The Surry County Schools Educational Foundation is excited to announce the recipients of the
2024 Enhanced Learning Mini-Grants! Fourteen mini-grants were awarded to sixteen teachers at
nine different schools in April, 2024. The team included John Priddy, Amy Harris, Margaret
Spicer, and Ashley Mills, Surry County Schools Educational Foundation Managing Director.
Twenty-three applications were received and read in April by a committee, which included:
Foundation Board Members John Priddy, Chairperson, Brent McKinney, Nancy Wright; SCS
Elementary Curriculum and Instruction Director Margaret Spicer; SCS Secondary Curriculum
and Instruction Director Amy Harris; and Foundation Managing Director Ashley Mills. The
funding total of the mini-grants is over $10,000.
The 2024 Enhanced Learning Mini-Grant recipients are:
● Victoria Calhoun, Cedar Ridge Elementary – Panthers On the Prowl Summer Reading
Program
● Reba Simmons, Cedar Ridge Elementary – From Seedlings to Scientists
● Siomara Baltazar, Dobson Elementary – Building Bright Minds
● Nicole Hazelwood, Dobson Elementary – Tiger Leader of the Month Book Club
● Jessica Brown, East Surry High – Students as Engineers in the HS Science Classroom
● Susan Cromer, East Surry High – Engraved and Beyond
● Susan Marshall, Mountain Park Elementary – The Ukulele Project
● James Moore and Hayley Zurita, North Surry High – reCenter: A Place to Reset,
Recenter, and Reconnect
● Karen Huffman and Paula Sigmon, Pilot Mountain Elementary – Weather Buddies
● Sheena Jestes, Surry Central High – Power Tool Game Changer for Young Creators!
● Lydia Love, Westfield Elementary – Creative Movement with Stretchy Bands
● Billy Pell, Westfield Elementary – Love For Literacy
● Hannah Bowman, White Plains Elementary – Growing in Literacy through STEM
● Ashley Snow, White Plains Elementary – STEM the Way for Robotics
Each project must directly involve and benefit students, support the overall goals of the
classroom, support STEM education, reading achievement goals, and/or the arts. Award-
winning educators must complete the project within the next school year.
The Surry County Schools Educational Foundation is committed to investing in education and
affecting the lives of students through educational experiences inside and outside the classroom
as well as investing in our teaching professionals. For more information about the Surry County
Schools Educational Foundation, please contact Ashley Mills at (336) 386-8211 or visit