Science Classrooms Nationwide Receive $550,000 From Toyota Tapestry Grant Program
TORRANCE, Calif., March 31 -- Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. recognized 78 science teachers from across the country this weekend with $550,000 in grants via the Toyota TAPESTRY: Grants for Science Teachers program at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) National Conference on Science Education in Boston, Mass. At the conference, Toyota also received recognition for its significant contribution toward the construction of a new, state-of-the-art science education center in Arlington, Va. and corresponding Web-based resource portal to be used by science teachers nationwide.
As the nation's largest science teacher grant program, Toyota TAPESTRY selected 78 proposals for funding from the more than 500 submitted by K-12 teachers. The projects funded by the Toyota TAPESTRY program will be implemented in classrooms beginning in June 2008.
Of the $550,000 granted, 50 teachers received up to $10,000 each and 28 received grants of up to $2,500 each. More than $8 million has been awarded to 986 teams of teachers throughout the program's 18-year history.
"My TAPESTRY grant provided the resources to nurture and cultivate students' interest in nature into a lifelong passion," said Angie Meadows, a past TAPESTRY grant recipient and Wilmington, Delaware kindergarten teacher. "A love of science cannot be taught -- students have to experience it. The Toyota TAPESTRY Program gives teachers what we really need -- the resources to share our love of science with kids."
Through the TAPESTRY program, Toyota awards grants to innovative teachers each year. Judges, accomplished in various areas of science, select projects that stand out in creativity, risk-taking and originality in three areas: environmental science, physical science and integrating literacy and science. This year's projects explore topics ranging from an atmospheric research rocket to studies of endangered and endemic species.
"It's extremely rewarding to support educators who bring quality science to our children," said Michael Rouse, Toyota's corporate manager of philanthropy and community affairs. "TAPESTRY was designed to directly impact the children and improve science learning opportunities and over the past 18 years, we've truly had the opportunity to do just that."
Toyota's $1.5 million donation to the NSTA's Center for Science Education will go toward building the proposed LEED-certified Toyota Science Education Conference and Training Center in Arlington, Va., with completion slated for 2010. The center will offer summer workshops, symposia, research dissemination conferences and teacher leadership programs designed to keep science educators well-informed of new insights, methods and research in science teaching. The Toyota funds will also assist in creating the online NSTA Learning Center, which will include thousands of standards-based resources to inform the curriculum of science teachers across the nation.
Toyota TAPESTRY is open to elementary, middle and high school science teachers in the United States and its territories, including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Teachers may apply individually or in teams. Applications are submitted online and are due in January each year. For more information about Toyota TAPESTRY grants, visit http://www.nsta.org/programs/tapestry or call (800) 807-9852.
The following teachers are recipients of 2008 TAPESTRY grants:
STATE SCHOOL CITY
ALABAMA
Anthony Derriso* Mountain Brook High School Birmingham
Beth Howard* Paine Primary School Trussville
Jacqueline Lampley* Hillview Elementary School Birmingham
ALASKA
Tim Lundt* Mat-Su Career & Technical
High School Wasilla
Andrea Pokrzywinski Lower Kuskokwim School District Bethel
Sheryl Sotelo* McNeil Canyon Elementary School Homer
ARIZONA
Paul J. McElligott* Fountain Hills High School Fountain Hills
ARKANSAS
Amanda Hinds Lincoln Junior High School Bentonville
CALIFORNIA
Brian J. Boyle* Mare Island Technology Academy Vallejo
Dominique Evans* Clark Magnet High School La Crescenta
Trina Lee* Rocklin High School Rocklin
Russell "Myles"
Loveall* Lakewood High School Lakewood
Steve Simpson* Sierra Ridge Middle School Pollock Pines
CONNECTICUT
Michael Dietter Northwest Village School Plainville
GEORGIA
Gloria Ivery-Holmes Leslie J. Steele Elementary School Decatur
FLORIDA
William Bartenslager* Palm Beach Central High School Wellington
Judith "Lynne"
Boucher* Ralph Williams Elementary Rockledge
Linda C. Johnson* West Shore Jr./Sr. High School Melbourne
Sean Sand A.L. Mebane Middle School Alachua
Patricia Swen Blue Lake Elementary DeLand
William Underly Saint Cloud Elementary School Saint Cloud
ILLINOIS
Brian Sievers Thornridge High School Dolton
Diana Sturtevant Carl Von Linne Elementary School Chicago
INDIANA
Art Klinger* Penn High School Mishawaka
