Thanks to the Bemidji 31 Education Fund I was able to purchase the evidenced based Organ Wise Guys curriculum and share fun and exciting learning experiences with over 40 preschool students at Paul Bunyan Early Childhood Center! The children have gained important knowledge on taking care of our bodies through choosing healthy foods to eat, moving our bodies, healthy habits such as washing our hands and brushing our teeth, and recognizing and managing our feelings. 

Our preschoolers are able to identify 10 of our internal organs, where they are located in our bodies, and their purpose and function including heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, and even intestines! 

The children absolutely love learning about all of the Organ Wise Guys and look forward to our visit each week. 
We are grateful to be able to offer this wonderful learning opportunity to our students! 

Cailee Furer

Starfall has played an important part of helping my K-3rd students build their reading and math skills.  It has also helped them “catch up” in skills that were lost during the COVID 19 pandemic and time of distance learning last year and this year.  I have young students who did not like reading or who struggled to read gain confidence in themselves.  The activities on Starfall are short, which supports shorter attention spans of 5-9 year olds.  Shorter activities allowed students to do more of them in a technology class setting.  They saw their own progress and success.   Starfall is cost effective- only $275 for a year subscription that is add free!  That is a little more than $1.00 per student.  I also posted the website and login information on my Google Classroom so families could access it from home.  The site is easily adaptable to multiple devices- phone, tablet, laptop computer or desktop computer.   I had students begging me in technology class to use Starfall and try new things on it.  Not only did my students build their computer/technology skills, they made gains in reading and math that helped them during this unique last year and a half for schools.  I intend to seek out ways to fund Starfall for JW Smith Elementary when the current subscription ends in January 2022.  I am truly grateful to the Bemidji Education Foundation for the opportunity to receive this grant to make Starfall a reality for every child and staff member at JW Smith Elementary.   

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Gretchen Rusch

GDE Eagle Eye News

We have ordered all of our cool calming tools for our students! They will be ready for use the last few weeks of school and ready as our students enter the buildings next Fall. We are all so appreciative as these little tools can make a big impact!  

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Angie Lauderbaugh

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Partner: Bemidji Snowmobile Club

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My name is Alicia Samson and I was awarded the grant through Bemidji 31. I used to grant money to buy dramatic play materials to help promote and develop social emotional learning in Pre-K. I created a grocery store setting in which the students had to take turns playing different roles, sharing toys, managing their behavior within a group of peers and engaging in pretend play.  This cooperative imaginative play is an essential developmental milestone for children and this grant helped fulfill creating a play environment for the children to work on these skills.

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Alicia Sampson 

I was able to purchase three sets of Makedo STEM products  with my Impact Grant from the Bemidji 31 Education Foundation Fund.  The Makedo Scrus and tools which include screwdrivers, saws and perforating rollers for children to work with cardboard are amazing!  Students can safely cut and securely attach cardboard together when they are building. I also purchased Makey Makey invention kits.  They help students learn about circuits and coding.

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Stephany Mcdermott

"Large-scale collaborative art is so powerful for students to be a part of, but materials for large-scale art are expensive, and often not within the budget. The Bemidji 31 Education Foundation gave us the funds to work on a large-scale community project. The project was about what it means to be a part of a community, so students took time to think about what community is, how it affects their life, and also thought about what role art plays in a community. Students then created a piece of art that represented community to them and wrote a statement about their piece. This was a powerful project; we are so grateful to the foundation for making this happen for kids!"

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Molly Wiste Middle School Art Instructor 

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