About 150 teachers get grants for supplies

One teacher needed character-building DVDs for her at-risk freshman students. Another needed 50 new music stands for the middle school band. Two special-education teachers asked for a “sensory table” so that severely disabled students could explore different textures and practice motor skills.

More than a hundred got their wish Thursday night at the annual Newport-Mesa Schools Foundation’s Grants to Teachers awards dinner. Each year, the organization raises money from donors across the area, then gives it all away to teachers who write grant requests for the materials they say will transform their classrooms.

The event also honored each school’s Teachers of the Year.

The foundation gave out more money than ever this year, said President Barbara Rothman.

“We’ve given away over $238,000 to about 148 teachers,” she said to a room of about 300 applauding guests.

Newport Harbor High School English teacher Jason Mintzer appeared to have hit the jackpot, with $9,913 going to a program he called “Project Reading Revival.”

Mintzer, who teaches ninth- and eleventh-graders, wrote on his grant application that he planned to buy a wide variety of “high-interest novels to tempt every reluctant reader into the world of books.”

Mintzer’s class starts every day with 15 straight minutes of silent reading, and he said he hoped that having a wide range of materials — including modern offerings about things like skating and other student interests — would help even the less bookish to discover the joys of reading.

“Some of my kids have never even read a book on their own,” Mintzer said after receiving his award. “If they went into a bookstore, they wouldn’t know what to do. They’ve never been presented with a book they’re interested in. I’m buying things that can get them excited about reading.”

Teacher Laura Barneby, along with two colleagues, had a different approach to improving English: teaching kids how to write on their books.

All three teachers got document cameras — a high-tech update to the old overhead projectors — to help show kids how to underline and mark up their reading materials.

“We’re teaching them how to annotate books in class,” Barneby said.

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at [email protected].