Durham Public Schools Foundation Awards Grants for Innovation and Mental Health

Thirty-six Durham schools are expected to share $168,400 in grants from the Durham Public Schools Foundation to support transformation projects in categories of innovation and mental health/wellness.

“We are thrilled to present these grants to schools across our district,” said Erika Wilkins, DPSF executive director. “We believe in the power of community-driven solutions to foster positive change in education, and we know these grants will help create nurturing school environments where every student can thrive.”

Dr. Anthony Lewis, superintendent of Durham Public Schools, said: “We’re grateful for the Durham community’s partnership, through DPS Foundation, with our educators, staff, and families. These grants are offering unique academic and wellness opportunities that enrich our school communities and help all of Durham thrive.”

Innovation Grant and Whole Schools Fund projects in South Durham include:

Bethesda Elementary School

• Lighthouse Leaders: This $5,000 project will build an inclusive club focusing on character traits, social skills, and spreading positivity, pairing general education students with exceptional children students.

C.C. Spaulding Elementary School

• Creating Centering and Affirming Spaces: This $11,000 project will transform physical spaces throughout the school, including culturally affirming, joyful murals, a calm-down room for all students, and sensory materials for the exceptional children’s classroom.
• Take 10 WithIn: This $3,500 project will enhance the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of students and teachers through a daily 10-minute wellness practice with alternating yoga and Zumba sessions led by trained school counselors and art teachers.

Hillside High School

• Empowering Education Intergenerational Fellowship: This $10,000 grant funds a program for five training sessions focused on leadership, storytelling, and civic engagement, as well as pairing with an older adult from a minority background and a college student mentor in a field of interest. Participants will write blog posts, get college counseling, and collaborate on a year-long passion project geared toward positive change in Durham.

Hope Valley Elementary School

• From Blank Gymnasium to Wellness Center: This $4,000 project aims to transform Hope Valley’s gymnasium into an inviting wellness center by decorating walls with fitness circuits, inspiring and emotional regulation posters, and sensory panels.
• Valle Esperanza: This $2,000 grant funds expansion of the existing Latino Parent Group in partnership with El Centro Hispano. The project provides in-house tutoring, materials, snacks, and scholarships for those in need. The initiative promotes literacy, culture, and the arts through events such as a Little Red Riding Hood play, literacy promotion and family food baskets, a school mural and rock painting, and an end-of-year celebration with a soccer tournament.

Lowe’s Grove Middle School

• SPARCS Cohort 12 – “The Sparkling Bulls:” This $600 grant will train six DPS staff to facilitate Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS), an evidence-based group therapy model for youth ages 12-21. It’ll also be available to Ignite Online Academy and Rogers-Herr Middle School. The program consists of 16 one-hour sessions that focus on skills such as emotional regulation, healthy relationships, and managing symptoms of chronic trauma.

Murray-Massenburg Elementary School

• Empowerment Through Wellness: A Holistic School Initiative: This $6,000 project, also involving Pearsontown Elementary School, aims to enhance student well-being through a program that promotes physical health, emotional resilience, social skills, and environmental awareness. It will incorporate mindfulness, yoga, healthy eating workshops, and emotional intelligence training.

Rogers-Herr Middle School

• Rogers-Herr Wellness Center: This $5,000 grant will turn the student services suite into a resource hub for mental health and well-being for students and staff. The school will partner with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle to ensure dignified access to the school’s food pantry and provide expansion of the clothing and school supply closet.
• Young Cooks Society: This $15,000 grant allows for a three-tiered culinary education program that addresses childhood obesity, food insecurity, and health inequities in underserved communities. It provides participants with practical culinary skills, nutritional knowledge, and food system awareness.

Sherwood Githens Middle School

• Jumpstart Reading Program: This $6,000 grant is for a program that seeks to address literacy gaps in the aftermath of COVID-19 and an increase in English language learners (ELL). The school wants to develop a sustainable intervention program focused on decoding and comprehension strategies tailored to students’ current levels.

Southwest Elementary School

• What Do Our Students Carry On Their Backpacks?: This $5,000 project offers professional development to 50 teachers at Southwest, with training for trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices to better support the school’s immigrant and Latino student population.