The goal of the TSEC room at Barnes elementary is to be proactive and help students that are regularly unregulated in class. They provide breaks for students that become unregulated and need some time out of class. One of the main reasons that students become unregulated is because they are hungry. The grant will purchase snacks for these children. The monies will buy things like cereal, crackers, fruit snacks, yogurt, and other things students might enjoy. When a student is hungry it can cause them to become very dysregulated and destroy the whole class, causing learning to stop. The snacks will be offered to all students that come into the TSEC room, and there will also be snacks for students that come to school late and miss their breakfast.

The Battle of the Books is a reading incentive program designed to increase student reading motivation, expose students to quality literature, and promote teamwork and collaboration. Students who choose to participate in this activity read from a list of books throughout the entire school year. In June, the students form teams to compete in the "Battle", a game like the TV show Family Feud. Students work as teams to answer questions about the books from the list. The list of books chosen for the competition come from the current list of Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award nominees, Sasquatch Award nominees, and the Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award Nominees.

These books consistently cover a wide range of reading interests, genres, viewpoints and reading levels which expose our students to high quality literature. Students in grades 3-5 will be participating in the competition, but all students will have access to check out the books from our library. The "Battle" will be held at the Butler Acres library in June of 2023

Coding students gain the most knowledge from interacting with Snap Circuits by Elenco. The kits provide directions that lead students to create a product that will have a reaction (helicopter wings that fly when programmed correctly, playing music from their Chromebook thru the circuits, etc.). The kits have 750 different programmable directions from beginning to expert.

The grant will purchase 5 of these kits for our school and have them available all year instead of borrowing 2 kits from another elementary for a month. These kits will be used during a unit in 5th grade in December of every year and then again during Coding Club once a week for 20 weeks. My goal is to have students of all ages building circuits and creating code to make the desired outcome a reality.

The K-2 "Soaring Blue Jay Readers" program was initiated in 2017 to fill the absence of the Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) program which was discontinued during the 2016-2017 school year. With generous funding from Kelso Public Schools Foundation grants, this program has continued to provide books for K-2 students through the 2019-2020 school year. With the impacts of COVID the program was expanded to include all K-5 students during the 2020-2021 school year.

The program was expanded once again for the 2021-2022 school year with the addition of Transitional Kindergarteners. The grant funds will be used to offer free books for our TK-5 students through two distributions during the 2022-2023 school year. The books purchased will be from a wide range of reading levels, include a variety of genres and incorporate content from various cultures.

The grant provides classroom sets of the magazine Scholastic Storyworks for 3rd grade classrooms at Butler Acres. These magazines are full of rigorous fictional and nonfictional concepts that align with 3rd grade common core standards. Reading these magazines will bring a sense of excitement every month for students. They can incorporate so many concepts that differentiate within the student population. Students can chorus read as a whole group and incorporate whole group discussion and student talk.

The subscription also includes access to the scholastic website. There are videos, slide shows, read-alouds, and rigorous work that will help students build an understanding. Learning will not stop in the classroom with this magazine. The big idea is to bring reading into Kelso homes. Students will be prompted to read and learn with their families with the help of Scholastic Storyworks and the teacher.

Access to a reading materials opens new possibilities for student growth and practice of comprehension. A strong reading program allows students to skim a story through the first time without interruption, then read aloud a second time with staff while strengthening support independence and a third time sharing the story with peers who do not judge decoding struggles and word formation.

The grant will purchase books that are being requested, are lower reading level that provide cued repetition. The staff supports students to apply the letter sounds/words from the story to pictures and then increase student independence of words to pictures. Providing a reading center allows for students to learn working within small groups and with more than the 1:1 peer as they share.

The grant will purchase classroom sets of the magazine Scholastic Storyworks for a 5th-grade classrooms at Lexington. These magazines are full of rigorous fictional and nonfictional concepts and align with 5th-grade common core standards. Reading these magazines will bring a sense of excitement every month for students.

We can incorporate so many concepts that differentiate within the student population. We can chorus read as a whole group and incorporate whole group discussion and student talk. This subscription also includes access to the scholastic website. There are videos, slide shows, read-alouds, and rigorous work that will help students build an understanding.

