Women's Grants from Zions Bank

ZIONS BANK ACCEPTING 2015 SMART WOMEN GRANT APPLICATIONS

Deadline to apply for one of six $3,000 micro-grants is July 6

 

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah; June 17, 2015 — Zions Bank is accepting applications for its 2015 Smart Women Grants, open to anyone whose proposal promotes the empowerment of women or directly benefits women or low-income and underserved populations in Idaho and Utah.
Six $3,000 micro-grants will be awarded, one in each of the following categories:

·        Small business start-up and expansion

·        Community development

·        Continuing education and teacher support

·        Child and/or elder care

·        Health and human services

·        Arts and culture

Visit www.zionsbank.com/smartwomen or call 1-800-737-6586 for more information or to obtain an application. Applications must be received or postmarked by Monday, July 6. Grant recipients will be announced in September.
Applicants need not be clients of Zions Bank nor are they required to be residents of Idaho or Utah. Employees and immediate family members of Zions Bank and its affiliates are not eligible.
“The Smart Women Grants are an extension of our ongoing commitment to empower women in achieving financial independence,” said Lori Chillingworth, Executive Vice President of Zions Bank’s Small Business Division. “Our goal is to bolster the efforts of everyday heroes who strengthen our communities in so many ways by sharing their time and talents.”
Since the program began in 2005, Zions Bank has awarded $199,347 through the Smart Women Grants. Last year’s recipients included a meal program for low-income students; an organization that provides emergency rent assistance; a fair trade, nonprofit organization that supports artisans in rural Idaho and on Tribal reservations; a program targeting eating disorders; a costume and dress sewing business; and a tutoring program for children with learning differences.
Priority consideration for funding will be given to proposals that promote the empowerment of women, emphasize collaboration between women entrepreneurs or non-profit entities supporting women, directly benefit women or low-income and underserved populations, support endeavors that immediately benefit communities in which Zions Bank has a presence and for proposals that provide a sound plan for measuring performance and results.

 

 

UEA Excellence in Teaching Award Winners

Kelley DeHaan, Vocal Music Teacher at West Jordan High, and Bruce Gunn, District Math Specialist, received the UEA Excellence in Teaching Award tonight.  Their wives, also teachers and JEA members, joined them along with Superintendent Johnson and West Jordan High principal Mike Kochevar.  Congratulations to these two outstanding educators and JEA members!

Jordan Education Foundation Awards Recognition Banquet

Another great Awards Banquet from the Jordan Education Foundation!   

 

Jim Thompson, Bingham, led the strings group for outstanding background music!

 

Evelyn Marse, Riverton High, Outstanding Special Educator!

 

Kauri Sue Hamilton School principal Rita Boullion almost always has a winner!

 

Natalie Walker, West Jordan Elementary, Outstanding Educator!

 

Bingham principal Christen Richards-Kong with Becky Wells, Outstanding Educator!

 

Margaret VanNess, Eastlake, Outstanding Educator!

 

Sonja Ferrufino, Riverton High, Outstanding Educator!

 

Valley principal Sharon Jensen with her student scholarship recipient!

 

Bingham student Shantel Harding, my former student, received a scholarship!

 

 

 

Jordan Education Foundation Donor Appreciation Luncheon

The Jordan Education Foundation holds a donor appreciation luncheon each year.  A few JEA members were participants on the program on Wednesday.

Jacob Bradshaw directing the West Jordan High Drum Line!

 

Sandy King, Elk Meadows, speaking about the value of mini grants and how the money she has received over the years has benefited her students.

Rita Boullion, Kauri Sue Hamilton School, speaking about the Outstanding Educator and Special Educator awards and mini grants.

 

The Foundation Outstanding Educator and Outstanding Special Educator award nominations are now open.  Each school can nominate a teacher for each of the awards.  I encourage JEA members to nominate other outstanding JEA members for these awards.  Check with your principal to make sure s/he is not planning to nominate someone else.  

Jordan Education Foundation Mini Grants

The Jordan Education Foundation will be awarding over $84,000 to 168 teachers as part of their Mini Grant Program.  90% of applications will be funded.  This money comes from donors through various fund raising activities of the Foundation, including through employee donations from payroll deduction, Ashton Family Foundation, Doug and Kristy Young Family, Rio Tinto/Kennecott, Wheeler Foundation, CIT Bank and Dee Foundation.  Look for these awards to be presented in the next couple of weeks!

