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City of Fishers awards $50K in educator grant funding
Heather Butz, center, an eighth-grade teacher at Fishers Junior High School, was among seven teachers who recently received a check from Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, right, part of the city’s Educator Innovation Grant program. Also pictured is Fishers Junior High Principal Crystal Thorpe. (Photo courtesy of the City of Fishers)

City of Fishers awards $50K in educator grant funding

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By on Fishers Community

Seven Hamilton Southeastern Schools teachers were awarded a combined total of more than $50,000 through the City of Fishers’ Educator Innovation Grant program May 29 on the last day of school.

The grant program is new this year, with $500,000 allocated in the 2024 budget. Grant funds are intended to help HSE educators bring innovative programs and resources to their classrooms, according to an announcement from the city.

Grant recipients were:

  • John Hochstetler, a fifth-grade teacher at Riverside Intermediate who received $35,000 to modernize the school’s makerspace to better support its STEM program, which centers upon environment, agriculture and engineering. The grant also will fund professional development workshops for educators.
  • Anthony Sturgeon and Kevin Stumpf, seventh-grade teachers at Fishers Junior High School, who received $1,500 for professional development at the Library of Congress on implementing primary sources in the classroom to improve civics education and the We the People team at Fishers Junior High.
  • Heather Butz, an eighth-grade teacher at Fishers Junior High School who received $600 to attend 1st Amendment Professional Development at the Constitutional Center in Philadelphia to help her better prepare students for We the People competitions.
  • Ashley Eaton, a fourth-grade teacher at Southeastern Elementary who received $1,095 to bring the Orff-Schulwerk Method of Teaching Elementary Music to her fourth-grade classes.
  • Jennifer Suskovich, a teacher-in-residence at Fishers Maker Playground who received $6,000 to purchase two 3D printers to enhance science education for fifth-grade students throughout the district.
  • Jennifer Harmon, a second-grade teacher at Geist Elementary who received $6,300 to implement Vex Robotics, computer science and coding with Geist Elementary students.

This was the second round of the 2024 Educator Innovation Grants. In April, three educators were awarded more than $30,000 for projects.

“I’m thrilled that our local educators are seizing this opportunity and pursuing projects that not only enhance learning in their classrooms, but also demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning through professional development,” Mayor Fadness stated. “Their innovation, creativity, and passion are inspiring and speaks to the excellence of the HSE Schools system.”

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and there is no funding cap on project requests. Grants are awarded by a selection committee.

For more, visit FishersIN.gov/InnovationGrant.

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