BCEF is pleased to announce the following $5,000 in grants to the Batesville Community School Corporation:

• • Batesville High School (BHS) American Sign Language (ASL) teacher Betsy Baugh’s request to bring a motivational presenter to her classes. On May 9, Matt Hamill, a three-time collegiate wrestling champion and former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter, will use voice and authentic sign language to share his story about growing up in a mainstream educational environment until he learned ASL. This will be the ASL students’ first opportunity to have an influential leader in the deaf community visit the school in person.
  • Two requests from the Batesville Middle School (BMS) athletic department: A new field sprayer and paint for the BMS athletic field and a new automated external defibrillator (AED) to replace one that is near the end of its lifespan. The new field sprayer will allow BMS to paint and maintain the field itself instead of relying on high school staff or volunteers, impacting the middle school football team, as well as youth football. The AED provided by BCEF’s funding reduces the strain on the athletic department’s budget.
  • BHS special education teachers’ request for scientific calculators for students to use when practicing math skills or learning calculator strategies. The resource rooms serve both special education and general education students who need extra help with math. The calculators can be used for a variety of purposes to enhance skills development.
  • A collaborative funding partnership with the Joan and John Hillenbrand VISION Fund to provide several BIS fourth-grade teachers with iPad Pro teacher devices and Apple Pencils, plus iPads for students to share when engaged in small group work. These devices will facilitate learning in certain situations where the accessibility of an iPad is more ideal than a laptop. The VISION Fund provided the majority of the funding for this grant, with BCEF augmenting that donation.

  The BCEF grants committee was excited to recommend funding an in-person presenter for ASL. Due to COVID restrictions, that’s something that has been missing in these students’ educational experience and our foundation is thrilled to make it possible. With strong grant applications, the athletic department at BMS was also a big winner. Through broader financial support and donations from the community, we can hopefully expand our budget for grants each year so that more projects can be funded.