2024 Pinnacle Nominations Open
Murray Education Foundation (MEF) has opened nominations for its 20th Annual Pinnacle Awards recognition, honoring outstanding MCSD educators, a classified employee, and a volunteer. Nominations…
Grant Applications Open…
Teacher Grant Applications for the 2023-24 school year are now open through Friday, September 1. The types of grants approved will vary from year to…
Fluttering Changes…
Viewmont Elementary’s Vangee Watts loves giving her students this butterfly project every year. They flutter with excitement as they discuss their observations with each other.…
Traveling Art…
The ever-creative and crafty Mr. Mikey (Stephenson) at Grant Elementary has a solution for rising travel costs. This year he has used a simple request…
Augmentative Instruction…
Horizon Elementary’s Loura Olson and Karina Servan are always seeking new ways to support their amazing second-grade DLI instruction for math, Spanish, and language arts.…
Calming Empowerment…
Regulating emotions is sometimes a challenge for kids and can interfere with learning. So Tricia Kamp, our Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, is always looking for…
Sensory Support…
Children come to school each day with all kinds of different challenges and experiences. So, it’s important for Longview Elementary’s Katie McBride to be prepared…
Rainy Day Alternatives…
With the unpredictable weather in Utah, sometimes you just need some go-to activities that keep kids interested during recess time. But the cost can be…
Cutting the Cords…
After years of dealing with tangled, shorted, and cut cords, McMillan Elementary First Grade Teachers Ms. Evans and Ms. Jessop were fit to be tied.…
Brick-Laying Imagination…
This year, Riverview Junior High Math teacher Haley Johnson has utilized grant funding from Murray Education Foundation (MEF) to task her students to mix logic…
Untangling Barriers to Learning…
Longview Elementary Second Grade Teachers Paige Clark and Trina Evans were frustrated with all the jumbled-up and broken headphone cords they were dealing with. In…
Colorful Dips…
Always looking for ways to expand and optimize student learning in the nail technician program, MHS teacher Dixie Davis wanted to grow her collection of…
Stacking Up the Learning…
Longview Elementary First Grade Teacher Tracy Findlay wanted to give her students more visual ways to learn math. So she requested grant funding from MEF…
One Ultimanium Way to Learn…
Hillcrest Jr. High PE Teacher Missy Rose leveraged funding from MEF to purchase an Ultimania activity set for her classes. Ultimania is a fun and…
Counting Up New Math Implements…
Liberty Elementary 2nd Grade Teacher Laura Maxfield sought enhanced ways to help her students learn place value concepts and other basic math. So she submitted…
Desktop Mapping…
Hillcrest Jr. High History Teacher Gabriel Smith needed a closeup, hands-on, durable solution for teaching geography. So, he requested funds for heavy laminated maps that…
Alphabet Soup…
First Grade Viewmont Teacher Jen Lightfoot, needed a slick way to help kids discover patterns in words while getting extra spelling practice in. Students love…
At the Pinnacle of their Profession
Murray Education Foundation (MEF) and Murray City School District (MCSD) honored this year’s recipients of the Pinnacle Awards. They were: Lindsey Preece, Grant Elementary Classified…
Learning Through ‘Informancing’…
Liberty Elementary Theater Teacher Bryn Swain needed some simple tools that would allow her students to create “Informances” (small in-class performances) so that parents could…
Virtual Experiences that Inspire…
Murray High School teacher Teacher Lynley Hogan wanted to give her US History and AP World Civ students more tangible learning experiences. Since taking them…
Stocking Up on Wellness…
Parkside Elementary’s Brandi Sandoval needed to re-stock her school’s sensory tools/bins for their wellness room, so she turned to Murray Education Foundation for funding. The…
Challenging Visual Dexterity, Improving Spatial Reasoning…
McMillan Elementary math teacher Laura Leishman wanted to increase her hands-on application of math concepts through math manipulatives and use games that would increase engagement.…
Continue Reading Challenging Visual Dexterity, Improving Spatial Reasoning…
Creepy Crawlies…
Liberty Elementary’s Cassandra Westenskow needed a fun and interactive solution to augment her first-grade class’ plants and animals standard curriculum. She got some funding from…
Empowering Learning through Self-Awareness…
Horizon Elementary’s Susannah Holden used her MEF grant funding to purchase different learning materials (Little Spot of Emotions books, plushies, and a manual) for a…
Continue Reading Empowering Learning through Self-Awareness…
Busting Through Learning Blocks…
Grant Elementary Social Worker Sierra Marsh received MEF grant funding to expand her amazing tools for helping kids with behavior management. Her focus has been…
Rewarding Hard Work…
Grant Elementary 5th Grade Teacher Goldie Lundeen doesn’t like to let effort and achievement go unnoticed. That’s why for her MEF grant, she was able…
Merging Hard into Fun…
The subjects of Art and Math don’t seem like they belong together… and yet, for Grant Elementary Kindergarten Teacher Lyndsee Wheeler the answer is in…
Making Room for Wellness…
Wellness rooms, calming corners, and Zen Den’s play an important role at each school, offering students a safe space to manage emotions or behaviors when…