Vicksburg High School’s mathematics department was awarded a $10,000 grant from Monsanto Corporation’s “America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education” program. Rob Richardson, a Vicksburg-area farmer, recommended the school for the grant and Gail VanDaff, curriculum director, helped to write and submit it.
The funds will benefit students in Algebra I and Geometry classes through an initiative called the “Agile Mind Program”. In this process, teachers will engage students with a state-of-the-art approach to mathematics instruction, using interactive digital resources, print materials and real time data to monitor and inform instruction.
The Grow Rural Education program allows eligible farmers to nominate their local public school district for grants to help enhance STEM education. Once nominated, school districts compete for grants for projects for their science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum. The grants are helping to improve test scores, but better yet, they’re getting kids to think bigger about their tomorrow, according to the Monsanto website.
Instructors in Vicksburg’s math department involved in the program are Gary Boyle-Holmes, Jim Cagney, Rachel King and Angela Walton.