2016 Dream Big Bracket Entries Entries

Lange Middle School — 1st Place Winner

We plan to use the money to buy Archery equipment to start an after school archery club and to fill PAT (Physical Activity Time) bags for classroom teachers to use in their classrooms or for reward opportunities.

Midway Heights Elementary School (2) — 2nd Place Winner

I would like to start a robotics club for our fifth graders. This would allow our students to spend more time after school focusing on engineering and technology. The students would learn to work in a team setting while researching a world problem, such as recycling, and develop a solution for the problem. They would use LEGO MINDSTORMS to design, build, and program a robot that solves the problem. The kids will have fun while learning to apply science, technology, engineering and math concepts. Our club would meet weekly throughout the school year and compete against other robotics clubs across Missouri.

Mary Paxton Keeley Elementary

Our wonderful PTA has been working all year to raise money for “Operation Recess” Our goals are to enhance and improve outdoor playground equipment as well as enhance indoor recess during the colder months of the year!

Blue Ridge Elementary (1)

Outdoor seating for our courtyards. Having seating would give opportunity for more activities to take place where our students can experience art while in nature. Read under a tree. Plant a flower and watch it grow.

Benton Elementary

We could use this for new equipment for recess and to help fund our all school field trip to the zoo. This trip is a great experience for our students who do not always get exposed to these types of activities. This trip provides many learning opportunities in Science as well as reading and writing about the trip.

West Middle School

The West Middle School Yearbook staff is in desperate need of cameras and digital photography equipment in order to take high-quality/high-resolution pictures of events at West to include in the annual yearbook. Not only would the student staff of this extracurricular activity benefit from these funds while learning about photography and photojournalism, but students throughout the school would benefit from the captured memories for years to come.

Midway Heights Elementary School (1)

Midway Student Council is an organization that supports our entire school. We would appreciate receiving this grant to use for school events, like Red Ribbon Week (Say No to Drugs) or prizes for charity fundraising. We also ask members purchase their own Student Council T shirts, so we could use the money to provide T shirts for our members. In addition, we would like to expand our organization to include more work in the community and our school, so these funds could help us enhance our community in many ways!

Blue Ridge Elementary (2)

We could have a no bake/microwave cooking club. This would give our kids the opportunity to learn recipes they can put together at home without turning on the big appliances. This is a great life skill and a lot of fun, plus who doesn’t like snacks.

Grant Montessori Preschool

We would use the funds for Montessori literacy materials to support our preschoolers as they learn to read. The materials are hands on activities that are used at just the right time in each child’s learning journey. Literacy is our priority for our children. We serve 20 children, 10 of whom attend on scholarships.

Muriel Williams Battle High School

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is a program designed to promote college readiness among highly capable students who fall in the academic middle. Many AVID students may be first generation college attenders or come from a background of financial need. Students in AVID show great promise but need the additional support necessary to take Advanced Placement and dual credit courses. Our AVID program at Battle would use the $1000 to promote this college-going culture through after-school AP study sessions, ACT tutoring, additional college visits (our students do two visits each year) and general support for their academics (school supplies are a great need for some of our students).

Congratulations to our 2016 Dream Big Bracket Champion, Lange Middle School! There were 14,560 votes submitted in the championship round! They will be receive $1,000 to start an archery club after school, as well as to help fill Physical Activity Time bags for their classrooms.