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Kansas Music Educator awarded an AAE Foundation COVID-19 Relief Grant
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Ms. Alexis Engelken

ALEXANDRIA, Virgina – The Association of American Educators Foundation (AAEF) and the Kansas Association of American Educators (KANAAE) have awarded a COVID-19 Relief Grant to Alexis Engelken, a music teacher at USD 401 Chase-Raymond Elementary School in Chase. This special $500 grant will be used to purchase equipment for her students to continue their music education despite a spending freeze at the school. 

“Due to COVID-19, my school has implemented a spending freeze for future classroom purchases. I will use the drums to teach the students rhythmic notation, meter, strong/weak beats, steady beat, proper performance techniques, ostinatos, compositions, and phrasing sequences,” Engelken stated in her submission. “These activities will also teach social-emotional skills such as team work, communication, and confidence.”

“As an organization that supports educational excellence throughout the state of Kansas, we are pleased to see one of our members receive this national AAEF grant,” stated KANAAE Executive Director Garry Sigle. 

In this unprecedented time of need, AAEF acknowledges the nation’s educators and their vision for better serving their students and their educational community. This special cycle of COVID-19 Relief Scholarship and Grant funding is open to all educators and they are invited to submit their concepts, projects, and activities that will expand learning opportunities for their students. 

“Ms. Engelken’s project will lift the morale of her students so that they will be excited to learn and be expressive,” said AAE Senior Professional Programs Manager Melissa Pratt. “Our scholarship and grant program is one of the most important ways we encourage and spotlight professional excellence today, and through this special cycle of our program we are able to respond swiftly with needed funding.”

The AAE Foundation National Teacher Scholarship and Classroom Grant Program is open to all educators. Applications for a newly added cycle of COVID-19 Relief Scholarships and Grants for educators affected by pandemic-related school closures are now being accepted and evaluated on a rolling basis through May 15. Application and information are online at aaeteachers.org/cvgrant.