Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
Inez Shunnarah
Cahaba Heights teacher Inez Shunnarah holds a microscope and other parts of the science module she uses to teach her students. She said she rarely gives tests because she can see her students learning through hands-on activities.
Inez Shunnarah has taught science at Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights for over two decades.
Now, thanks to a $2,312 grant Shunnarah received from the Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation, every classroom in the school from kindergarten through fifth grade will receive science module kits allowing the students to do hands-on science projects.
The science modules include features that will make learning fun for the students: microscopes and slides allowing them to view cells of animals, plants and blood.
“It allows us to be actively engaged with the students,” Shunnarah said. “They design, build and test projects or look at live vinegar eels under the microscope.”
In researching the grant, Shunnarah said they looked at the next generation of science standards and chose science module kits that best met the needs of students today. The science kits are already in use.
She said getting exposed to science at a young age will benefit the Cahaba Heights students for a lifetime.
“For them to be actively engaged and excited about their learning makes them want to do science because it’s fun,” Shunnarah said. “It’s inquiry-based so they can grow and ask questions. We’re hopefully preparing them for when they graduate from high school.”
Brooke Brown, director of curriculum and instruction for Vestavia Hills City Schools, said the Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation has been a great partner with the school system. In addition to providing grants to help teachers in the classroom, the foundation dollars help offset cuts in state funding for teacher training, she said.
“The grants support different projects in our schools that teachers would not be able to do otherwise,” Brown said. “The state has not provided teacher development funding for the past several years. That’s one thing the grants have continued to do for our system, so that we are able to keep the level of professional development for our teachers that we had previously.”
The board of directors of the Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation awarded 13 grants totaling $61,000 to the eight schools in the Vestavia Hills system and to the Vestavia Hills Board of Education for the 2014-15 school year. Shunnarah was thrilled when she received word that the Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation approved her grant application. She thanked the foundation for investing in young lives.
“I am so excited that the entire school will have access to these science modules,” Shunnarah said. “Now when the students get to me in fifth grade, they will have even more knowledge about science. They’re going to love it. We want scientists in this school.”
For a complete list of the grants awarded this year, visit vestaviafoundation.org.
