Teachers from three East Cobb schools have been awarded grant money for lab ideas pitched at the Cobb County School District’s annual “Cobb Tank” competition.
A total of $71,00 in grant money was handed out to teachers at 10 schools in the district. They include Zakary Jezequel and Amy Morris at Hightower Trail Middle School (above, all photos submitted by CCSD), who will receive $6,595 to develop a project in which students will race toward a healthy lifestyle using spin bikes.
At Kell High School, English teacher Lauren Forbes’ grant of $1,600 is for an “Escape from the Ordinary Classroom” program, as her students will take a true literary escape in their studies.
Dickerson Middle School teacher Lawton Willingham is receiving a Cobb Tank grant worth nearly $11,000 for a music prototyping and programming program.
The program is modeled after the TV program “Shark Tank.” All recipients pitched their “Cobb Tank” ideas at CCSD headquarters. Per a CCSD release, here’s how the competition went:
Through lively, creative, and effective presentations, many involving their students, the teachers appealed beneath TV camera lights for the sharks to fund their ideas to enhance classroom instruction.
A panel of judges, or “sharks,” included several school district teachers and administrators, including assistant superintendent David Chiprany, a former principal at East Cobb Middle School and Wheeler High School, as well as business and community leaders.
A video presentation of the entire competition will be made available later this month on Cobb edTV, the school district’s cable access channel.
