Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Sept. 27, 2025 – The Foundation for Jonesboro Public Schools (JPS) handed out over $50,000 in grants to JPS teachers across the district on Friday.
This year, Foundation for JPS treasurer Gabe Roberts said the organization gave out the most money it ever has, with grants totaling $50,581.25.
“We had over $120,000 in applications this year. So that’s a pretty big deal,” Roberts said. “This is the most we’ve ever been able to fund and the money we’ve raised is what we get to give back to the teacher. So, the past year, we had a really, really big year of money raised. Our goal is to have at least one grant recipient in each of the schools in Jonesboro. So, this year we’re able to accomplish that. Each school in the Jonesboro public school footprint got at least one.”
Roberts added that Foundation’s purpose was to raise money to fund grants for teachers and students.
“We have two or three fundraisers throughout the year, with our biggest one being our homecoming tailgate,” Roberts said. “And we have another one in the spring for Mania Month, and then every year in the fall we give out grants to teachers, and there’s an application process for them to go through on our webpage and, this past year, I think we had the most grant applications ever with 67 grant applications.
These grants included the following recipients, amounts and projects:
Annie Camp Junior High School
- Feliece Wallace – $1,200, Community Engagement
- Brittany Lawrence – $1,000, Clock In to Careers: Workplace Readiness Through Time Tracking
Health, Wellness, and Environmental Studies Magnet
- Jenna Futrell-Green – $2,000, Seeds of Growth
International Studies Magnet
- Paula Brown – $620, Kids of Hope-Part 2
- Carol Neves – $4,530.68, Inspiring Engagement in 3D
- Natalie Lyons – $1,300, Printing Possibilities: Empowering Special Education Through 3D Technology
- Madison Bibbs – $350, Understanding Our Emotions
The Academies at Jonesboro High School
- Joshua Miller – $2,429.26, From Equations to Creations: 3D Printing in Precalculus
- Justin Ramer – $2,003.23, Making STEAM: Engineering Automata Sculptures
- David Leggett – $1,500, From Pixels to Plastic: 2D Art meets 3D Technology
- Macy Brecklein – $2,573, 10 DNA Testing Using Gel Electrophoresis
- Lewis Canda – $2,295.18, The Struggle for Freedom
- Caroline Crawford – $1,000.86, Physical Therapy Aide
Jonesboro Kindergarten Center
- Lauren Kelly – $2,200, Little Hands, Big Skills: Fine Motor Strength in Kindergarten
- Janice Fletcher – $1,832.06, Bugs and Buddies: Where They Live and What They Need
- Lauren Sullivan – $2,604, Supporting Little Readers
Leadership Magnet
- Bethany Blosch – $1,024.95, Drumming Up Success: Steel Pans for Young Leaders
- Lindsay Phillips – $253.80, The Worry Stone
- Crystal Vincent – $680, Interactive Literature Corners: Bringing Stories to Life
- Vicki Kreis – $828.72, Sewing and Growing
Douglas Macarthur Junior High School
- Ginny Chaney – $2,200, Fetal Pig Dissection
- Abbigail Hicks – $1,000, Coding with Circuit Python/Circuit Playground
- Darcy Whitehurst and Aaron Aycock – $950, Black History Month Live Museum
Math & Science Magnet
- Chelsey Henson – $2,000, Reading Comes Alive: Classroom Transformations for Grades 1-6
- Courtney Decker – $1,455.99, Making Learning Fun Again: Exploring with Our Senses
- Lucinda Pearson-Smith – $1,600, STEAM Literacy Lab: Building Readers and Thinkers
Jonesboro Pre-K
- Heather Weaver – $1,000 Kitchen and Science Lab on Wheels
- Allison Clem – $470, Butterfly project
Success Achievement Academy
- Anthony O. Holme – $2,630, Voices of Resilience: Professional Podcast Production for State-Mandated Graduation Requirements
Visual & Performing Arts Magnet
- Maddie Jeans – $1,600, PE Olympics
- Krista Schlueter – $422.52, Cow Eye Dissection
- Emily Aycock – $920, WINN Room
- Candis Crawford – $1,157, Improving Piano Lab Instruction Through Headphones
International Studies Magnet/ Visual and Performing Arts Magnet
- Haley Jones – $950, Curiosity in Action: A Family Science Olympiad Night
