Oklahoma City– The change we collectively experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been abrupt and life-altering. At Harding Fine Arts Academy (HFAA), a charter high school in the heart of Oklahoma City, students were on Spring Break in mid- March when the pandemic hit. Students did not return to the physical classroom for the remainder of the school year. And still, the vast majority of their academic time takes place via distance learning from their homes. Nevertheless, HFAA students and teachers have persevered and are trying to move forward.
“Our entire instruction routine changed overnight as we, the teachers, and the school’s staff quickly adapted our existing curricula to the new academic environment,” said Naomi Rothrock, Harding Fine Arts Academy French teacher and student council sponsor. “Curricula changes of this magnitude would ordinarily take months of preparation and thousands of dollars in new equipment,” she said.
In order to help teachers meet this challenge, the newly-formed Harding Fine Arts Academy Foundation has launched a new grant program for teachers called the Distance Learning Student Success Grant. Through this program, teachers can apply for funds that are above and beyond the usual and limited funding appropriated by the state.
“It is the goal of the foundation to help provide Harding Fine Arts Academy students and teachers, who will be part of distance or virtual learning this academic year, with the tools they need to be successful and to make their experience reflective of our exceptional education offerings,” said Barry Schmelzenbach, Superintendent for Harding Fine Arts Academy.
These grants are designed to be used by HFAA teachers to enhance their digital classrooms by providing supplies, equipment and technology necessary for online learning to occur. At the start of the pandemic, foundation board members worked diligently to raise monies to purchase laptops for teachers and provide students with adequate technology so they can work safely from home through a Student Sponsorship program. The remaining monies from this campaign are used to fund this grant program.
“I am so thrilled to see our first teacher grant program sponsored by our Foundation,” said Schmelzenbach. “This program will allow teachers to be more creative with their digital classrooms and to ensure they have adequate technology and equipment,” he said.
The types of items that teachers may spend this grant money on include webcams, microphones, whiteboards, headphones, lighting, and specialized software. Tools that students will use in their home are also eligible to be paid for through this grant program as well.
The Foundation plans to continue offering these grant opportunities to teachers throughout the academic year. Awardees will be announced by January 29, 2021 via email to teachers, website and social media.
Anyone wishing to contribute financially to this program, click here.
