Teachers Making an Impact

For more than 38 years, The Richardson ISD Foundation has worked to make a meaningful difference for RISD students and staff.

At the Foundation, innovation, collaboration, and equity are all values consistently upheld and supported thanks to the generosity of donors. One of the ways donors make a difference is through the Foundation’s Impact grant program. These grants provide RISD staff members the opportunity to grow their skill set and subsequently improve the quality of education for students.

When Irma Wall, technology assistant at Carolyn G. Bukhair Elementary, saw an opportunity to help students improve their typing efficiency to prepare for the new STAAR 2.0 test, she immediately applied for a Technology Grant. The new test is all electronic and includes constructed response questions where students must type their answers, creating some added pressure for elementary school teachers to quickly improve their students’ typing skills.

Students were already using “Keyboarding Without Tears,” a typing program, but Wall’s grant provided an additional feature to help improve accuracy and speed. She purchased specialized keyboards that use colors to show students where to put each finger. With this extra help, students should be much better equipped to take their new STAAR tests.

“At Bukhair, 98 percent of our students come from low socioeconomic families,” Principal Anabel Ruiz said. “For some students, this is their first experience with technology and typing. This Impact grant from the Foundation will help students tremendously in practicing their typing skills.”

Tanequa Azu, a teacher aide, also saw the Foundation’s Impact grant as an opportunity to support her on her journey to becoming a teacher. Azu currently works at Dover Elementary in the Positive Approaches to Student Success program.

PASS is a centralized special education initiative that addresses behavioral and emotional struggles in some students, and provides them an alternative learning environment with guidance from certified PASS teachers.

After successfully attaining certain growth benchmarks, PASS students are slowly transitioned back into the classroom. Azu mainly works with fourth-grade students, and the connection she has formed with her students is based on love and trust.

“Tanequa is so amazing with our kids. She builds a strong relationship with all of them, which is what the job is all about,” Dover Principal Jennifer Balch said. “I was overjoyed to see that she got the Impact grant to further her teaching journey, and that her hard work was being noticed by others.”

After she graduates from Texas A&M University-Commerce, Azu plans to continue working at Dover as a PASS teacher.

“I want to make these kids feel welcome no matter their circumstances. I can continue to mentor them and show them how to break away from the mold,” Azu said. “This grant has given me the final push I needed to get through college. Now I can finish my studies and make a difference in the lives of my students.”

Wall and Grant are two of the 51 RISD staff members experiencing impactful opportunities through the Foundation’s grant program. For a full list of Impact Grant recipients and to learn more about the Foundation’s work, visit www.richardsonisdfoundation.org