WHOLE Schools Fund
Previously Funded Projects
For the Fall 2022 Cycle, we were able to fund 21 projects totaling $98,050 across 19 different schools in the DPS community. As our grantees develop their projects, we will highlight them on our blog, make sure to read all about their take on improving wellness in their schools.
Maintaining Happy and Healthy Burton Rams
Burton Elementary School
$3,000
This proposal focuses on supporting staff and boosting morale. Utilization of a teacher treasure box filled with various rewards to acknowledge their efforts throughout the year. This will include items such as gift cards, classroom supplies, and some teachers’ favorites collected from a survey. Another part of the proposal looks at revamping the teacher’s lounge to center wellness in the space. Increasing snacks, comfy seating, and more to encourage relaxation in the space.
The Burton Elementary Whole School Project
Burton Elementary School
$7,750
This proposal will host various wellness workshops with various attendance options whether virtual, in-person, or hybrid. These workshops include a princess brunch, the breakfast club group, job skills workshops for special education students, and some specific workshops for educators (including stress management and more). The Breakfast Club Group will focus on support for students who are at risk for truancy and negative school experiences. The student leaders will serve using a peer support model while also providing breakfast to attendees.
The Burton Queens Initiative
Burton Elementary School
$2,500
This proposal is aided in supporting the Queens Initiative with additional opportunities for connections with members and including additional wellness educational experiences. The Queens Program focuses on African American and Hispanic girls which empowers girls of color throughout the district to become allies, advocates, agents of change, and co-conspirators in improving the environment around them, including their schools.
Cheers to Wholeness and Spaulding
CC Spaulding Elementary School
$7,500
This proposal is aimed at working closely with the Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS), an asset-based approach that focuses on the strengths of the students. As part of the grant, the staff would like to stock the PBIS store for students to have the opportunity to come to get prizes every other week as well as larger events and parties that will celebrate CC Spaulding’s relationships and community. In addition to this, there will be a field trip for every student in the school centered around belonging and identity, cultivating an outdoor learning space, and helping to revamp the teacher's lounge for more peaceful interactions.
Growing LGBTQ+ and Gender Inclusive Community Schools
Club Blvd Elementary and Lakewood Elementary
$10,000
Club Blvd and Lakewood Elementaries partnered together to work with the Rainbow Collective with the goal of supporting all students, and parents. and educators in our collective school communities to develop the skills, language, and mindset to support our LGBTQ+-identified and gender-diverse students, families, and staff. Funds will be used to provide training to staff and families, fund technical support, and purchase 3 Rainbow Kits for each school. These include a Guidebook for Your School's LGBTQ/Diversity Champions, 12 LGBTQ and Gender-Inclusive Books, 4 LGBTQ and Gender-Inclusive Toys, Gender-Inclusive Language Magnet Lesson Plans, and Invitations Multicultural Materials. Lastly, this fund will also support the programming done at the school to provide stipends and opportunities for those running the program.
Creating a Healthy Eagles Initiative at Creekside Elementary
Creekside Elementary
$3,000
For this grant, specific events would occur throughout the year, open to all students and staff, around 3 key areas: Resilience, Movement, and Self-Care. Here is a glimpse of these initiatives:
RESILIENCE: Select students are already able to participate in “small groups” around topics such as emotion regulation, growth mindset, healthy peer relationships, etc.
MOVEMENT: Expose students to techniques that calm their body and nervous system, we would bring in a yoga and mindfulness instructor to guide all student classes
SELF-CARE: Establish a mini “Care Closet” for students most in need that consists of things like nutritious snack items, personal hygiene products, gently used shoes/coats/hats where teachers can submit requests for items to an established point person.
Focus on the Whole through MTSS
Durham School of the Arts
$4,500
This grant will utilize the MTSS framework to provide additional supports. In Tier 1, classroom circles to be heard, seen, valued, and to create a culture that celebrates all of us. In Tier 2, create a closet that houses items such as fidgets, alternative flexible seating, extra mindfulness materials, de-escalation tools, and even the floor bike pedal that goes under desks so that teachers and MTSS support teams can come to grab and use them. DSA would like to. In Tier 3, DSA would like to offer more personal support through Connect and Check: an online app and manual to deepen the check-in and allow adults to communicate better to deepen relationships and support for students with higher needs.
