Despite the arrival of COVID-19 in March 2020, the Centaur Foundation awarded 31 grants worth $16,101 during the 2019-2020 school year. Students at Brooklyn Center Middle & High School, Brooklyn Center Elementary and the Early College Academy benefitted from the grants listed below. These grants helped pay for programs, supplies, materials and activities that enriched student learning experiences. None of these grants would have been possible without the generosity of Foundation donors. The following grants were awarded during the past school year: 

1. Power Link-4 helped teach cause and effect; making choices; and communication skills to SPED students. 

2. 6th Grade Orientation T-Shirts helped kick off the 2019 school year as students were encouraged to begin developing pride in the Class of 2026. 

3. 9th Grade Orientation T-Shirts helped welcome students, as well as their parents, to BCS. 

4. Fourth Grade Class Rug used so that each student has a regular spot in which to do lessons and activities. 

5. Interactive Science Notebooks helped 2nd & 5th grade students organize, synthesize and evaluate class materials for information processing. 

6. Flocabulary for 3rd graders is a learning program that used educational hip-hop music to engage students and increase achievement across the curriculum. 

7. Lego Robots were built in SPED classes as students learned about production and cooperative skills. 

8. Math Manipulative Bags were used by 1st grade students during math activities. 

9. Flexible Seating created a classroom environment that helped establish a flexible, safe classroom for 2nd graders. 

10. Phonic Awareness helped students learn letter names & sounds; rhyming; fluency; blending; and segmenting. 

11. Wireless Mic & Sound Mixers for choir helped students self-assess their voices and gave teacher instant feedback for easier assessment. 

12. Ramp Up to Reading Program gave students the opportunity to share books, respond to their reading, develop identity as readers and offer reading choices. 

13. Cookbooks offered a way to connect a common activity with basic math and science concepts. 

14. Flexible Seating allowed 2nd grade students to feel empowered by having some choice and control in their classroom setting by wobbling, rocking or standing. 

15. Breakout In Learning Kits challenged students to work together to solve problems that use critical thinking and problem-solving skills. 

16. ABC World Culture website gave 8th grade students an opportunity to learn about a country's culture, food, government and economics. 

17. Alternative Communication Options gave EB SPED students alternative ways to communicate by using communication stations throughout the room. 

18. English Somali Folktale Books were placed into the EB Media Center through a grant. 

19. Noodle Tools is a suite of online tools for creating citations, annotations, notes and outlines for research projects. 

20. BCS Musical grant was unused because of COVID-19. 

21. Arioso Land Puppets asked that K-2 music students use only their singing voices to communicate as they work to develop their singing voices. 

22. Special Phy. Ed. Equipment was used with SPED students as they taught other students in class. 

23. For the Love of Reading books were purchased through a grant that helped celebrate and promote reading for pleasure. 

24. Walker Art Institute field trip grant was canceled because of COVID-19. 

25. Festival of Nations field trip grant was canceled because of COVID-19. 

26. STEM Bins for Kids supplemented the engineering design process used to build creative design skills and solve problems. 

27. 9th Grade College Visits & Senior Career Day helped build student readiness for their future. 

28. Star of the North Book Challenge had 3rd grade students reading the same culturally responsive books, evaluating them and rating their quality. 

29. Science Museum field trip was canceled because of COVID-19. 

30. Calming Spaces for EB Students consisted of an EB initiative involving sensory opportunities to promote self-regulation and positive social skills. 

31. Day Brightener plants were delivered to 1st & 3rd grade students during distance learning this spring.