Sewell Elementary School reaches for $100,000 prize
The offer was $500,000 for five teachers, nationwide.
All Farmers Insurance wanted was the most “visionary programs” that America’s teachers could devise. It would then do something that schools and districts often can’t afford — fund them.
Third-grade teacher Brenda Moynihan knew it was a long shot for Henderson’s Sewell Elementary School. So did Holli Ratliff, principal of the school near Lake Mead Parkway and Warm Springs Road.
But slim odds have never stood in Sewell’s way.
The school has a tendency of taking long shots with many teachers volunteering to apply for every grant they can find, from a few hundred dollars here to a couple thousands dollars there, Ratliff said Wednesday.
“We’re applying, always,” she added.
But winning Farmers’ Dream Big Challenge would be a new high.
Moynihan took the lead, spending some of the summer — when she’s not contracted to work — putting together the grant application with others’ help, planning Sewell’s hypothetical program down to a T, and laying out a $100,000 budget to make it happen.
“My job is to do what’s best for my students,” said Moynihan, teaching at a school where three-fourths of the children live in poverty and many are raised by their grandparents. She found herself working evenings to complete the more than 30-page grant in two weeks from start to finish. “Working late, that’s the job of a teacher.”
When Moynihan walked into her classroom Wednesday, she was surprised with an announcement: She’s a finalist. It’s down to a 1-in-3 chance.
“It brought tears to my eyes, right away,” Moynihan said. “To think we got this far. I was in disbelief.”
Her plan: Construct a school computer lab, including two mobile carts with computer tablets, bringing technology to students that just don’t have it, in school or at home.
The computer lab would also be a community resource available to parents before and after school, including classes on software programs, such as Microsoft Word, resume building and language acquisition.
The district has no computer science curriculum for elementary school students, but they need to start learning early as the state exams go fully online and careers require it, Ratliff said. Keyboarding has become a small part of kindergarten at Sewell.
“We want to make it an opportunity for our parents to learn and grow with the students,” she said.
The other finalists in Sewell’s four-state zone include an Arizona teacher proposing a solar-powered greenhouse and a California teacher in rural King City also planning for more technology.
“We’re only halfway there,” Ratliff said.
Randy Rice, Farmers’ manager of the challenge, said he was impressed with Sewell’s proposal.
“The way it reaches out to the community is very powerful,” he said.
But not he or anyone at Farmers will pick the $100,000 winners. That will be up to the public,which can vote on the 15 finalists at thankamillionteachers.com from October through November. Click on “Vote for a Proposal” and follow the instructions.
“We have to get everyone voting,” Moynihan said.
Contact Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Find him on Twitter: @TrevonMilliard.