Holiday/Winter Themed Mental Health Support Event
Eastway Elementary School
$2,500
Description coming soon.
Support for Peace Corners at EK Powe
EK Powe Elementary School
$4,000
The grant will curate peace corners throughout EK Powe. A Peace Corner is a small classroom area equipped with items that help students self-regulate by means of sensory stimulation. Students can use the Peace Corner for a few minutes whenever they notice they are experiencing intense feelings affecting their learning and socialization. Classroom teachers have been trained to supervise this process. Peace Corners have been implemented in schools across the US with positive results and will benefit EK Powe students by providing a strategy to practice their self-regulation skills.
Therapeutic Gardening at Hillandale Elementary School
Hillandale Elementary School
$3,000
This grant will focus on therapeutic horticulture, which uses plants and gardens to promote health and wellness. It also uses the garden as a safe and secure place to develop someone's ability to mix socially, learn practical skills and grow healthy food. In the school garden, they will work with small groups of students to improve their mental and physical health. The counselors, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and student support team members will coordinate with the horticulture therapist to lead the groups. Gardens and outdoor spaces are ideal places for kids to participate in group activities, interact with different age groups, celebrate diversity, and learn to monitor and manage their emotions.
Social Emotional Learning for Queens and Kings
Holt Elementary School
$3,000
This grant will aid in support of the "We are Queens" and "We are Kings" programs to support students' social-emotional states, build their self-esteem, encourage leadership, encourage community service, and ensure that students are mentored and supported in their academics. This grant will allow the facilitation of afterschool meeting sessions to empower kids by funding guest speakers, field trips, tutors, and snacks for afterschool or field trip events. They also plan to do special recognition ceremonies with the girls and boys to celebrate their acts of service. Some of the projects that the students are going to be participating in this year include food drives, book drives, toys for tots, and trash collections. Many of these events will be held after school.
Girl Time Lock-In
Northern High School
$3,000
Girl Time is an educational program that provides girls, specifically girls of color, with a variety of events, services, activities, and workshops that seeks to nurture, support, and develop girls into becoming productive and outstanding young ladies. Girl Time allows young ladies to step outside of their normal lives and take part in developing a sisterhood of support and gaining knowledge about what the future could hold for them. Each year Girl Time hosts an all-girl lock-in. The lock-in is used to provide each participant with a safe and serene environment where they can lower their guards to bond with each other, participate in targeted activities that focus on positive mental health, and build a system of support that includes their peers, the school’s faculty, and women of color in the community. The lock-in activities are geared toward breaking up any possible tension and barriers through art education, team-building activities, affirmations, and discussion groups. These activities allow the girls to feel safe enough to open up to each other and hear the messages that are brought forth through the theme of the event and the guest speakers.
Making Sensory for All
DPS Hospital School
$2,500
This grant will fund sensory kits, that are easily sanitized and portable, as well as a sensory wagon that could create a more immersive experience when needed. All will positively impact the students learning. Physical and mental wellness can be promoted with the use of sensory tools to regulate their nervous systems. Emotional, physical, and academic healing can be aided by providing a comfortable learning environment within the hospital that helps maintain or heal a relationship with school (which can be damaged when you are often absent from school/learning due to health needs). Opportunities for calm, comfortable learning for all students aged pre-k thru 12th grade, regardless of homebound, inpatient, or clinic visit can be provided with the sensory kits and wagon.
Mental Health Awareness Week
Eno Valley Elementary School
$4,000
For this grant, they will host a Mental Health Awareness Week, where the administrative team and student support team will provide daily events for staff to engage with their mental health. Monday will be Mindfulness Monday where they will turn their lounge into a zen oasis with massages, mood lighting, lunch, and aroma diffusers. Team-building Tuesday will be outdoor activities/ competitions to create camaraderie among the staff. Wellness Wednesday, they will invite a Yoga instructor to provide breathing and meditation techniques. Thankful Thursday will be designed for them to show appreciation by providing self-care journals as gifts. Friday (Early Release Day) will be Feel Good Friday and the school will provide breakfast and lunch for the staff.
