Springfield Rotary awards 14 special education teachers with grants

A student at The Riding Centre in Yellow Springs on “Honey Pepper.” Honey Pepper has been adopted by Springfield Rotary. Almost every teacher who wants to do therapeutic riding with their grant stipend uses The Riding Centre in Yellow Springs. Contributed

A student at The Riding Centre in Yellow Springs on “Honey Pepper.” Honey Pepper has been adopted by Springfield Rotary. Almost every teacher who wants to do therapeutic riding with their grant stipend uses The Riding Centre in Yellow Springs. Contributed
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Feb 15, 2024
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Fourteen city and county special education teachers were chosen as recipients of the 2023-24 Grants-To-Teachers’ award, the Springfield Rotary Club announced.

The grants, which are awarded through the Springfield Rotary Services to People with Disabilities Program, total more than $6,200, and 125 local students with disabilities will be impacted by this project.

All 14 teachers who applied received grants and were fully funded for their projects. The teachers are from Clark-Shawnee, Greenon, Northeastern, Northwestern, Springfield City, Tecumseh and the Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center (CTC).

“These grants will assist teachers in enhancing the students’ intellectual, emotional, social, and physical wellness,” according to a release from the Rotary Club.

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The funds will be used during the current school year to enrich the students’ learning experience their school or district can’t provide.

A total of 55 faculty of multi-disability, cross-categorial and intense resource elementary, middle and high school classrooms in Springfield City and county school districts were invited to apply for the program, with names provided by their school districts.

Through this annual Grants-to-Teachers’ project, the Springfield Rotary provides therapeutic horseback riding; life-skill learning opportunities; educational field trips; sensory items for sight, hearing, tactile, auditory and proprioception; support for vocational training; small library of decodable books; and materials for entrepreneurial learning and gained experience.

Many teachers who use their grants for therapeutic riding do so at The Riding Centre in Yellow Springs, which has been in business for more than 50 years.

“We are so grateful to The Rotary of Springfield for their years of support of area teachers and students with disabilities, and also for the support of Honey Pepper (one of the horses adopted the Springfield Rotary) — the matriarch of our program,” said Carolyn Bailey, executive director at The Riding Centre.

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The faculty receiving grants include:

Jeana Baucant Koon, Project SEARCH, Springfield-Clark CTC

Krista Cahoon, Northwestern Elementary School

Stephanie Fourman, Kenton Ridge High School

Ruthann Hill, Greenon Elementary School

Talia Kalmerton, Shawnee Elementary School

Annika Lehman, New Carlisle Elementary School

Judy Loy, Northwestern Elementary School

Sara Neargarder, Rolling Hills Elementary School

Beth Oder, Springfield-Clark CTC

Beth Patterson, Shawnee Elementary School

Tanya Sanders, Snowhill Elementary School

Krista Sodders, Kenton Ridge Middle School

Tate Thomas, Shawnee Elementary School

Laura Wright, Tecumseh High School

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Brooke Spurlock covers education, crime and more in Clark and Champaign counties as a reporter for the Springfield News-Sun. She has been a writer for over six years, which includes her previous work as a breaking news desk investigator. Spurlock has her bachelor's in mass communications with a minor in psychology and her associates in paralegal.