Trish Nelson was awarded $2,388 for her proposal, “Using Supplemental Curriculum to Enhance Academics for Early Learners.”

With grant dollars, Trish will purchase materials to create a lending library of work basket tasks that can be checked out until classrooms are able to generate the number of activities necessary to support their students. These task boxes will primarily serve the 600+ students in the Sioux Falls School District with autism. In the application, Trish wrote, “Task boxes, with their hands-on and interactive nature, capture students’ interest and maintain their engagement. The structured format, clear instructions, and visually appealing materials make the tasks more enticing and meaningful. By incorporating multisensory elements and varied levels of difficulty, task boxes cater to different learning styles. By engaging in task box activities, students learn to follow directions, manage time, complete tasks at their own pace and gain independent work skills. This allows for 1:1 teaching of new concepts with specific students.”