Outstanding New Business & Information Technology Educator

 Matt Filipini--Utah's Outstanding New Business & Information Technology Educator

Matt has been teaching at Herriman High School for two years and taught at Riverside High in Spokane, Washington for two years previously.  He has a Business & Marketing Education degree from Eastern Washington University and is currently working on an MBA.  his teaching assignment includes Accounting I & II, Business Law, Economics, Computer Tech and Business Management.  The FBLA chapter at Herriman has flourished since he has been the advisor the last two years.  He will be attending National FBLA in Anaheim this summer with 9 of his students. Matt can be described as energetic, competitive, organized and passionate about him curriculum and students.

Congratulations to JEA Member, Matt Filipini!

Outstanding Educator Awards

The Jordan Education Foundation honored 11 Jordan teachers as Outstanding Educators.  Six of them are JEA members!  Congratulations!

Lisa Craig, Riverton High

Janet Hoffman, South Jordan Elementary

Jeannette Clayton, Eastlake Elementary

Jen Adams, Columbia Elementary

Annette Fasselin, Elk Meadows Elementary

Becca Day, Kauri Sue Hamilton School

Winner Janet Hoffman and her daughter Neeley (my former student)

Jordan Education Foundation Mini Grants

I attended the Jordan Education Foundation Board meeting this morning.  $76,000 will be awarded to teachers through the Mini Grant program.  Of the 129 applications received, 112 will be funded helping 168 teachers impact 17,000 students!  Awards will be presented by members of the Foundation Board over the next couple of weeks.

Congratulations to all JEA members who will receive a grant!

UEA/Arch Coal Foundation Excellence in Teaching Awards

Congratulations to Donna Hunter at Herriman High, and Jill Krogue at Columbia Elementary for being chosen to receive the 2012 Excellence in Teaching Award sponsored by UEA and the Arch Coal Foundation!  These great teachers will be honored at a banquet in conjunction with the UEA Convention and receive $1500.  JEA is the only association in the state to have two winners this year.

UEA's "Don't De'lei' - Recruit Today" Campaign

All members are invited to participate in the "Don't De'lei' - Recruit Today" campaign.  For each member you recruit (write your name in the bottom right where the form says "Local Association Representative"), you will receive $20 from UEA, with checks mailed December 14.  If the person you recruit chooses to pay by EFT from a checking or savings account, you (the recruiter) will be entered to win a 6-day, 5- night Hawaiian vacation! See myUEA.org for more information.

This is a link to a JEA membership form.  Have new members complete both pages.  Make sure to write your name legibly under "Local Association Representative".  Send the forms to JEA through District mail, or call the office and we are happy to come pick up membership forms from you.  I would love to see a JEA member win the trip to Hawaii!

NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards

I attended the NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards Banquet this evening. It is an inspiring night honoring people and groups from around the country who have forwarded the ideals of human and civil rights and social justice. The stories are amazing! It was most inspiring to hear the wife of the late Reverend Abernathy, who helped Martin Luther King in Montgomery, speak about her memories of Rosa Parks, the bus boycott that lasted 381 days (one day then one week at a time), and how the white women who had black help wanted the boycott to end so they didn't have to go pick up their help anymore. One winner works with his students to foster international understanding. Another works to educate the public about the Underground Railroad, which his ancestors traveled to freedom. A teacher in California works with dual enrollment and working with parents of immigrant students. An attorney helps immigrants work toward becoming naturalized citizens. A couple of winners helped minorities and alternative high school students see the value of and their ability to attend college. A 14 year old student, who is gay, defended one of his teachers who asked a student to leave class for making an anti-gay remark. These are just a few of the amazing stories we learned about. If you know of a person or group that is making a difference in human and civil rights and social justice for disadvantaged groups, I would love to help you nominate them for one of these awards for next year.

Jordan Education Foundation Award Winners

I attended the Jordan Education Foundation Awards Recognition Banquet last night.  Two of the Outstanding Special Educators and three of the Outstanding Educators are JEA Members. 

