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24 HCS teachers receive mini grants from Langley For Families Foundation

Twenty-four teachers from across the Hampton City Schools division received $500 scholarships through Langley Federal Credit Union’s Langley For Families Foundation.

Each year, Langley For Families Foundation typically grants 30 teachers $500 to support new or existing classroom initiatives. But this year was unlike any other, so Langley and the Peninsula Community Foundation together awarded grants to all 75 applicants.

Throughout 2020, teachers and school staff have worked incredibly hard to overcome the challenges of virtual learning, creating special experiences for graduates, ensuring children maintain grade levels, and more. In response, Langley opened the grants to any need from teachers, including technology and classroom supplies.

A record number of teachers submitted a request to the Peninsula Community Foundation that manages the application and approval process of the scholarships. Requests ranged drastically to support in-person classrooms, hybrid learning, and virtual teaching. Requested items included tactile learning tools, headphone sets, computer mice, STEM coding robots, online assessment tools, emotional resource library books, document readers, and dry erase boards.

The Peninsula Community Foundation was so moved by the need showcased in the applications that its team generously contributed $10,000 to fund an additional 20 grants. After learning more about the teachers’ requests and Peninsula Community Foundation’s commitment, the leadership team at Langley for Families Foundation recognized the immense need and agreed to contribute the remaining funds to grant all 75 applications that met the program’s requirements.

In total, Langley and the Peninsula Community Foundation donated $37,500 to 75 Hampton Roads teachers this past holiday season to fill the gap as they adapt to a continuously changing classroom environment.

“The importance of our children’s education cannot be overstated, and teachers are one of the most important ingredients in creating a great learning environment,” said Michael Monteith, CEO of Peninsula Community Foundation. “However, in a pandemic world, the ability of teachers to effectively connect with their students has been made very difficult. By combining our resources with Langley’s, we are collectively able to help more teachers than each of us can do alone.”

“The team at Langley feels inspired by the dedication and strength of teachers this year, and we knew we wanted to do more to show our support,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO of Langley Federal Credit Union. “We appreciate the Peninsula Community Foundation’s partnership in making these grants happen.”

The following HCS teachers received grants:

Name

School

Bagheri, Miranda

Tucker-Capps Fundamental Elementary School

Bautista, Allie

Cary Elementary School

Brown, Connie

Kecoughtan High School

Brown, Tristan

Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf

Foshee, Aimee

Tyler Elementary School

Hagan, Maria

Phenix PreK-8 School

Holmes, Jennifer

Forrest Elementary School

O'Hanlon, Chelsea

Jones Magnet Middle School

Freakley, Matt

Syms Middle School

Ashe, Ai Choo

Bethel High School

Autry, Rebecca

Spratley Gifted Center

Badger, Stephanie

Syms Middle School

Belcher, Amy

Lindsay Middle School

Cross, Ashton

Phenix PreK-8 School

Holmes, Rasan

Phillips Elementary School

Johnson, Whitney

Langley Elementary School

Mitchell, Marietta

Hampton High School

Mouton, Lynette

Armstrong School for the Arts

Musser, Sheryl

Bethel High School

Papa-Bassett, Annemarie

Itinerant Teacher of English Language Learners

Pierce, Tina

Forrest Elementary School

Terrell, Nancy

Tarrant Middle School

Wise, Renea

Bethel High School

Zornitta, Rafael

Kecoughtan High School

Matthew Freakley of Syms Middle School said, “The funds are being used to purchase earbuds with microphones for our Syms students. Since March when we first began digital learning, I have noticed how many students have so many distractions in their home environment; televisions playing, pets coming and going, younger siblings causing distractions, and other siblings being in online classes at the same time. I want to provide our students with the earbuds with microphones to cut down on external distractions so they have a quieter more focused learning environment.”

Renea Wise said the Bethel Algebra II team will be using these funds for IXL to help our students remediate and recover their grades.  

“I am so thankful to have received $500.00 from Langley,” said Jennifer Holmes, recipient from Forrest Elementary School. “I will be using it to purchase Bare Books for my library and our school.  Bare Books are blank hardbound books that students and teachers can use to create stories or journals. I have plans to collaborate with 1st through 3rd-grade teachers to create books on parts of speech. These books will help our students learn the parts of speech while designing their own fun and creative book. Teachers might also choose to add to the books each year as the students gain more knowledge and their sentences get more complex. The best thing about this project is that it can be done with the hybrid/virtual model of instruction and in person. I plan to replenish our stock of Bare Books yearly and add more projects to our repertoire. One possibility is that students will be able to create stories and comic books on their own and share them in the library. I already have students who have taken an interest in being authors. Again, thank you so much LFCU! By giving this grant, you have allowed teachers to explore educational possibilities that might otherwise be impossible”

Miranda Bagheri of Tucker-Capps Fundamental School said, "My teammate and I use a data program in our kindergarten program called ESGI. It is an online tool that is quick and easy to use for us to track weekly data on alphabet recognition, letter sounds, word families, and sight words. We also use this program during Kindergarten RoundUp to assess rising Kinder students. We won a subscription for the program 4 years ago and LOVED it. Since then we have been paying out of pocket, using PTA reimbursements and school fundraising our grade level raised to pay each year. We are excited that we will be able to renew at the end of this year, with no money out of pocket, especially after this very taxing year! We are appreciative to Langley Federal for thinking of teachers and granting us with this sponsorship!"

Langley Federal Credit Union has a long history of community involvement and charitable giving dating back to the founding of the credit union in the 1930's. With a commitment to making a difference in the communities it serves, Langley For Families Foundation was launched in 2014 to support causes and charities benefiting children and families.

Langley Federal Credit Union is a federally-chartered credit union, regulated and insured by the National Credit Union Administration. Langley Federal Credit Union serves more than 280,000 members and has more than $3.4 billion in assets, ranking the financial cooperative as one of the 100 largest credit unions in the country. Langley is a full-service financial institution where everyone can save, borrow, and spend wisely. Located in Hampton Roads, Langley has 19 branches and more than 55,000 surcharge-free ATMs throughout the region. For more information, visit www.langleyfcu.org