November 2025 Recipients
Screen Printing in the Art Room
Kyle Wood - Highlands Elementary School
This grant funds the purchase of screen printing equipment to enhance classroom learning by integrating art and technology, allowing students to make more complex artwork. The materials provided will continue to be used in future projects and school-wide challenges.
500 students impacted
Enchanted Forest: Glow-in-the-Dark Adventure
Jennifer Pak - Kingsley Elementary School
This Express Grant funds the purchase of supplies for “Art on a Cart” for students to contribute to a glow-in-the-dark enchanted forest for Kingsley’s open house. The project encourages students to practice creativity, collaboration, taking risks, problem solving, and taking pride in their work.
428 students impacted
Frisbee & Soccer Golf Equipment
Joe DeRooi - River Woods Elementary School
This grant funds soccer golf and frisbee golf supplies, exposing students to activities outside of the traditional PE setting. Using these supplies, students will practice gross motor and manipulative skills like kicking and throwing, collaboration, and scorekeeping.
314 students impacted
Building Communication Through Play
Hannah Conger - Maplebrook Elementary School
This grant funds the purchase of developmentally appropriate toys and games to support social interaction and build language skills for students in kindergarten play groups. The toys and games will help students foster connections, shared enjoyment, and communication development.
32 students impacted
October 2025 Recipients
Collaborative Games
Colleen Riley - Jefferson Junior High School
This grant funds a curated collection of games representing diverse formats to meet different preferences, abilities, and social needs for 8th grade students. The games will allow students to create meaningful peer interactions that build communication, collaboration, and emotional regulation using low-tech tabletop games, cooperative challenges, partner activities, and physical games.
320 students impacted
Individual Lighting System for Socratic Seminars
Matthew Sniadecki - Naperville North High School
This grant funds an individual lighting system for Socratic seminars in English classes at Naperville North High School. The lighting system will help students overcome their hesitation to interject in ongoing discussions by giving them the means to signal their readiness to contribute, encouraging participation from all students regardless of personality or confidence level.
125 students impacted
Hands-on Hearts and Minds: Enhancing Reading, Math, and SEL in Kindergarten
Kendall Myatt, Renne Knuff, Melanie Tarver, and Samantha Robbins - Kingsley Elementary School
This grant funds the purchase of developmentally appropriate toys and interactive materials to be used during center time, fostering foundational reading and math skills alongside social-emotional learning. The application was inspired by research demonstrating that creating a rich, play opportunity learning environment enhances students’ social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development.
64 students impacted
September 2025 Recipients
Social Emotional Learning Through Music
Andrew Bax - Naperville North High School
This grant funds two Fender Squier Debut Series Stratocaster Electric Guitar Beginner Kits to enhance structured SEL times. The guitars will allow multiple students to engage in music simultaneously with better volume control, supporting collaboration, peer teaching, and self-expression.
12 Students Impacted
Board Game Club HURRAH!
Jean Abbott - Steeple Run Elementary School
This grant funds board games for six elementary schools to launch a Board Game Club HURRAH! during lunch recess. The games are an alternate activity for those whose medical conditions, injuries, or temporary needs are aggravated by going outside. Staffed by HURRAH volunteers rather than district staff, the club ensures every student has a safe and engaging recess option.
30 Students Impacted
Recess for ALL
Alexa Kurtides - Prairie Elementary School
This grant funds adaptive and sensory playground equipment to make recess accessible and engaging for multi-needs students. By adding water and movement-based activities such as a sand and water table and water mills, students with wheelchairs, standers, and other diverse needs will have more options for safe, structured play. These additions will spark joy, foster inclusion, and provide meaningful sensory experiences for all students.
12 Students Impacted
Kennedy Junior High School Eco Club
Student & Julia Freed- Kennedy Jr. High School
This grant supports the newly formed Kennedy Junior High School’s Eco Club, which will lead student education and hands-on activities around waste reduction, recycling, and composting in alignment with the D203 Carbon Action Plan. Funding will provide water barrels, composting bins, and Green Team badges, giving students visible ways to conserve resources and recognize their sustainability efforts. In addition, this grants funds supplies for a student-led art mural that will remind students about the importance of keeping plastics and other waste out of our waters.
977 Students Impacted
Block by Block: Building Creativity
Kathryn Nichols - Maplebrook Elementary School
This grant funds LEGO brick sets, mini-figure kits, and magnetic building tiles for use in the elementary art room. These materials will support hands-on, creative learning that integrates visual arts with storytelling, collaboration, and STEM, fostering critical thinking, innovation, and problem-solving. Students in grades K–5 will engage in projects like stop-motion animation, collaborative building, and printmaking that build confidence, teamwork, and digital literacy across multiple units throughout the school year.
479 Students Impacted
