Districts Nab $800,000 in Teach Award Grants

• By David Nagel
• 05/30/08

Recipients in the final round of the 2008 Best Buy Teach Awards were announced today. In February, some 1,300 schools received grants of $2,000 or $10,000 in the program. Now, eight school districts in the United States have been awarded $100,000 each.

The Teach Awards recognize schools and districts for "exceptional, creative use of interactive technology in the classroom." Winners were chosen based on the strengths of their current programs and their plans for expanding those programs in the following year.

Recipients of this year's $100,000 awards include:

Bend LaPine School District, Bend, OR, for the the "Getting to Know Your Community" multimedia project;

DeKalb County Schools, Decatur, GA, for a collaboration project involving the raising of fish and the study of conservation and fish habitats;

Monroe County Community School Corp., Bloomington, IN, for a media arts program that includes video and photography;

Nazareth Area School District, Nazareth, PA, for a program supporting the districts media centers and television studios, along with supporting technologies used in the creation of digital media;

Saint Paul Public Schools, Saint Paul, MN, for an initiative that aims to bring multimedia tools to classrooms and students in a district that has high rates of poverty and transience;

Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District, Santa Ynez, CA, for a multi-faceted program involving a variety of technologies (GIS, GPS, animation, video, CAD, graphics, and Web tools) ending in the production of podcasts;

Spartanburg District Two, Boiling Springs, SC, for a program that integrates interactive technologies with physical education; and

Springdale Public Schools, Springdale, AR, for a project that aims to integrate STEM subjects with literacy and arts programs.

According to Best Buy, applications for the 2009 Teach Awards will open in July 2008. Further information, including details about the winning programs and initiatives, can be found here.

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Proposals for articles and tips for news stories, as well as questions and comments about this publication, should be submitted to David Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.

About the Author

David Nagel is editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Technology Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal and STEAM Universe. A 25-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art and business publications.

He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at or follow him on Twitter at @THEJournalDave (K-12) or @CampusTechDave (higher education).