2022 Teacher Grants in Action

The Teacher Grants Program is the signature program of the APSF. To date, across 3 grant cycles, the APSF has funded programs that have the potential to impact the educational experience of over 7,500 Apex-area students annually. Each spring, grant recipients from the previous year report back to the APSF on implementation of their grant proposal. APSF volunteers have been busy reviewing data from our 2022 grant recipients and are happy to share this information with our generous supporters and Apex-area community.

After pausing the program in 2021 due to Covid, in February 2022 the APSF awarded more than $5,000 to four Apex-area schools. Please read on to learn how APSF-funded grants supported student engagement and learning during the 2022-2023 school year.


Incorporating Sensors into Chemistry, Physics, and Physical Science Classrooms

Middle Creek High School

Students impacted: 293

Recap: This grant enhanced the Chemistry, Physical Science, and Physics curriculum by enabling students to complete additional labs with greater measurement precision than previous labs. The sensors funded by this grant supported student engagement in various science lab experiments, allowing students to achieve precise quantitative measures that had previously been beyond students’ abilities due to lack of equipment. These measures included position, velocity, acceleration, temperature, and pH.

Implementation feedback:

  • Using the pH sensor, students in AP Chemistry were able to get much higher levels of precision in titration labs than teachers had seen in previous years without the sensors.

  • Physical Science students showed improvement in interpreting motion graphs after using the motion sensors.

  • 83% of students said that the sensors made the lab more engaging.

  • 76% of students said that the lab was helpful in understanding the material.

Moving forward:

  • The team at MCHS plans to reuse the lessons developed for the sensors next school year.

  • The AP Environmental teacher has also expressed interest in using the temperature and pH probes with students in future years

Moving Minds - Active Seating

Middle Creek Elementary School

Students Impacted: 30

Recap: This grant provided active seating to help students maintain engagement and meet their sensory needs in special education classrooms. Many of the students have attention and regulation issues. Simple accommodations such as these seating options gave students the opportunity to wiggle, move, and receive sensory input in order to maintain their focus on instruction.

Implementation feedback:

  • Seating supported students in their ability to initiate, maintain, and complete tasks

  • Students learned how to share the seats and make an appropriate choice of a seating option that would best support their learning.

  • Seating helped to de-escalate and regulate students as needed

Moving forward:

  • Seating will continue to be used in subsequent years

  • Seating will also be shared with CCR staff beyond the grant recipients

Culminating Project: Recycled Robots for Our Community or the Environment

Apex Elementary School

Students impacted: 110

Recap: Fifth grade students created robots made out of recycled and craft materials as a culminating project in art and STEM. Students learned:

  • Importance of the integration of these subjects,

  • Form and function as well as aesthetics are vital to the marketing and implementation of products in the real world.

Implementation feedback:

  • Project aligned with science standards and 4Cs

  • Students developed an increased understanding of the distinction between descriptive problem statements and solutions to the problem

  • Students utilized self and peer evaluation to increase the quality of their projects

Moving forward: The team at Apex ES is planning a Recycled Robot club for the 5th grade next school year. This will allow more time for the students to create their robots with more moveable parts and create a PowerPoint about their robot to share with the lower grade levels.

Water Level Detectors

Apex Friendship Middle School

Students impacted: 90

Recap: This grant provided students the opportunity to work in teams for a hands-on electrical engineering learning experience.. Students created water level detectors using paper clips, resistors, a breadboard, and batteries. Students learned about creating circuits, how resistors are used, and about how to connect wires to a breadboard. They also learned about how water can conduct electricity first-hand.

Implementation feedback:

  • Majority of students were successful in creating a working circuit using the water level detectors.

  • The hands-on activity provided students with a concrete understanding of basic electrical engineering principles. One student shared that the knowledge gained from the lab resulted in her ability to identify and talk about resistors and breadboards on a field trip she took with a different class.

Moving forward:

  • Kits will be used again next year.


The APSF Teacher Grant Program is driven by  the generosity of our community, the creativity of our educators and the engagement of our students.  Keep on innovating, Apex!  

Brian Adkins