Shelbie Harris
Staff Writer
Melissa Hunt, an alumna of Idaho State University recently secured a grant worth $100,000 for her elementary school as part of the Farmers Insurance “Dream Big Challenge.”
Hunt, a first grade teacher at I. T. Stoddard Elementary School in Blackfoot, Idaho, received her Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Idaho State University in 2005.
“I believe the classes that I took [at ISU] gave me experience in public relations and experience speaking in front of large groups of people,” Hunt said. “I had to do a lot of those types of things in order to get this grant.”
Hunt was presented with a check at her school in December and said the money won’t be released until Feb. 1.
In January of last year, Farmers Insurance started a website campaign called thankamillionteachers.com, where a total of $1 million dollars would be distributed to teachers and schools across the nation.
In order for Hunt to even be eligible to apply for the $100,000 grant she had to be thanked by someone using the website.
“A person that I have not met before but lives in California has been supporting my classroom through another organization for a couple years now,” Hunt said. “She was the first person to thank me and made me aware of it by sending me an email telling me I ought to apply for a classroom grant,” she said.
Hunt put together a very simple proposal on what she wanted for her classroom that was voted on in March, 2014.
Hunt became a $2,500 winner in April, opening up her ability to compete at the national level.
Her proposal “Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow” will bring new technological hardware and curriculum to Stoddard Elementary to enhance her schools learning environment.
The implementation of Discovery Education, PD 360, Schoolnet and other online resources and training and the addition of tablets and interactive smart boards are just some of the resources the school had delivered earlier this month.
“The delivery guy had never seen an entire school outside cheering him on when he drove off,” Hunt said. “The kids know what this is all about. It isn’t something the state decided, they worked very hard for this.”
There were over 3,000 proposals submitted to Farmers Insurance and people voted for the top three schools in each of the five regional sections of America to decide the 15 finalists.
Hunt said the other schools in the district, the district’s parent teacher organization, groups on Facebook, and numerous entities in Southeast Idaho and other parts of the country contributed hundreds of votes for her project. The Facebook page became known as “the little school that could,” a play on the children’s story about the little engine.
“I want the students of Stoddard Elementary to have the same opportunities as all children,” Hunt said. “Not just my students in the first grade but all students in every grade. We want all of our students to have opportunities to learn to use technology because those are the kind of skills they will need when they eventually start looking for employment.”
