Foundation for Jonesboro Public Schools awards over $50K in grants

The Foundation for Jonesboro Public Schools (JPS) handed out over $50,000 in grants to JPS teachers across the district on Friday.

By Nena Zimmer September 27, 2025 9:32 am

Jonesboro Right NowNena ZimmerJPS assistant superintendent Dr. William Cheatham hands Annie Camp Junior High special education teacher Feliece Wallace a grant check as students and board members cheer during one of many surprise classroom visits on Friday at JPS campuses across Jonesboro.

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