch
Eight Middle School English teachers will attend the National Council for the Teachers of English Annual Convention which will be held in Chicago, IL. This will give teachers the opportunity to grow as a Professional Learning Community through mutual exposure to current research best practices, and the discussion that will ensue. Knowledge will be gained of current methodology to better teach the common core standards and better implement adopted programs.

Ruth Hook, Allison Taylor, Mary Burke and Stephanie Mallery
VCS Academic Coaches will attend the Learning Forward Summer Conference where they will examine a proven framework for creating and supporting a successful coaching program, gain a clearer understanding of the purpose of academic coaching, improve coaching skills, add to coaching tools and practice coaching skills and become aware of additional ways to evaluate professional development and coaching.

Krista Ragotzy
A hanging display system to create a larger viewing area to display student artwork at the High School. This will provide twelve rotating frames enabling more student artwork to be displayed and Vicksburg will be able to showcase more of the talents of the visual art program to the student body, visitors, and community.

Patty Heinzelman
Attend the National Orff-Schuwerk Conference in Pittsburgh, PA. Sessions will focus on improvisation, recorder playing, folk dancing, folk songs, cross curricular lessons, performance, and other music teaching techniques.

Cherie Houghton and Alyson Lonsway
Attend the Michigan Play Therapy Conference in Lansing, MI. Play is the way children naturally communicate and resolve their difficulties. Learning how to use play therapy more effectively will help the elementary counselors to assist students and families dealing with a variety of difficult situations.

Sally Sewell
Book display shelving which will provide greater student and staff awareness of books by enhanced visual display and increased awareness of available resources. Many good books will be more visually identifiable and use of reading materials will increase. Attractive visual presentation is always effective to draw attention and increase activity.

Kathleen Forsythe
WIFI access in the High School 400 Hallway for classroom e-readers. These will be used for classroom reading and web-based activities. Several new web writing and reading activities will be implemented and student outcomes will be shared with English Department members.

Stephanie Mallery
Nook e-readers for Vicksburg Middle School English classes to help struggling readers. High quality electronic literature will be purchased and students will have a wide variety of leveled electronic reading materials to support literacy development. Students will spend more time reading at their independent level.

Laura Chang, Jessica Moughton and Kelly Vanlaningham
Using iPods in the classroom puts learning tools directly into the hands of students and adds layers of access to meet the needs of diverse learners. A wide variety of applications are available to increase student engagement. As an instructional tool, technology helps all students and as a motivational tool, technology positively impacts student attitudes toward learning. Technology can be used as a powerful tool for enhancing student achievement.

Diana Haring
Using iPads to aide in the process of differentiating instruction with students according to individual needs. The use of iPads will help differentiate instruction and encourage critical thinking through multimedia apps and collaborative tools. These tools enable both auditory and visual learning. iPads are a flexible way to teach and reinforce student skills through multidimensional and personalized learning. To improve academic performance, educators must infuse technology into teaching and learning.

Angela Cox
Adding iPads to the classroom to create a differentiated learning environment. Each special education student can work at their own pace on their own activities. The iPad accommodates different learning styles. Tactile learners can benefit from touching and marking on the screen; audio learners can listen to stories to gain comprehension; visual learners can see what is taking place as it develops on the screen.

Adam Brush, Keevin O'Neill and Mike Roy
Using iPads for the primary use of observations, evaluations, data collection, and research. There are many applications made especially for school administrators. The iPad is an efficient tool for recording and collecting data and is easy to transport from venue to venue. Michigan mandates that all teachers be evaluated yearly. The iPad will cut down on paper and save time transferring the paper evaluation to the electronic form.