Shawn Colyer, Kauri Sue Hamilton School



Jared Denslow, Bingham High



Tiffany Rawlings, Bluffdale Elementary



Shauna Robertson, West Jordan High



Liz Taylor, Elk Meadows Elementary



Jana Brinton, Bingham, with Turnaround Scholarship Winner Zhenya Evenson

Jordan Education Foundation Awards

This morning I went with members of the Jordan Education Foundation Board to deliver balloons and an invitation to the awards banquet to 9 of this year's 11 winners of the Outstanding Educator and Outstanding Special Educator Awards.  Below are the JEA members who received these awards.

Jared Doslow at Bingham High - Outstanding Special Educator

Shawn Colyer at Kauri Sue Hamilton School - Outstanding Special Educator

Tiffany Rawlings at Bluffdale Elementary - Outstanding Educator

Liz Taylor at Elk Meadows - Outstanding Educator

Jordan Education Foundation

The Jordan Education Foundation Board met this morning.  This is a great group of business leaders who work to find donations to benefit the students and teachers of Jordan District.  The Fundraising Breakfast raised $18,000!  The Foundation Outstanding Educator Awards nominations are due Friday, March 16.  See this link to nominate a teacher at your school.  Giving detailed examples of the great things the teacher does will be considered over generalizations.  I hope to have many JEA members recognized by the Foundation!

Jordan Education Foundation Breakfast

JEA hosted a table at the Jordan Education Foundation Breakfast.  The program started with the awesome West Jordan High Madrigals under the direction of Kelly DeHaan, JEA member.  A big thanks to Kelly for providing wonderful entertainment!

A couple of JEF Board members spoke about the programs offered by the Foundation.  The focus this year was on the low income medical assistance program.  I appreciate those who attended including Senator Aaron Osmond, Chinese dual immersion teacher at Foothills Janet Craven, candidate for State House Seat 50 Chris Merrill, Zions Bank manager Lori Harding, Elk Meadows principal Howard Griffith, and Jordan UniServ Director Laura Black.

You can make monthly payroll deduction contributions to JEF, which are also tax deductible.  You can direct the funds to a particular program or school.  Contact Steve Hall at steven.hall@jordan.k12.ut.us 

The JEF Outstanding Educator Awards nominations are due March 16.  See the JEF Website for more information.

School Board Meeting

Last night's school board meeting was very full.  In the study session, a new idea for high school Parent Teacher Conferences was presented.  This is the result of two years of work by DAC, the Negotiations Team, and the Joint Committee.  There was parent and teacher input via surveys in Spring of 2011.  What has come out of this is a recommendation for changing HS PTC for the 2012-2013 school year.  The goal is to increase attendance by parents, particularly of struggling students.

The recommendation is to have the Wednesday of PTC week be a day with no students.  Teachers would hold conferences from noon to 8:00 p.m. with a dinner break.  Each building would decide on a portion of time for scheduled conferences and a portion of time for drop in.  Each building can also decide if teachers would like to conference in their classrooms or in a common area. Because the conferences would be scheduled during the day without students, there would be no compensation day.  Full school days would be held every other day that week.

Some hoped for benefits include:

• Athletic practices scheduled in the morning so coaches will be in attendance at conferences
• Meet the needs of more parents, particularly those who work in the evenings
• Target students who need to have their parents come in
• Allow time for parents to drop in who prefer that format
• No 12 hour days for teachers
• Greater attendance by parents

After implementing this for the 2012-13 year, the data will be reviewed to see if the change is effective in increasing parent attendance, the main goal.

Principals will be learning more about this.  We will be looking for teacher feedback after these conferences as well to see if you found this format more beneficial than sitting in the gym for four hours.  Should you have questions, please let me know.

In the study session, the Board decided to approve two sabbatical leaves (you go to school, the District pays 1/2 salary, and you receive the EXACT position you left), two educational leaves (you go to school with no pay and you will have a job for next year which you are qualified), and leaves of absence (you take a year off with no pay and you will have a job the next year for which you are qualified).


The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report was accepted.  The auditors praised the District for being well-managed.  If you'd like details, go to Jordan District website, and you can read the full report.

JEA member Wendy Hanson of Copper Hills was appointed to be a District Math Consultant.

JEA member Debbie Brown of Bingham was recognized for winning the UEA Excellence in Teaching Award.  She is seen here with a quilt of the Periodic Table made by her students.  You can read about her at myUEA.org.

UEA's Excellence in Teaching Award Winner

Congratulations to Debbie Brown, Bingham, on being selected one of the UEA Excellence in Teaching Award Winners!