Revised: Demopolis City Schools Foundation awards $46,293.79 in fall grants

Published 9:57 am Thursday, October 12, 2023

: Mrs. Ashley Stephens’ Kindergarten Class with (back row, L to R) DCSF Board of Directors Members: Mrs. Jennifer Jordan, Mrs. Gabrielle McVay, Mrs. Tisha Lewis (principal at Westside), Mrs. Terri Speegle, Mrs. Ashley Stephens, Mrs. Margaret Anne Gilchrist (Executive Director), Mrs. Katie Middlebrooks, Mr. Peter Michael Reynolds (DCSF President), Mrs. Monica King and Mr. Joe Parr.

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Editor’s note: Due to an oversight in the press release, the amount of funding provided by the Demopolis City Schools Foundation erroneously ran as $249,293.79 when it is $46,293.79. This article has been corrected.

By Margaret Anne Gilchrist

Teachers and students at Demopolis City Schools were surprised this week with the announcement of grants for the Fall semester. A total of $46,293.79 was awarded to be used in all schools in the Demopolis City School System – Westside Elementary School, US Jones Elementary, Demopolis Middle School, and Demopolis High School.

“We are excited to announce the recipients of the Fall Grants and appreciate the hard work of the Grants committee. We also want to thank our donors for their continued support allowing us to further our mission of encouraging excellence in the classroom which has permitted us to award classroom grants totaling more than $1,500,000 since 1993,” said Peter Michael Reynolds, Foundation President.

“Presenting the grant awards is the best time of year for the Foundation! The teachers across our school system are continuously researching ways to encourage excellence (our mission) in the classroom and this was evident in the applications submitted,” said Executive Director Margaret Anne Gilchrist. “Through the Foundation grants, our students are gaining access to unique learning experiences and modern technology. As we celebrate 30 years we would like to thank our donors and the Demopolis community for their continued support; without them, the Classroom Grants Program would not be possible!”

Below is a list of the awarded grants

Westside Elementary

Andrea Johnson – $2,500 for character books in the library
Emily Black – $4,777.40 for hands on literacy materials
Kristi Stokes – $13,096 for students to explore the world through virtual reality
Brittany Donald – $1,000 for books and tokens
Ashley Stephens – $2,150 to transform classrooms into learning habitats

US Jones Elementary

Julie Harrison – $1,000 for phonemic awareness intervention lessons
Emily Windham – $2,500 for new books in the library
Jennifer Sager – $3,500 for books to create the Tiger Tales Book Club

Demopolis Middle School

Jesse Bell – $3,593.50 for equipment for a lacrosse teaching unit
Ginger Godwin – $800 for bikes in the focus station in the library

Demopolis High School

Brandi Dannelly – $7,177.19 to jump start the DHS student-led retail store
Andrew Patterson – $4,199.70 for color graphing calculators

Mr. Andrew Patterson’s class.

Mrs. Ashley Stephens’ Kindergarten Class with (back row, L to R) DCSF Board of Directors Members: Mrs. Jennifer Jordan, Mrs. Gabrielle McVay, Mrs. Tisha Lewis (principal at Westside), Mrs. Terri Speegle, Mrs. Ashley Stephens, Mrs. Margaret Anne Gilchrist (Executive Director), Mrs. Katie Middlebrooks, Mr. Peter Michael Reynolds (DCSF President), Mrs. Monica King and Mr. Joe Parr.

Mrs. Brandi Dannelly: Pictured L to R- Mrs. Amie Miller, Mrs. Jennifer Jordan, Mrs. Katie Middlebrooks, Mrs. Brandi Dannelly, Mrs. Margaret Anne Gilchrist, Mrs. Monica King, Mrs. Terri Speegle, Mrs. Terina Gantt (DHS Principal) and Mr. Joe Parr.

Mrs. Brittany Donald (reading coach at Westside) with DCSF Board of Directors members.

Mrs. Emily Windham with students: Pictured L to R on back row- Mr. Tony Willis (superintendent), Mr. Joe Parr, Mrs.
Monica King, Mrs. Margaret Anne Gilchrist, Mrs. Katie Middlebrooks, Mr. Peter Michael Reynolds, Mrs. Betsy Stephens
and Mr. Alphus Shipman (USJ Principal).

Mrs. Ginger Godwin (librarian) with students and DCSF board members and principal Mrs. Brandi Smith.

Mrs. Jennifer Sager’s class with DCSF board of directors members (L to R): Mrs. Betsy Stephens, Mr. Peter Michael
Reynolds, Mr. Alphus Shipman (USJ principal), Mrs. Monica King, Mrs. Sager, Mrs. Margaret Anne Gilchrist, Mrs. Etta
Pope, Mr. Tony Willis, Mrs. Katie Middlebrooks, and Mr. Joe Parr.

Mr. Jesse Bell with DCSF Board Members (L to R) Peter Michael, Reynolds, Katie Middlebrooks, Mrs. Monica King, Mrs.
Betsy Stephens, Mr. Tony Willis, Mrs. Margaret Anne Gilchrist, Mrs. Kim Easley-Bell, Mr. Joe Parr and Mrs. Brandi Smith (DMS principal).

Mrs. Julie Harrison (reading coach at USJ) with Mrs. Ida Moffett’s 5 th grade class and DCSF Board of Directors members
and principal, Mr. Alphus Shipman.

Kindergarten Teachers (L to R)- Mrs. Haley Sager, Mrs. Ashley Stephens, Mrs. Lisa Martin and Ms. JasMaria Bouler.

Mrs. Black’s First grade class with (L to R) Mr. Tony Willis, Mrs. Betsy Stephens, Mrs. Tisha Lewis, Mrs. Katie Middlebrooks, Mrs. Margaret Anne Gilchrist, Mrs. Monica King, Mrs. Emily Black and Mr. Joe Parr.