In a move to make student performances a bit easier, Cara Shephard applied for — and was awarded — a $2,493.25 grant, titled “Performing in High Definition,” from the Education Foundation for two TVs and two TV stands.
Shephard teaches music and art to about 450 kindergarten through fifth grade students at Ireland Elementary School. This is her 12th year at the campus.
“The grant provided the funds for two TVs and two TV stands and then all the necessary cabling and cordless streaming … What it allows me to do is when we have our performances, I’m able to basically broadcast my laptop to the two TVs for the students to use. So for example, our program we just had before Thanksgiving break with fourth grade, we did a patriotic program and they did a couple of songs that required instruments and we use Boomwhackers and did some bucket drumming. I was able to display their music on the two TVs for the students to be able to see while we performed,” Shephard said.
Everything the students need for a performance like lyrics and speaking parts are displayed on the TVs.
“Of course we always do, we try to do everything by memory, but it’s there in case the students need it … (For) most of them this is their first, or second, maybe third time to perform. Especially because of COVID … we didn’t get to perform for several years. They get a little stage fright,” but it’s there as a back-up, Shephard said.
At first the technology people who set it up were a little stumped because no one had had a set-up like that before, but Shephard said it turned out to be super easy because everything is done wirelessly.
She said she has a great team working with her and a couple of helpers she calls Mustang Movers that would help her transport the TVs to the gym for rehearsal and back to her classroom afterwards.
Ireland is the home of the Mighty Mustangs.
Before they got the grant, they had an older 20-inch TV mounted in the classroom.
“The kids always joke that the TV (is) older than them. I’m like yes, the TV’s probably older than me. But they were all excited because we almost didn’t get them in time for our fourth grade performance” and they thought they were going to have to use the “old, tiny one.”
But she told the students they were going to use what they had.
“They were really excited because they came in like the week before our performance,” Shephard said.
Shepard said she has gotten several Education Foundation grants before, but it had been a couple of years since her last one.
She would encourage other teachers to apply for the grants. Shephard said the worst thing that could happen is they tell you no.
“I submitted three grants and only one of them was funded. The other two were quite a bit more expensive. One of them was to turn our atrium into an outdoor classroom. The Education Foundation loved the idea. It’s just the price tag was quite hefty, so they suggested working with the district and our PTA is coming back on board this year,” Shephard said.
The thought was that between the Education Foundation, PTA and the district, they could split the cost.
“The other grant we submitted was to put two projectors and retractable screens … in our gym for our coach to use during her PE lessons or health lessons. Again, when we have presentations like Title I meetings or things like that, that our administration does. Right now we just project it from a cart onto the blue wall. We’re just trying to get you know, updated to this century, so to speak. They, again, loved that idea, but just the cost of everything,” Shephard said.
The Foundation encouraged using the same approach as with the atrium.
She said she would probably try for another grant for next year.
“There are just some things you can’t get with a budget … I could not have gotten these TVs and all this equipment, for sure, with a budget account,” Shephard said.
