The Demopolis City Schools Foundation has released its 2016-17 Annual Impact Report reflecting the impact its programs are having inside classrooms within the city’s school system.

According to the report, the DCSF Classroom Grants program resulted in 3,247 student interactions this past school year and the grants affected every student at every school, sometime more than once a day. With over $60,000 in grants awarded last year, foundation officials said the organization is making a demonstrable difference in the Demopolis classrooms.

“During our recent strategic planning review, several of our donors mentioned they would like to learn more about the results of our grants each year. Using the Grant Reports that our teachers submit at the end of the year, we developed an Annual Impact Report that shares the difference the foundation made in our students’ lives this past school year,” said DSCF Executive Director Amanda Barnes.

The report summarizes grants made in four key areas:

STEM Education — Grants of $18,158 were award for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math programs, impacting 758 students. For example, 560 third through fifth graders spent over 11,200 hours learning computer programing.

School Libraries — $8,291 was provided to the libraries in the school system, purchasing over 519 books.

Communication — Grants totaling $23,325 were awarded to advance reading, writing, and verbal communication skills, affecting over 750 students across every school.

Enrichment — 594 students were involved with six enrichment grants totaling $8,277. These grants included teaching chess, beginning a scholar bowl team, enhancing physical fitness, enhancing art education, and trying balance balls in the classroom.

“All of this and more is only possible because of the generosity of local citizens and business who translate their passion for education into tangible financial support. This year, the foundation’s goal is to raise $60,000 in memberships to continue to fund innovative ideas from teachers and support their efforts to give our children an excellent education,” Barnes said.

The full impact report is available at demopolis.org. 

To make a membership donation online, visit the foundation’s updated website at www.demopolis.org or mail a membership in to PO Box 1338, Demopolis, AL 36732.

(This article originally appeared in the Wednesday, July 22, print edition of the Demopolis Times.)