The West Monroe-West Ouachita Chamber of Commerce and Adopt-A-School Committee presented checks to 11 area teachers during the Ouachita Parish School Board Meeting on Tuesday. These 11 teachers were the winners of the 2026 Building Bridges Grant from the Chamber’s Adopt-A-School Program.
The Building Bridges Grant opportunity is in its third year and provides up to $500 awards to classroom teachers for projects which enhance learning and intellectually engage students, while providing evidenced outcomes of success and learning enrichment. With support from Pattern Energy - Southern Spirit Transmission and a private donor, this year the program offered grants to four elementary, two middle school, and two high school teachers through an application process. Additionally, funds made it possible to award bonus grants for a total of more than $4600.
“On behalf of our entire school community, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to the WM-WO Chamber of Commerce for their support of the teachers in the Ouachita Parish School System,” OPSB Superintendent Todd Guice said. “Partnerships like this highlight what we can accomplish when we work together to support education. These grants help further equip our teachers as they continue providing innovative learning opportunities for students across our district.”
The projects funded are:
Shelby Augustine, Ouachita Parish High, Building Healthy Habits Through Active Play and Safe Spaces: This project aims to enhance the Physical Education program at Ouachita Parish High School by providing updated P.E. equipment and improving the girls’ locker room to better support student participation, safety, and engagement.
Mark Hart, West Monroe High, Model Rocket Design and Shoot-Off: Grant money will be used to purchase Estes 1980 Designer’s Special Rocket Model kits. Each classroom will build at least six different model rockets, which would teach and demonstrate the various concepts of aerodynamics, launch conditions, angles, and windage.
Misty Holyfield, Central Elementary, Swing into Reading: Outdoor Literacy Hammocks: This grant will fund student-safe hammocks for our outdoor learning area to support reading engagement, literacy, and student well-being. By incorporating hammocks into the outdoor reading area, students will have a calm space that encourages independent reading, small- group instruction, and literacy activities.
Virginia Koonce, West Ridge Middle, Building Bridges to the Deep: A Sea Perch Exploration: This project introduces students to the world of underwater robotics through the Sea Perch program. Students will step into the roles of marine engineers as they design, build, and deploy their own Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs).
Krystin Louis, Riser Middle, Math Boosters: Grant money will be used to purchase math bingo games, small-group challenges, and skill-based stations. This will allow students to practice grade-level standards in a low-pressure, collaborative environment. These support multiple learning styles, encourage peer discussion, and provide immediate feedback for students.
Allison Lovelady, West Monroe High, Precision Engineering with Polycarbonate: Grant money will be used to purchase polycarbonate sheets (1/8" and 1/4" thickness) to prototype and manufacture critical robot subsystems and game field elements. Thse materials will be used directly on the CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine, allowing students to learn the precision of automated manufacturing.
Dvawn Masa, Shady Grove Elementary, The Ouachita River: Bridging the Past to the Present: This project bridges the gap between determining the past environment of Desert Rocks National Park (Amplify’s Unit 3 - Earth’s Features) and applying the knowledge gained to determine the past environment of Ouachita Parish which makes it a real-life application. Students will do this by observing gravel and rocks from local areas and using inferences to make and support a claim.
Crystal McBride, Calhoun Middle, School Entrance Flower Bed Project: This project will allow horticulture students to enrich the soil in the school entrance flowerbed, then plant spring annuals. Horticulture lessons that accompany this campus beautification project will include soil types and quality, plant selection, and landscaping techniques.
Lindsay Reynolds, Robinson Elementary, Rock Solid Learning: This grant will give students the opportunity to actually test the properties of minerals and metals for
themselves so that "scratch," "hardness," and reflectivity aren't just words they hear, but things they have seen for themselves.
Lisa Sims, Woodlawn Junior, Exploring the Seven Continents: This grant will fund current, relevant books about places all over the world so the students can learn more about them, as well as help Ms. Sims host a seven part "series" where the social studies students come to the library and learn about each of the seven continents: the location, countries, flags, languages, culture, and even food.
Lindsay Spillers, Central Elementary, Hear Us Learn: Promoting Oral Reading and Classroom Discussions: This project will allow students to not have to repeat themselves as often, build confidence when reading aloud, and motivate students to participate in meaningful classroom discussions. This project is a fun, low pressure way to engage all learners, build confidence, and improve essential speaking and listening skills.
The Adopt-A-School program pairs individual companies or organizations with schools to develop and execute mutually beneficial endeavors. Schools show improvement when businesses and educators focus on mutual goals. The Adopt-A-School program helps bring needed resources and volunteers into public sources from a variety of sources – businesses, religious organizations, civic organizations, social service agencies and higher education.
“The Building Bridges Grant is one of the many ways the Chamber’s Adopt-A-School program connects our business community with local classrooms,” said Kris Kelley, Executive Director of the West Monroe-West Ouachita Chamber of Commerce. “By supporting teachers with innovative resources and hands-on learning opportunities, we are helping strengthen education today while building the skilled and curious workforce our region will depend on tomorrow.”
For more information about the Adopt-A-School program, please contact the West Monroe-West Ouachita Chamber of Commerce at (318) 325-1961 or email info@westmonroechamber.org