AEE is an organization dedicated to improving our community and education. Every year, teachers can submit grants to AEE that they will sponsor or their investors will sponsor. On September 13, 2024, the Association for Excellence in Education (AEE) held its annual luncheon.
On this day, 39 grants totaling $110,778 were awarded to teachers across the community’s schools. TPSD’s superintendent, Dr. Picou, attended the Luncheon to recognize AEE’s efforts in our community.
“[I’m] just grateful for the resources that they provide. And all the extra work they provide, and [I am] grateful for our teachers and support staff that do a great job every day for our kids,” Picou said.
Dr. Picou stresses that Tupelo Public School District would not be the same without AEE.
“We wouldn’t have a lot of the extra activities that make school fun and exciting for kids,” Picou said.
Many teachers have been awarded grants by AEE. In 2023, Autumn Bankhead-Elliot formed a grant called “Career Skills and Breakout Thrills.” This grant aimed to get breakout boxes into classrooms in Tupelo’s Career-Tech Center.
Breakout EDU creates educational breakout boxes that are essentially portable escape rooms. Teachers of all subjects can use these to teach lessons.
As a computer science teacher, Mrs. Bankhead-Elliot often teaches about the internet and safety.
“One of the breakout activities we did is called “Think Before You Post,.” Where students have to solve a series of clues, and then the warning at the very end is to be mindful of and careful of the things that you do on the internet,” Bankhead-Elliot said.
This teaching method has been integral to her classroom. Students have learned a lot and can even share their knowledge with their peers.
“They sometimes will say after that, ‘Oh, wow, I didn’t realize that when I did this thing or when I clicked this link that I was causing some harm to other people or to my own device’ As far as being safe on your phone and being safe on the web,” Bankhead-Elliot said.
In addition to earning the “Career Skills and Breakout Thrills,” Bankhead-Elliot also received the Kay Bishop Award, which provided an additional one hundred dollars.
“I’m very grateful for the support they have given, and I look forward to writing another grant sometime in the future,” Bankhead-Elliot said.
Zane Sawyer, Annabeth Williams, and Casey Pearce are some of this year’s winners. They all applied for grants that will be very influential in classrooms.
Zane Sawyer is a teacher at the Tupelo Middle School. He wrote a grant for ECEC to provide LEGO robots for each classroom. The purpose of this is that LEGOs involve teamwork, sharing, creativity, and math. All of which are important lessons for preschoolers to learn.
“In my opinion, it’s going to be the easiest way to show everything between cooperation and how to use critical thinking in general. It’s very utility-driven,” Sawyer said.
Many schools across the district have greatly benefited from AEE.
At Lawhon media specialist Annabeth Williams has received multiple grants for the school. She attended the Luncheon to present their table that showcased some of the grants that they have won. One grant was for LEGO SPIKE robots.
“We use those in our robotics club to compete against other schools in our state. They also do projects and then compete with other students. It just really helps them to think outside of the box and develop good problem-solving skills,” Williams said.
Robotics is a very beneficial teaching tool. Students can learn coding, programming, math, consistency, and flexibility.
“Many students these days get used to doing things in a certain way, and it’s hard for them to come up with different solutions. And so, robotics is a great way for them to come up with their own ways to solve a problem that might not be their traditional way of thinking. It encourages them to just keep trying and to use the engineering process to come up with creative solutions,” Williams said.
At the Career Technical Center this year, Casey Pearce, who teaches engineering, applied for a grant to get parts for an underwater robotics kit named “Sea Perch”. It would benefit the classroom and the students as they would explore a different avenue of robotics.
“Students build robots that can navigate an underwater obstacle course. It’s a great way to explore robotics, careers, and things in undersea technology. These kits would allow my students to get exposure to more robotics and high-tech career opportunities,” Pearce said.
AEE provides a diverse range of devices, supplies, and knowledge for classrooms.
“I’m really thankful that we have a foundation like AEE in our community that’s willing to give grants to help our students get new, innovative opportunities,”
