The Montana Professional Teaching Foundation created the Karen Cox Memorial Grants to help educators purchase classroom supplies and enrichment projects for their students. This year, six area educators have been awarded Karen Cox Memorial Grants of up to $500 from the Montana Professional Teaching Foundation.

Those educators include:

• Emily Black, West Valley Middle School, to purchase a variety of materials for the consumer science class.

• Carrielynn O'Reilly, Columbia Falls High School, to provide Fitbit Trackers for a special education LifeSkills class focused on fitness and health in which students self-monitor their physical activities, sleep patterns, water consumption, and heart rate for individual and group projects.

• Cassie Ladenburg, Ruder Elementary, to establish makerspaces, creating designated time for hands-on creativity, innovation and problem-solving.

• Gretchen Miller, Columbia High School, for the purchase of ninth and 11th grade level novels to support the independent practice of reading.

• Ross Darner, Evergreen School, for the purchase of healthy snacks for the Evergreen fitness team, a seven-week program promoting physical health and nutrition education for both students and families.

• Beth Janney, Flathead High School, to purchase 75 Spanish language books in order to allow Spanish students a variety of books on different subjects while improving comprehension of a second language.

The Montana Professional Teaching Foundation’s grant program is named for the late Karen Cox, a Billings teacher leader who lost her life several years ago in an auto accident on her way to a union meeting in Helena. Karen Cox Grants are not intended to replace school funds but rather to support teachers who dig into their own pockets to help their students succeed.

More about the Montana Professional Teaching Foundation can be found at mfpe.org/foundation