Whitehouse ISD Education Foundation awards over $50,000 during “Shark Tank” style grant event

Published 8:14 pm Monday, April 26, 2021

The Whitehouse ISD Education Foundation gathered Saturday morning with the primary goal to award $36,000 to educators across Whitehouse ISD.

The education foundation ended up awarding $50,000 in grants to participants of Wildcat Den, the “Shark Tank” inspired grant event, where teachers and administrators pitched ideas through a live presentation to a panel of judges for a chance to win a grant to fund their projects.

The foundation established the first Wildcat Den in 2020, which expanded the WISDEF beyond written applications that were graded by a group of judges and awarded after a month.

Applicants for Wildcat Den completed an abbreviated version of the written application, but the bulk of the information is shared with the panel of judges at Wildcat Den.

Each group of applicants gave a six-minute presentation followed by a four minute answer-and-question session from the panel of judges. Questions ranged from knowing how much it would cost to continue funding the project in the future to knowing the exact price per student.

Ginger Cardwell, Whitehouse ISD Education Foundation board chair, said the funding increased and so did the desire to award funds in ways other than written applications.

“We were introduced to the idea of a ‘Shark Tank-style’ competition a few years ago and knew it would fit well with Whitehouse ISD. The passion and enthusiasm shown by teachers in a conversation is not always conveyed when written. Offering teachers (and district staff) a chance to showcase their ideas via live presentation allows our panel of judges to understand why a grant just might change the life of students,” Cardwell said.

Typically, there would be a $2,000 grant for an individual presenting or a $5,000 grant for a group presentation. At Wildcat Den, any applicant had the opportunity to ask for an amount between $2,000 and $36,000. The only criteria the presentation is to align with the WISDEF mission statement for funding creative and imaginative ideas.

“There are so many incredible ideas that make learning fun, and we love that our donors get to make that happen,” Cardwell said. “Even in a year with so much uncertainty in fundraising, we’ve been able to stay on track with giving away $100,000 as we did last year.”

The three judges selected to determine who gets funded, have been sponsors and partners of the education foundation for many years, according to Cardwell. They have all given significant donations and support to the foundation.

The event was supposed to be competitive and not everyone was expected to take home a grant, however on Saturday, every presenting group won.

Judges Vicki Raabe, Phil Burks and Ted Crabtree decided to award each of the eight presenting groups the following:

Cain Elementary — Kaley McMillan and Alexandra Willborn were awarded $2,210 for Flocabulary, a subscription service which teaches children vocabulary through music and videos.

Brown Elementary — Ashley Bakley and Kendra Nash were awarded $3,923 for their presentation, “It’s Not Rocket Science,” which includes science towers, light tables and more hands-on science tools for children in pre-kindergarten.

Cain Elementary — Jennifer Glaspie and Lindy Lind were awarded $3,964 for their presentation, “Super-Size Science,” which will give children the opportunity to have their own butterfly and ladybug habitats, visit a mobile planetarium, have an indoor tower garden and talk to a meteorologist from a local weather station.

Sarah Dillingham and Francisca de la Cruz were awarded $4,400 for their presentation, “Children Grieve Too,” where they talked about the importance of giving children the appropriate counseling and treatment when a loved one or a guardian dies. The money will be used to form a grief counseling group at Whitehouse Junior High School.

Whitehouse High School- Joe Farmer and Kelci Meadows were granted $4,4991.41 for their presentation, “Wildcats with Wings,” which will allow them to fund a flight simulator.

Brown Elementary — Megan Jones was awarded $6,858 for her presentation, “Adventure EduMark at the Playground,” which will allow for three heat-sealed playground experiences for play and learning at the elementary school.

Whitehouse High School- Garrett Jones and Kim Carnes were awarded $9,864 for their presentation, “Wildcat Robotics Alliance,” which will allow funding for humanoid robots.

Wendie Turner, Laurie Rozell, Wendy Lindsey, Darren Avey, Brianna Hulshouser, Nick Goodson, Kim Carnes and Kelci Meadows were awarded $13,890 for their presentation, “You Wanna Build a Robot? Lego!,” which will allow to give Lego robotics kits to form a Robotics Team at each Whitehouse campus.

In total, the Wildcat Den “Shark Tank” inspired event funded $50,100.41 in grants for educators to invest in programs, supplies and equipment to educate the students in the school district.

“All of us want the best for our students. What we do, is we bridge the gap between what the district is already doing, and what they found to be vital and important for education and we’re providing the tools and resources to take it to the next level, to provide implements and opportunities to go above and beyond what the school district has already funded,” Cardwell said.

“This also provides excitement for the teachers to be able to dream and to again, go above and beyond the level of education that they do well, but it allows them to try new ideas and be creative with educating the students. We fund imaginative and innovative grants. Obviously, times are changing and technology is rapidly changing, we want to help prepare students for the real world and higher education,” Cardwell added.

The Wildcat Den event was made possible by donations given to the education foundation. To donate, visit easttexasgivingday.org. The school district hopes to host another Wildcat Den event next year.