We Are Kings/ Sidekicks Collaboration SEL at Fayetteville Street Elementary School
Fayetteville Street Elementary School
$10,000
This partnership will focus on supporting initiatives the school is passionate about including We Are Kings, a DPS program, and SIDEKICKS Academy, Inc. SIDEKICKS Academy, Inc. seeks to provide a trauma-sensitive and therapeutic learning environment dedicated to the treatment of the whole student, specifically students of color, while delivering a uniquely rewarding martial arts and mentorship program that centers social-emotional support, self-advocacy, and supportive coaching for the Durham’s youngest rising leaders. We are Kings staff Mentor and PBIS/RPC will be working collaboratively with Sidekicks to offer a program that will benefit our students academically and promote their social/emotional well-being.
Classroom Calming Kits
Glenn Elementary School
$900
This grant will facilitate having calming kits throughout the school. Having “Calming Kits” promotes overall mental health wellness in classrooms. By being a resource accessible to all students, it destigmatizes the need for sensory items to self-regulate. Rather than a student having to leave or have individual items that may make a child self-conscious, processing one’s emotions become a part of the classroom culture. By training teachers and having a Calming Kit in each classroom, students are able to deescalate and refocus in the classroom.
Café Zen, Lakeview’s Oasis, Within
Lakeview School
$7,500
This grant will be utilized to renovate the current cafeteria space into a Cafe. This would not only significantly impact and improve the mental health of our students but improve their overall whole wellness experience at Lakeview School. This is an opportunity to provide an alternative setting for learning as we currently use this space for various functions such as staff meetings, trainings, community agencies, social-emotional learning, and restorative practices.
Hybrid Staff Mental Health Area/PLC Room
Lyons Farm Elementary School
$2,500
This project is aimed to cultivate a wellness space for teachers and staff in the building. They would like to create a space of tranquility and peace for their staff to escape into. They would like to offer flexible seating, refreshments, calming lamps, a large carpet, a blue tooth speaker, and a fluorescent light filter. The goal is for the space to center wellness.
DPS New Counselor Support Program
Middle College High School at Durham Technical Community College
$6,900
The purpose of this project is to help raise up a new group of School Counselor leaders in the DPS system. This school year there are 31 New School Counselors, and there are 21 School Counselor Mentors supporting these counselors. This project will span the entire district at Elementary, Middle, and High Schools. The requested funds will provide School Counselor Mentors with a small stipend to give compensation for the time they put into mentoring their one or two New Counselor Mentees. Grant funds will also be used to purchase the book ASCA National Model Implementation Guide: ASCA Student Standards for both DPS Mentors and New Counselors. Lastly, requested funds will provide new counselors with the ability to purchase wellness supplies for their office.
Cultivating a Culture of Joy and Inclusion at Southwest Elementary
Southwest Elementary School
$5,000
The goal of this grant is to provide regular, school-wide activities and opportunities during non-instructional time (e.g., recess) with the intent of creating a fun and rewarding space for every child to enhance their connection to the school. The PTA is committed to taking a child-centered approach in all they do. They will solicit input from teachers and students directly as they plan activities throughout the year, with particular emphasis on highlighting students’ cultures and providing a positive environment during times that are typically more strenuous (e.g., state-wide testing periods). Each activity will support our overall goal to cultivate a culture of joy and inclusion at Southwest Elementary.
Supporting Wellness and Wholeness for Teachers and Students to Prevent Burn-out
Y.E. Smith Elementary School
$5,000
This grant will focus on preventing teacher burnout and an increase in student mental health concerns by cultivating creative solutions to combat this issue. A “Wellness Well” to include resources and items to support self-care for teachers. A “Chill Zone” for students that will include resources for their wellness and mental health support. The zones will also help students with self-regulation. In addition to this, providing yoga classes for youth and staff to support mindfulness and calmness.