The grant will be used to purchase additional equipment for the Therapeutic Listening program implemented by the occupational therapist for use by students in special education at Lexington Elementary. This project was awarded a KPSF Grant two years ago and has become so successful and meaningful to the students involved that we are now requiring an additional set of materials to expand the program.

Therapeutic Listening is a specialized program, developed by occupational therapists, where music and nature sounds have had the frequencies manipulated in order to target various areas of the brain. For example, if a student is working on attention and social skills, the OT would select music for the student to listen to that has frequencies that target these areas of the brain. The goal is for the listening to make progress more quickly in their areas of need than if they had not been exposed to the music. This program is currently serving 4 classrooms at Lexington.

The goals are that students will be excited and energized by having robots in STEAM. Students will gain a basic knowledge of coding and being able to be successful with having their robot maneuver through the student created mazes. Students will build their ability to work cooperatively in a group and find success. Starting robotics early will open student's minds to STEM fields and opportunities for them in the future.

The grant will provide Robotics for Primary Students geared to the younger elementary population. These robots will be used in the Transitional Kindergarten to the 2nd grade classes reaching approximately 200+ students at Lexington Elementary School. There are many benefits to using robots in the classroom. Robots are an exciting opportunity to engage and familiarize students with STEAM principles. This excitement can generate interest in a future STEAM career or help students feel more comfortable in STEAM projects.

The goals are that students will be excited and energized by having robots in STEAM. Students will gain a basic knowledge of coding and being able to be successful with having their robot maneuver through the student created mazes. Students will build their ability to work cooperatively in a group and find success. Starting robotics early will open student's minds to STEM fields and opportunities for them in the future.

The grant will provide Robotics for Primary Students geared to the younger elementary population. These robots will be used in the Transitional Kindergarten to the 2nd grade classes reaching approximately 200+ students at Lexington Elementary School. There are many benefits to using robots in the classroom. Robots are an exciting opportunity to engage and familiarize students with STEAM principles. This excitement can generate interest in a future STEAM career or help students feel more comfortable in STEAM projects.

The grant monies would provide much needed 'brain fuel' for at-risk children inside Lexington Elementary School. The Social Emotional Center (TSEC) is open to all students but serves mainly tier 2 and 3 students. The goal of the TSEC room is to be proactive and help students that are regularly dysregulated in class. One reason students become dysregulated is because they are hungry or have food insecurity issues. If a hungry student does not have the skills to regulate themselves or speak up for what they need, they can escalate to the point of destroying the classroom and causing learning to stop.

TSEC does not have a budget they can pull from to buy snacks for the children. The three individuals that run TSEC at Lexington have often purchased snacks for tier 2 and 3 kids out of our own pockets. The grant will buy things like cereal, crackers, fresh fruit, yogurt, and other options that kids might enjoy. The snacks would be available to all students that come into TSEC and for students that come to school late and have not had breakfast.

The grant will provide a yearly subscription to the Scholastic SCOPE Magazine that will provide the at-risk population with lessons that: -are relevant and pertain to current and past world events -encourages exploration, collaboration, and discussion -increase understanding and appreciation for cultural similarities and differences -reinforces literacy skills that align with WA State ELA standards, as well as the WIDA standards (Multilingual Standards). This will increase student engagement, build cultural awareness, and support language proficiency in literacy.

In the fall they received a KPSF grant that was used to purchase books to expand the Holocaust Unit with a book study. At that time, they purchased copies of The Other Victims and Refugee to add diverse perspectives on victims of the Holocaust and other refugees. It was very popular, and most students really enjoyed the book they read and recommended I use that book again next year. Because of this I want to purchase some more copies of some of the more popular books, particularly some lower reading level choices. The grant will add 15 more copies of this very informative and popular book, and purchase copies of some of the lower-level books that were well-received.

The field trip will help students discover the efforts of the Cowlitz Tribe to retain knowledge and resources regarding native plants. Students will learn native practices in terms of preparing food as well as growing and harvesting food. Student will tour the Native Plant Garden and participate in preparing a meal. Student then will have the opportunity to walk around a pond and identify native plants.

HMS absentee rates were higher in 2022-2023, only 30% (164/548) of HMS students had 10 or fewer absences. The goal is to make the HMS school culture so powerful that students find value in attending each day, building relationships, and creating learning synapses so that by June 2024, 50% will have had 10 or fewer absences.

The staff at Huntington Middle School is dedicated to ensuring every student can receive the best education possible, which means students need to be present at school. The Attendance and Culture team has decided to provide attendance incentives for students. Some ideas include student's name put into a drawing for prizes for students with regular attendance. The KPSF Grant will purchase items such as t-shirts, stickers, gift cards, sweatshirts, water bottles, snacks, school supplies, bracelets for engagement incentives for these students.

The second section for six weeks, will allow the students to use the learned skills to cook healthy food products/recipes now at home, and as well after high school. The students will learn how to budget and price shop,  read a recipe, make changes to a recipe and substitute ingredients for dietary restrictions and for health.

The grant will allow HMS to start an After-School Intramural program, currently no funding is available to support this program. The first six weeks will focus on hand and machine sewing. Students will be taught how to do the projects and will be able to implement these skills using their creativity. The Life Skills that these students learn are invaluable now and as they continue to Kelso High School. After KHS, the students will be able to maintain their clothing by repairing and/or upcycling from their wardrobes and thrift shops, plus having the ability to make new items.

The grant will be used to assist students of low socio-economic status meet "student fee" requirements associated with:

Students who have been identified as Multilingual Learners (formerly English Language Learners) are enrolled in a Language Arts class that is specially designed to help them strengthen their English language speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills while earning a Language Arts credit. This class is designed to help ML students develop their academic language skills and confidence with the English language. In order to help students build confidence, it is important that they have access to materials that are written at the appropriate level of difficulty.

The Foundation Grant will support these students by providing a subscription to Scholastic Action magazine for each student. This monthly publication contains a variety of high-interest short fiction stories and a range of informational texts that address topics of interest to teen readers.

In June of 2023 the Annual No Limits Track Meet was hosted at Kelso High School co-sponsored by Kelso HS Leadership and Special Education Department for the first time. This event is a track meet put on for middle and high school students with disabilities in the Lower Columbia/SW Washington area. In June Kelso hosted 156 student-athletes from 9 school districts and 16 different school buildings. To run the event, 45 student volunteers from KHS and 35 adult volunteers from Kelso HS, District Office, as well as community members.

This event was organized at zero cost to the students thanks to sponsorship from local businesses. In expanding this event to be more inclusive of our middle school students we need to increase our number of smaller sized adaptive trikes. Grant money was used to purchase a smaller adaptive tricycle than purchased in previous years. The trike will be used at this year's event, other meets and PE times throughout the year at both KHS and Coweeman Middle School. The purchased bike will be available to all special education students at the secondary level in Kelso needing the alternative exercise or recreation option.

The Family and Consumer Science programs at Kelso High School are rapidly growing as well as their associated Career and Technical Student Organization, FCCLA. The financial commitment required to attend FCCLA conferences is a barrier to a lot of our students as it requires students to follow a professional dress code including the FCCLA Blazer ($60-75), polo or white dress shirt, black slacks, skirts or sheath dresses and professional shoes. This can often be a deterrent to students who would like to participate but are unable to afford the required attire.

The grant funds will purchase blazers to start a professional closet in which students can borrow FCCLA blazers. Having FCCLA blazers for students to check out will remove financial barriers for our low-income students and provide them the opportunity to participate in after school programs that connect to their classroom learning that they otherwise might not have been able to participate in.

This grant will be used to assist students of low socio-economic status pay their "library fees & fines" associated with:
1) Late return book fees
2) Lost/damaged book fees
3) Lost/damaged Chromebook fees
4) Lost textbook fees.

Students are required to pay off all fees/fines before they are able to participate in sports, or receive their diplomas upon graduation, and this can be a hardship for some of the students and their families. The fees incurred follow students from elementary school all the way through high school and can be a source of anxiety for some of the students who are from low-income status households.

This grant will help to alleviate that anxiety and allow those students to pay off those fines and receive their diplomas on time. Additionally, it would help promote a positive library experience among high school students, and inspire students into reading, where they had been previously apprehensive about the entire experience.

The grant monies will be used to assist students of low socio-economic status meet "student fee" requirements associated with:
1) Obtaining certification for employment
(Food handler's card, WABO, other)
2) Joining a school clubs
(DECA, FCCLA, FFA, HOSA and more)
3) Purchasing uniforms for technical classes
(Fire Science, Police Science, Health Science, other)
4) College application fees and or entrance exam fees
5) Paying college prep test fees
(SAT/ACT, AP exams, other)
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The KHS/CMS choir programs use sound equipment in a variety of spaces between Kelso High School, Coweeman Middle School, and performing in the community. The current sound system is in desperate need of an overhaul, the grant monies will support that change.  This project is large enough that we will use budget funds, fundraising monies generated with the Kelso Music Boosters, and the grant monies to help complete this project.
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The Students who have been identified as Multilingual Learners (formerly English Language Learners) are enrolled in a Language Arts class that is designed to help them strengthen their English language speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills while earning a Language Arts credit. The class is designed to help ML students develop their academic language skills and confidence with the English language. To help students build confidence, it is important that they have access to materials that are written at the appropriate level of difficulty.

The grant will support these students by providing a subscription to Scholastic Action magazine or Scholastic's New York Times Upfront magazine for each student. These monthly publications contain a variety of high-interest short fiction stories/dramas and a range of informational texts that address topics of interest to teen readers.
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KVA Cafe is a place students can come to help with their work. Staff have noticed students are reticent to interact with one another and have reported SEL concerns about students. We hope to allocate a small portion of the work time at KVA Cafe to gaming and artistic expression, so that we can build a positive school culture.

The grant will purchase the supplies and games to be used by students. We know from research that these measures reap rewards in contributing to the building of immediate relationships, but also to engagement and self-esteem as adolescence is a time of an intense need for a sense of belonging.

KVA students K-2 will learn about the lifecycle of a plant, seed germination and cultivation and preservation of nature through gardening. Each student will receive their own seeds to grow in tandem with the seeds grown in class. Observation of the plants indoor versus outdoor and the use of our class meetings as a time to discuss and engage on this important subject in K-2 life science will make the online learning more engaging and hands-on.

As KVA does not know where we will be housed next year, a portable indoor garden and outdoor rolling planter cart means that no matter what building the Academy is housed in, there will be planting possibilities. This life-long skill will encourage students to cultivate and preserve plants that they grow and nature around them. Help us grow knowledge through gardening

HICAP SENG (supporting emotional needs of gifted) is a parent group with the Kelso School District. The parent group meets quarterly at KHS during HICAP student activities. While students engaged in activities with their peers, parents meet to discuss to discuss struggles they have with their students, share strategies, discuss academics, extracurricular activities and strengthen bonds between each other and the district. This grant will purchase new books and replace old books for the lending library that provide a resource for these parents.

The gran monies will support our Homeless youth in connection with after school clubs ,dances, socials and even access to yearbooks. Although there is funding from the state to support McKinney Vento youth with their access to education and extracurricular athletics, transportation, etc....financial support for youth to attend dances, socials, yearbook, have not been supported. The benefits of extracurriculars are important for all students, but the added stability and sense of belonging can be crucial for students experiencing homelessness, who might have more difficulty accessing activities outside of school.

In Kelso, we have nearly 125 youth in grades 6-12 who lack a fixed, regular, or adequate nighttime residence. Approximately 15% of those youth are listed as unaccompanied youth; meaning, they are living without a parent or guardian in their life. These youth are the furthest away from equity and often feel disconnected with their schools. Life is hard for these youth and the disparities of “has and has not” is ever increasing. Our McKinney Vento and Unaccompanied Youth want nothing more than to fit in, be accepted and have someone or someplace where they feel connected.