The Chattanooga-based insurance company Unum presented 52 Hamilton County school teachers with more than $50,000 in mini-grants on Tuesday at its annual Strong Schools Grant teacher luncheon.
The grants help pay for education materials and programs in Hamilton County for teachers recognized for helping to improve student learning, paticipation and achievement levels. The winning grant recipients were picked form among 112 clasroom teacher applicants.
“We’re fortunate to have a lot of educators working hard to provide Hamilton County school kids with a great education, but each year these grants recognize the very best teachers in the area,” said Tom White, senior vice president of investor relations for Unum.
Jennifer Brownlee, a literacy coach at Red Bank Elementary School, will receive a grant to buy books for students to use students at evening book clubs for the Growing Families through Literacy program she helped create. Another grant went to Jonathan Richard Johnson of Lookout Valley Middle/High for his project, Hablar por Chattanooga, or Talking Chattanooga that allows students to use an iPod touch and educational apps to record themselves speaking as they learn Spanish.
Since 2008, Unum has awarded 323 Strong Schools Grants as part of its commitment of more than $950,000 to Chattanooga public schools.