The Pasadena ISD Board of Trustees approved the acceptance of 11 grants that will fund teacher training and a variety of educational programs at its regular August meeting. 

Topping the list of awards was a $692,000 Beginning Teacher Induction and Mentoring Grant from the Texas Education Agency. The grant will allow Pasadena ISD to support 237 experienced teachers in mentoring the same number of alternative certification and newly certified teachers. 

Mentors will work closely with the new teachers to support them during their first two years of instruction, guiding them through classroom management, lesson plan development, technology integration and insuring all instruction is aligned with state and district objectives. 

Schools that will be supported through the grant include South Houston, Dobie, Pasadena, Sam Rayburn and Memorial high schools, along with Jackson, San Jacinto, Park View, Queens, South Houston, Miller, Thompson, Southmore and Beverly Hills intermediate schools. The Summit also will benefit from the grant. 

In addition, the Board accepted a $299,431 Literacy Through School Libraries grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant will allow Pasadena ISD to increase student access to innovative library materials and also give library media specialists the resources they need to integrate their materials into instruction. Schools that will benefit from the grant include Bailey, Garfield, Genoa, Jessup, Williams and Young elementary schools, Queens and South Houston intermediate schools and South Houston High School. 

Other grants accepted by the board included: 

• A grant totaling $490,842 to implement a technology staff development program at Sparks, Turner, South Houston, Garfield, Gardens, Richey, Mae Smythe, McMasters and Teague elementary schools, along with Bondy Intermediate.
• A $130,000 grant to Gardens Elementary for the CASE afterschool program sponsored by the Harris County Department of Education.
• A $120,000 grant to implement additional science support programs at Pasadena, Sam Rayburn and South Houston high schools through the Texas Accelerated Science Achievement Program.
• A $30,000 grant to allow Memorial and Sam Rayburn high schools to provide an accelerated summer program to incoming freshmen needing extra support to be prepared for ninth grade classwork. The grant is part of the Texas High School Initiative.
• A $79,585 grant to Sam Rayburn and Memorial high schools as part of the Texas Education Agency Texas High Schools That Work Enhanced Design Network.
• A $22,214 Innovative Projects grant to Challenger School.
• A $20,000 tobacco compliance for school-based police grant.
• A $5,000 grant toward building a SPARK Park at Matthys Elementary School.
• A $5,000 grant to South Houston Elementary from the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries.