A group of very special educators from North and South Carolina gathered to jump start the school year with grants from Tryon Fine Arts Center. More than a dozen teachers were recipients of TFAC’s Be Inspired Grant for the 2019-2020 school year.

 

With awards of up to $500, Be Inspired Grants (BIG) encourage multi-disciplinary projects which integrate art into the curriculum in creative ways. BIG supports the dedicated teachers who might otherwise purchase educational supplies with their personal funds or be unable to provide the arts experience.

 

BIG will go to more than a dozen educators for 2019-2020. Polk County Schools, Henderson County Schools and Spartanburg School District One all received awards, which will support projects at ten different schools.

 

Teachers and administrators joined BIG sponsors and TFAC’s board for an award ceremony to celebrate past projects, swap ideas among colleagues, recognize the innovative work happening in Carolina classrooms.

 

Grant recipient Julia Sullivan, Gifted and Talented teacher at Holly Springs-Motlow Elementary, said her BIG-funded field trips were “the highlight of the year” for her third graders.

 

“Thank you to Tryon Fine Arts Center for providing an experience of engaging the body, the mind and the spirt of learning with the arts,” said Ms. Sullivan.

 

BIG is made possible by TFAC’s Arts in Education sponsors Duke Energy, Edward Jones of Hendersonville, Fr8yard, Kiwanis Club of Tryon, Main Street Financial, Rotary Club of Tryon Foundation, Scholarship Fund WHMF, Inc and Williamson’s Paint Center.

 

Tryon Fine Arts Center is a member of the Partners in Education program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a national initiative designed to assist arts organizations to develop or expand educational partnerships with their local school systems.

 

Submitted by Michelle Fleming

  

Polk County winning teachers and administrators attend the Be Inspired Grant awards at Tryon Fine Awards Center. Eric Eaton, Dale Rush, Jennifer Schweitzer, BIG Program Chair Ellen Douglas, TFAC Executive Director Marianne Carruth. Not pictured: Amber Styles.

 

Spartanburg County District 1 winning teachers and administrators pose at Tryon Fine Arts Center’s Be Inspired Grant Award Ceremony. Front row: Julia Sullivan, Hague Williams, Danielle Whitlow, Kathyrn Mitchell, Amy Jo Roote, Lori Lonon, McKensie Revels. Back row: BIG Program Chair Ellen Douglas, TFAC Executive Director Marianne Carruth.