Jill Blase and Mandie Petersen from Harvey Dunn Elementary received $1,000 for their idea, “Gaining Independence Through Word Work.”

They will purchase alphabet toys, CVC word builder activity cards, phonics letter tiles, magnetic spelling boards, sound boxes, alphabet stampers, foam letters, word building blocks, alphabet puzzles, and spelling games that will be used by 100 first graders. In the proposal, they wrote, “This project will supply hands-on activities for the students to work on their writing, reading, and word work while strengthening their fine motor skills. These materials will be used to practice words at their level during independent workshop time for English Language Arts. These supplies will give students developmentally appropriate opportunities to practice and enhance their reading and writing skills on a daily basis and will be rotated throughout the year to keep their interest.”