Foundation Awards Grants to Classrooms, Clubs, Activities

More than 12,000 students are expected to benefit from the Horizon and Achieve grants provided by the APS Education Foundation.

The APS Education Foundation has granted a total of $117,124.65 in funds towards student-based clubs, school activities and innovative classroom projects in Fine Arts, Literacy, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). These grants will impact approximately 12,059 students.

Through the Horizon Awards, 27 innovative projects in Fine Arts, Literacy, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) received funding. Funding awarded, totaling $74,876.65, will assist APS teachers as they provide dynamic instruction to their students.

The Foundation’s Achieve Awards program focuses on student organizations, clubs and activities to enhance student’s experiences, keep them engaged and help students develop the skills and characteristics for academic success. Eight projects were funded, totaling $42,248.

The Foundation received a high number of well-qualified applications, making decisions difficult. Members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors helped select the winning submissions. Award winners received an APS Education Foundation t-shirt and window decals, designed and printed by APS students. Through a previously funded Achieve Award, students within the Sandia High School Graphic Design Club purchased a professional screen printer to begin designing and producing customized t-shirts. Today, this outstanding group has provided apparel for over 15 different school clubs and organizations.

The APS Education Foundation Fall 2018 Horizon and Achieve grant-making programs received a total of $243,758.63 in requests from schools throughout the district. Through the generous donations of individuals in the community and businesses throughout Albuquerque, including the APS Employees’ United Way Campaign, the Foundation was able to fund nearly half of applications received.

Fall 2018 Achieve Award Winners

Hayes Middle School, $2,243
The Adventurers League After-School Club provides activities using the Dungeons and Dragons Tabletop Roleplaying Game to cultivate and promote skills and student growth.

Highland High School, $7,585
Highland Apparel Program will purchase a heat transfer tee shirt printer and press, allowing for the production of apparel for fundraising, team gear and school spirit.  

Highland High School, $4,675
The Outdoor Adventure Club plans monthly adventures and activities to introduce students to the benefits of an active lifestyle and career possibilities in land and wildlife stewardship.  

Double Eagle Elementary, $5,304
Students in the Coding and Robots program will learn the basics of coding and apply their knowledge acquired to block code with connective devices such as robotics.  

Hawthorne Elementary School, $10,000
The Genius Hour program provides students the opportunity to engage in hands-on learning in a variety of topics.

Cibola High School, $1,220
To purchase a Robotics Competition Field, which the team can use to implement, test and practice their robotics designs.

West Mesa High School, $2,000
For students to compete in the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) SOCAL Regional robotics competition in Long Beach, CA.  

STEM Trajectory Initiative 2.0 Multiple Schools, $9,221
To expand the SeaPerch Underwater Robotics Project, a program designed to guide students through the "engineering" of remotely operated vehicles.

Fall 2018 Horizon Fine Arts Winners

John Adams Middle School, $1,500
Establish the first Therapeutic Drum Circle in the district, serving students in special education.

Eisenhower Middle School, $3,605
To purchase various non-traditional class instruments such as tubanos, bass bar set and keyboards for middle school choir and band classes.  

Roosevelt Middle School, $3,545
To sponsor "It's Showtime!" (a student-directed musical), incorporating students and members of the community in participating in an authentic theater experience.

Albuquerque High School, $3,959.41
Students will engage with local communities and work as a team to create multiple Martineztown Murals on school campus.  

Sierra Vista Elementary School, $1,462.19
To help fund the Global Skills Culinary Cooking Program, a unique culinary curriculum to teach academics, self-help and life skills to special needs students while including their general education peers.  

Eldorado High School, $2,299
To integrate the use of 3D Sculpture Printing into Art I and AP Art curricula.  

Highland High School, $1,500
Art and Autism project will purchase arts and crafts tools and supplies that would allow students with severe autism to make projects for educational and fundraising purposes.

Jefferson Middle School, $1,500
The Compose! Create! Collaborate! (Motivating Minds Through Music) project will purchase tablets for students to learn songs at their own pace, compose music and collaborate with classmates.  

Fall 2018 Horizon Literacy Winners

New Futures High School, $3,000
LapTime Reading Club allows students to earn prizes for time spent reading to their children on a regular basis.

Mountain View Elementary School, $4,850.99
The Digital Pre-teaching to Increase Reading Comprehension project utilizes Google Expeditions Augmented Reality kits to raise reading comprehension among special education students.  

Eldorado High School, $1,500
To support printing the school newspaper, a forum for journalism students to showcase their work.  

Dennis Chavez Elementary School, $4,939
The Literacy Alive for Special Needs Learners project increases student engagement through the creation of a resource library of multi-sensory materials benefitting students with significant learning disabilities.

Harrison Middle School, $1,500
A Pictorial Tour of American History will purchase picture books to provide quick, foundational knowledge for students who are below grade level.

Fall 2018 Horizon STEM Winners

Garfield STEM School, $276.80
The Human Assisted Evolution in the Classroom project will build scientific thinking in students through culturing the model species aiptasia pallida.  

Lew Wallace Elementary School, $1,428.50
Blockbuster Bloxels & Osmo Interactives: STEM Boost offers students hands-on, exciting STEM and creative challenges.

Seven Bar Elementary School, $1,600
The RiverXchange is a year-long, national program in the STEM field which educates students on water usage, conservation, and critical issues in our local environment.

Atrisco Heritage Academy High School, $4,500
Greening AHA with Gardens & Greenhouses enables students to build spaces to grow food, study plants and experience nature.  

Madison Middle School, $2,415
Students participating in The Augmented Reality Sandbox project will model volcanic events and hydrologic events, including precipitation, the water cycle, flooding and damming.  

Alvarado Elementary School, $2,790
To enhance existing Stem Lab and provide further opportunities for students to explore STEM through the Encouraging Engineers project.

Whittier Elementary School, $750
To create The Leonardo da Vinci STEAM Studio and enable students to explore Leonardo da Vinci's art and inventions through hands-on activities.  

San Antonito STEM Magnet School, $5,061.10
PBL: Wildlife School, Part 1-Bear Aware is a student-created and led activity in which K-5 Special Education students (Resource and Gifted) analyze the controversies surrounding the population size of bears.

Hayes Middle School, $870.66
To assist special needs students with accessing the neighborhood bowling alley to learn the Science, Technology, Math, And Engineering of bowling.  

Georgia O'Keeffe Elementary School, $3,500
The Tech Buddies project provides weekly opportunities for a class of 5th graders to teach their second-grade buddies, other students and other teachers about various technology uses.

Double Eagle Elementary School, $3,524
The Wildlife Awareness & Observation Program will enable students to track and observe wildlife on campus.

Eldorado High School, $3,000
To utilize the T1-Nspire Calculator Navigator System, an adapter that attaches to each students calculator, to access content, create lessons and track student progress.

West Mesa High School, $5,000
The High Altitude Balloon Vehicle Kit Development project enhances high altitude research and enables students to create and sell HAB kits to other schools, districts or individuals.  

Emerson Elementary School, $5,000
To upgrade existing lab, creating a news station focused on health, veterinary medicine, optical and civil engineering through the Career Exploration in the STEAM Lab project.