Sue Breyer | CalRTA Division 33 VP

Summer vacation may have started, but three local teachers are already thinking about next year’s students. Randomly selected from over 230 applicants at CalRTA’s recent June luncheon meeting, local educators Holly Fratt, Nancy Excell, and Baylee Gerges each received a $100 Teacher Grant from the California Retired Teachers Association (CalRTA) Division 33 to be spent on classroom needs. CalRTA offers sixteen $100 Teacher Grants each year to public school teachers in Hemet, San Jacinto, Menifee, Romoland and Nuview School Districts.

Holly Fratt teaches 7th and 8th grade math at Menifee Valley Middle School in Menifee. Excited about receiving the grant, she exclaimed, “Whoop whoop! Thank you! My classroom is in need of more glow day supplies! I plan to buy glow sticks for the kiddos, highlighters, glow in the dark chalk markers to write on the tables, and expo markers for the whiteboards. I’ll also purchase neon paper for the stations. We’ve had two glow days this year and the kids love it! So much excitement, engagement, and love for math!”

Hemet’s Little Lake Elementary School teacher Nancy Excell explains, “I am a reading interventionist, so I would like to purchase materials to help support teachers in their Tier 2 instruction. I am also always looking for appropriate reading materials for my students who I see for Tier 3 support. What a wonderful surprise! Thank you all for all you do!”

Fourth grade elementary teacher at Boulder Ridge Elementary School in Romoland, Baylee Gerges, loves flair pens, sparkling water, post-its, and most of all… her students! “I am in need of more dice, beads, counters, and playdough for math games and activities,” Gerges explains. “I also plan to buy new scissors and glue sticks with the money. Thank you so much!”

In addition to protecting teacher pensions and fighting for Social Security fairness, the California Retired Teachers Association also strongly supports public education. In addition to the 16 $100 Teacher Grants offered each school year, CalRTA Division 33 also offers eleven $1000 scholarships to local seniors planning to enter the teaching profession. For more information about CalRTA Division 33’s Teacher Grants, or to access an application form, go to their website at div33.calrta.org then click on Scholarships and Grants. The Teacher Grant program will resume in September 2023.

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Sue Breyer | CalRTA Division 33 Vice President

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but the sweet sentiments shared in those cute little cards we give and receive each year linger on. Sometimes those Valentines come with tiny candy hearts that say “Be Mine” or “Crazy 4 U” or other sappy sentiments, but for three local teachers, Valentine’s Day brought them much more than a box of candy. Kate Paragone and Ginamarie Richards, both of Menifee, and Wendy Lizardi of Romoland, each received notice that their names were randomly selected by Division 33 to receive a $100 Teacher Grant. And, in a separate drawing, Tahquitz High School teacher, Cheryl Miller, was announced as a recipient of one of the 35 State CalRTA $100 Teacher Grants awarded in February.

Kate Paragone teaches 4th and 5th grade RSP/SDC at Evans Ranch Elementary School in Menifee. Paragone works with RSP (Resource Specialist Program) students, quite a number of whom struggle with math concepts. “So I turned my attention to that area and bought play money and play cash register and some other supports and work with the students on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing as well as adding purchases and computing the tax to arrive at a total,” Paragone explained. “I’m trying to make real life application for the students to understand the concepts of managing finances.”

Ginamarie Richards, who teaches 5th grade at Quail Valley Elementary School in Menifee, says, “We usually extend our learning through STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and integrated hand-on activities so this will help tremendously. Our next project is to build/replicate a constellation for our space culminating project. We will be needing beads, metallic sharpies, glue for our student safe glue guns, and pipe cleaners” to complete the project, Richards added. “Now we will be able to have each student make a constellation.”

Wendy Lizardi teaches kindergarten at Harvest Valley Elementary School in Romoland. When she received notice that she had receive one of Division 33’s grants she was thrilled. “Thank you!! I’m so excited! With the $100 grant, I will purchase math and ELA manipulatives for my students to use for centers and small groups. I enjoy giving my students hands on experiences in order to promote multi- sensory learning.”

When Tahquitz High School biology and botany teacher Cheryl Miller received word that she had been selected to receive one of CalRTA’s state teacher grants, she responded, “I am so excited to get the $100.00! It will sure help with the purchase of some good topsoil for the garden beds” that her science students have created to carry out their experiments. “Since COVID, the gardens need a little help and this is a perfect start.” CalRTA Division 33 Vice President Sue Breyer presented the $100 Teacher Grant check to Tahquitz High School Principal Dr. Kari McGowan at a recent staff meeting, then matched that $100 check with a crisp $100 from Division 33, for a total of $200 to be used in Ms. Miller’s classroom. Unfortunately, Ms. Miller was unable to attend the meeting to receive the funds in person.

California Retired Teachers Association Division 33 supports public education by offering 11 $1000 scholarships each year to qualifying seniors in Hemet and San Jacinto, and 15 $100 “no strings attached” teacher grants for classroom use. For more information about CalRTA Division 33, you can access their website at div33.calrta.org then click on Scholarships & Grants to access application forms and information about recent grant and scholarship recipients.

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Fulfilling its mission to “support public education in our communities,” the State California Retired Teachers Association awarded 40 $100 teacher grants to California public school teachers – including two local educators – randomly selected from over 40,000 applicants in their recent October drawing. Amanda Weden, a fifth-grade teacher at Taawila Elementary School in Menifee, and Tahquitz High School Special Education teacher, Odalmy Cecala, were announced as grant recipients. As an added bonus, both teachers also received a matching $100 from CalRTA Division 33, for a total of $200 each to use in their classrooms. Weden plans to use the $200 to buy supplemental materials to help her students with hands-on classroom experiences. Ms. Cecala says the $200 will go a long way in purchasing sensory equipment for her many Special Education students. The next CalRTA statewide teacher grant drawing will be held in March, with online entry forms available between February 16, 2022 and March 9, 2022. To access the entry form, go to www.calrta.org/teacher-grants or check out CalRTA’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/CalRTA.

But those were not the only local educators to receive grant money this past month. Guests at CalRTA Division 33’s October luncheon also randomly drew the names of four lucky $100 Teacher Grant winners from nearly 80 local applicants. San Jacinto High School Life Skills teacher, Marcie Murphy, is going to purchase educational apps for her class to use on their Promethean Board. Murrieta Mesa High School math teacher, Yadira Mokelke, will put the $100 towards purchasing a class set of scientific calculators for her Math 1 Basic A class. In this modified Math 1 class with specialized academic instruction, her students need to learn how to use available tools such as calculators to solve problems. Jessica Sotelo from Hemet West Valley High School will use the $100 to help pay for the online platforms she uses with her students, such as Padlet, a content sharing app, and Gimkit, a gameshow for the classroom). Finally, Laura Azpeitia, who teaches at Jacob Wiens Elementary School in Hemet, plans to purchase a STEAM Kit for her students, with hands-on technology projects to work on collaboratively or individually.

CalRTA Division 33’s next drawing will be on December 12th at their holiday luncheon. Teachers in Hemet, San Jacinto, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula, Romoland and Nuview districts may apply. Applications can be accessed starting November 14th at https://div33.calrta.org/scholarships-and-grants/ or on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/calrtadivision33.

Sue Breyer | CalRTA Division 33 Vice President

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