For Educators, Our Work for Educators

Naples High School Special Needs Students Practice Cooking Funded by Classroom Grant

Many of us take our independence for granted and don’t realize that simple tasks may be challenges for others. In our community, students with learning or behavioral disabilities are assigned to special education classrooms where devoted teachers work with transition students on skills to help them build real world knowledge.

Naples High School teachers Nicole Rennie, Scott Barham, and Jen Szcepkowski applied for a Champions For Learning Classroom Grant to fund a fun and engaging classroom activity for their special needs students. Three 12th grade classes were provided cooking supplies provided by The Poinciana Civic Association, Brad & Phyllis Estes, Michael Mitchell, and Margaret Carlson fund.

The cooking activities allowed their students to follow directions, collecting the items by making a shopping list and preparing the recipe. Items included cooking tacos, pancakes, eggs and toast, baked goods, spaghetti with garlic bread and many more. “Our students love doing anything with food because at the end they get to enjoy whatever they cooked. It also provides a time for us to practice our manners and social skills”, stated Rennie.

The hands-on approach to learning is very engaging and will be a memorable skill for these students.

Collier County teachers! The classroom grants portal is now open for submissions. You can apply for a grant here.

All grants will be made public for community funding starting on July 19th.

In the meantime, support classroom grants in Collier County by purchasing a Support Education license plate. When a Florida resident purchases or renews their Support Education specialty tag, $20 goes directly back to support schools, teachers and students in the county where the tag is registered.  In Collier County, Champions For Learning, The Education Foundation of Collier County, invests 100% of those proceeds into classroom grants.

Lindsay Lydon is a graduate of Champions For Learning’s Take Stock in Children mentoring and scholarship program. She is currently a junior at Florida Gulf Coast University studying marketing and advertising and is interning with Champions For Learning this summer.