KINGSVILLE, Tx — Thursday morning was anything but ordinary for ten teachers at Kingsville ISD.
Ten educators were awarded grants from the KISD Education Foundation. The foundation awarded over $13,000 in grants for projects to be used to directly benefit students.
KISD Assistant Band Director Marcos Cuellar was one of the recipients. He was awarded about $1,300 that he plans on using to buy harmony directors for his students at both Gillett Middle School and H.M. King High School. Harmony directors are devices that help students hear a note and match their pitch.
"If I’m a trombone player, I might move my sled further out for a certain note, further in for a certain note. A lot of programs, big huge successful programs use this device and its really cool," Cuellar said.
But he wasn't the only one who will be helping his students sharpen their skills with their new found funds.
H.M King Band Director Roberto Alvarez Jr. also applied for a grant to buy a different kind of device for his students. He plans to get a metronome, to help students keep a steady beat when playing an instrument.
"Right now what I have, I use my phone. Sometimes I connect it to a speaker. It works but if my phones dead I can’t use it. Or sometimes I'll forget it's connected and I'll get a call and it'll blast on the speakers," Alvarez said.
With the amount he received, Alvarez said he can even buy two metronomes if needed.
"They're great. It could be for the concert band, marching band, mariachi, jazz band, anybody," Alvarez said.
The KISD Education Foundation said some of the grants given will even go towards Bright Brahma Fridays.
"It allows the kids to have activities like planting a garden, learning and competing in range for JROTC," KISD Education Foundation President Evanita Ramos said. "A lot of the activities take longer than just a 45 minute class period. The teachers are really getting into it, but a lot of the time teachers are spending money out of their own funding so this is where they can get some funds for it."
Grants were also given at Harvey and Perez Elementary and Gillette Middle School.
Teachers like Cuellar said this couldn't have been possible without the foundation.
"If we had all the money in the world we would get these kids everything they needed. It just opens the door to all these possibilities because honestly we wouldn’t get something like this without access to resources so it makes a lot of things possible," Cuellar said.
But the KISD Education Foundation said they owe a big shoutout to the community for making it all possible.
"The Kingsville community, Kingsville alumni and staff for their support because we do it through fund raising and community involvement," Ramos said.
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