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ACORN GRANTS

The Hammond Education Foundation proudly partners with the School City of Hammond in fostering teacher innovation across the community. Through our support of inventive, impactful projects, we aim to provide exceptional learning experiences for students in every subject area. HEF grants, ranging from $500 to $5,000+ based on the scope of student impact, are designed to inspire creativity and enrich the educational journey of thousands of learners across diverse academic disciplines.

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2024-2025 ACORN GRANTS

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STEM Acorn Grants:

  • PLTW Medical Detectives, awarded $2,510 and headed by Ms. Kimberly Kennedy, a teacher at Eggers Middle School, provides students with firsthand experience and the opportunity to explore a career in the medical field.

  • PLTW "Don't Say Anna Garcia" Crime Scene Investigation, awarded $3,000 and headed by Ms. Jessica L. Pramuk, a teacher at Hammond Central High School, provides continuous hands-on laboratory experience that combines various biomedical careers and concepts of human anatomy and physiology, crime scene investigation, public health, and extends upon the study of life which is biology.

  • O.W.L. Opening the World with Learning, awarded $800, also headed by Ms. Jessica L. Pramuk introduces dissection with simple owl pellets. O.W.L.- Opening the World of Learning, will give students an opportunity to delve into the world of dissection and into the Skeletal System. 

  • PLTW Designing and Modeling, awarded $3,282 and headed by Ms. Leontae Gray, a teacher at Scott Middle School, provides students with the opportunity to apply the design process to creatively solve problems.

  • FRC Team Hammond 71 Robotics, awarded $5,408 for both Hammond Central High School and Hammond Morton High School, provides valuable skills in engineering, programming, and teamwork, fostering a passion for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields.

 

Sponsored by bp Whiting Refinery, bp America
 

Traditional Acorn Grants:

  • Practical Chinese, awarded $2,000 and headed by Ms. Mei Mansingh, teacher at Morton High School, focuses on utilizing the language of Chinese to provide students with the skills necessary to explore an immersed Chinese environment and to engage in day-to-day use of Chinese in a practical way.

  • PLT4M Platform for Fitness, awarded $1,900 and headed by Ms. Sue Mathewson, a teacher at Hammond Central High School, helps students grow their knowledge of health and fitness, and their own personal belief of confidence, autonomy, and awareness of fitness education.

  • Comfortable Literacy, awarded $870.00 and headed by Ms. Candace Bradford, a teacher at Harding Elementary School, helps further foster a love of reading and writing for students through easily accessible books, storage, and flexible seating.

 

Sponsored by Old National Bank Foundation

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2023-2024 ACORN GRANTS

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Traditional Acorn Grants:

  • Practical Chinese received the amount of $800.00. This program, headed by Ms. Mei Mansingh, teacher at Morton High School, focuses on utilizing the language of Chinese to provide students with skills necessary to explore an immersed Chinese environment.

  • PLTW Medical Detectives received the amount of $2,466.00. This program, headed by Ms. Kimberly Kennedy, a teacher at Eggers Middle School, provides students with firsthand experience and the opportunity to explore a career in the medical field.

  • Literacy Learners received the amount of $2,150.00. This program, headed by Ms. Monica Bega, a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, ensures students hone the necessary skills, such as phonics, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and comprehension to support their success in reading.

  • Little Gov, Little Gov What Do You See? I See a Community Helper Reading to Me! received the amount of $500.00. This program, headed by Ms. Nancy Batliner and Ms. Melonie Wheeler, teachers at Morton Elementary School, welcomes guest readers into the classroom to inspire students to become avid readers thereby increasing the I-Ready scores.

  • Modern Classroom Project received the amount of $500.00. This program is headed by Melissa Rivera, teacher at Eggers Middle School, provides a designed classroom that empowers students to learn independently, master concepts and support others in need.

  • PLT4M Platform for Physical Education and Athletics received the amount of $2,000.00. This program, headed by Ms. Sue Mathewson, a teacher at Hammond Central High School, helps students grow their knowledge of health and fitness, and their own personal belief of confidence, autonomy, and awareness of fitness education.

  • Coding in the Elementary Classroom received the amount of $1,703.00. This program, headed by Ms. Melissa Bushnell, a teacher at O’Bannon Elementary School.

  • Developing Musicianship and Leadership through Orchestra received the amount of $3,000.00. This program, headed by Ms. Cheryl Suwardi, teacher at Hammond Central High School and the Hammond Academy of Performing Arts, trains students in music and orchestra skills to develop a powerful sense of self and the important aspects of being an orchestra member.

  • Sediment Erosion & Deposition with a Stream Table received the amount of $743.00. This program, headed by Mr. David Coffey, a teacher at Hammond Central High School, provides students access to a stream table and allows them the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of the scientific experimental process while learning the power of erosion.

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2022-2023 ACORN GRANTS

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Traditional Acorn Grants:

  • Unlimited Potential-Community Partnership Program funded in the amount of $5,000.00 and is headed by Ms. Lisa Jameyfield, teacher at O'Bannon Elementary School. Unlimited Potential is based on a community partnership with neighborhood churches. It provides after school tutoring one day a week for 1.5 hours at O'Bannon, Hess and Jefferson Elementary Schools. The community partners provide trained tutors, materials and organization. Schools will also utilize sixth grade students who will be trained as peer mentors and receive incentives based on attendance. All participants will be involved in social/emotional character-building lessons as well.

  • PLTW Medical Detectives funded in the amount of $2,191.00 and is headed by Ms. Kimberly Kennedy, teacher at Eggers Middle School. In the Medical Detectives (MD) unit, students play the role of real-life medical detectives as they collect and analyze medical data to diagnose disease. They solve medical mysteries through hands-on projects and labs, measure and interpret vital signs, dissect a sheep brain, investigate disease outbreaks, and explore how a breakdown within the human body can lead to dysfunction. This project offers students the opportunity to think about the career choices available to them, giving those students interested in going into the medical field the opportunity to experience a side of it.

  • Freedom Locker Museum Exhibit funded in the amount of $1,794.58 and is headed by Mr. Jeff Swisher, teacher at Morton High School. The Freedom Museum Exhibit will allow students the opportunity to demonstrate how freedom has been represented and how it has changed over the course of American History. Each exhibit will focus on one of the four aspects of freedom; What is freedom, how is it defined or changed in that Era, who has access to it, and what are the barriers to freedom?  The exhibits will be formatted to fit on students’ lockers throughout the school. The goals for students are to demonstrate the ability to work well in project groups, resolve conflict and work towards a larger goal, to demonstrate freedoms they have today and the historical lineage of that freedom, and to participate in “The American Protest” event at Morton in the Fall of 2023.

  • Encanto: The Magic of Family funded in the amount of $500.00 and is headed by Ms. Renee Whelan, teacher at O’Bannon Elementary School. Technology in the right hands can be magical. Facilitating a connection between students and their families, this project will involve students traveling around the world learning about art with hands-on learning and finishing with them downloading, scanning, and documenting their travels by placing them in a digital forum. This will be a showcase of the art and talents of O'Bannon art students through the end of the year art show. 

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