Charles Kevin Roush* Brown County Junior High School Nashville
IOWA
Hector Ibarra* West Branch Middle School West Branch
KANSAS
Dennis Eickhoff Frank Bergman Elementary School Manhattan
LOUISIANA
Susan Yerino Woodvale Elementary School Lafayette
MAINE
Dave Estes Mt. View High School Thorndike
MASSACHUSETTS
Matthew Hart* Magnificat Academy & Choir School Warren
Anne Hess-Mahan Bishop Elementary School Arlington
MICHIGAN
Randall Cook* Tri County High School Howard City
Connie Crittenden Explorer Elementary School Williamston
Michael Sinclair Kalamazoo Area Math &
Science Center Kalamazoo
MISSOURI
Wendy Reis* Stanton Elementary School Fenton
Louise Smith* Brashear Elementary Brashear
Steve Vonderfecht Lathrop R-II Lathrop
MONTANA
Melissa Henthorn Hellgate High School Missoula
Wendy Pierce* Chief Joseph Middle School Bozeman
NORTH CAROLINA
Darrell Glenn Coston* Dillard Middle School Goldsboro
Candace Leverette Aycock Middle School Greensboro
Tracy Shisler* Cape Hatteras Secondary School Buxton
Katie C. Tatum* Terrell Lane Middle School Louisburg
NEVADA
Maria Cieslak Gene Ward Elementary Las Vegas
NEW JERSEY
Maureen B. Barrett* Harrington Middle School Mt. Laurel
Nicole Cerqueira* Salem County Vocational
Technical School Woodstown
Carol Loftus Holland Township School Milford
NEW MEXICO
Carolyn Nesbitt Manzano Day School Albuquerque
NEW YORK
Carol Burch Hannibal Central School Hannibal
Nicole Dixson* Greenwich Central School Greenwich
Soo Feingold* Mary McDowell Center for Learning Brooklyn
Patricia A. Gill* PS 115 Daniel Mucatel School Brooklyn
Rebecca Grella Brentwood High School Brentwood
Kenneth L. Huff * Mill Middle School Williamsville
Scott Krebbeks * Lima Middle School Honeoye Falls
Leonard Pizza* P.S. 142 New York
Maribel Pregnall* Arlington High School LaGrangeville
OHIO
Tracy Allen Madeira Elementary School Madeira
Ed Ingman* Charles School at Ohio
Dominican University Columbus
OKLAHOMA
Terri Cloyde* Madill Elementary School Madill
OREGON
Michael Baird Enterprise High School Enterprise
Graham Dey* West Salem High School Salem
Maureen Foelkl* Chapman Hill Elementary Salem
Linda Kehr* Ferguson Elementary Klamath Falls
SOUTH CAROLINA
Debbie Blackmon New Directions School Columbia
Patricia K. Morris* Strom Thurmond High School Johnston
SOUTH DAKOTA
Steven Slough* St. Thomas More High School Rapid City
TEXAS
William R. Claughton* Krueger Middle School San Antonio
Alexander S. Graham* Pasadena Memorial High School Pasadena
Sheila Ochoa* Little Bay Primary Rockport
Kristi Wakefield K.B. Polk Vanguard Elementary Dallas
VIRGINIA
Catherine Roberts* Western Branch Middle School Chesapeake
Laurie Sullivan Kate Waller Barrett Elementary Arlington
WASHINGTON
Randall S. James* North Central High School Spokane
WEST VIRGINIA
Nancy Moore* Spencer Middle School Spencer
WISCONSIN
Patrick Pape Pardeeville Middle School Pardeeville
Dan Rosa* Arrowhead Union High School Hartland
WYOMING
Joel M. Kuper* Greybull High School Greybull
* Indicates a $10,000 grant recipient
All others are $2,500 grant recipients
About Toyota's Education Programs
In addition to sponsoring a number of nonprofit educational organizations, Toyota offers three major programs that support teachers with grants and students with scholarships; Toyota Community Scholars, which provides 100 scholarships to high school seniors based on academics and community service; the Toyota International Teacher Program, a study-abroad program for secondary teachers in Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands; and Toyota TAPESTRY.
Toyota also supports scholarships through the Hispanic Scholarship Fund; United Negro College Fund; Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation; National FFA and the American Indian College Fund. In 2007, Toyota USA contributed $57 million to U.S. philanthropic programs, with a majority of funding supporting education. For more information, visit http://www.toyota.com/community or contact kathy_mota@toyota.com.
About Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion. Established in 1957, TMS markets products and services through a network of more than 1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers. Toyota directly employs over 36,000 people in the U.S. and sold more than 2.6 million vehicles in 2007. For more information about our company, please visit http://www.toyota.com/, http://www.lexus.com/ and http://www.scion.com/.
About National Science Teachers Association
The Arlington, VA-based National Science Teachers Association is the largest professional organization in the world promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. NSTA's current membership includes more than 57,000 science teachers, science supervisors, administrators, scientists, business and industry representatives, and others involved in science education.
Media Contact: Lyndsey Payzant GolinHarris for Toyota (213) 438-8753 lpayzant@golinharris.com