Six Cashmere teachers receive classroom innovation grants

Attachments

2025 NCEF Teacher Grant Award List

CASHMERE — Six Cashmere educators have earned classroom innovation funding from the North Central Education Foundation (NCEF), joining 253 teachers across North Central Washington selected for this year’s Teacher Classroom Grant awards. The foundation, supported by community donors, businesses and local service clubs, helps fund projects that bring creativity, enrichment and hands-on exploration into schools. This year’s program drew 364 teacher applicants from the region, with 111 proposals unable to be funded.

In Cashmere, the grants will support everything from early STEM learning to real-world language instruction. For teachers in a small district, the awards open doors to classroom projects that don’t always fit within traditional budgets.

Cashmere’s 2025 NCEF grant recipients are:

• Annie Yousey, for Bringing Real-World Spanish to the Classroom
  • Heidi Hill, for Genius Hour
  • Amanda Low, for Kindergarten Explorers
  • Andrea Baker, for STEM Building Bins (collaborative award)
  • Denise Gann, for Crack Open Curiosity
  • Kristi Kriegel, for STEM Toys

These projects represent a wide range of classroom needs. At the elementary level, grants like Kindergarten Explorers and Crack Open Curiosity help educators build tactile learning experiences designed to spark discovery and support emerging scientific thinking. Grants can fund everything from lab materials to nature-focused tools that students might not otherwise get to use.

Likewise, STEM Building Bins and STEM Toys give students access to building materials and engineering-focused activities. While small in cost, these items help teachers introduce experimentation, trial-and-error learning and problem-solving at an age where curiosity is still the driver.

For older students, Genius Hour gives learners time to explore interest-based projects that go beyond traditional instruction, encouraging independent research and creative problem-solving. And Bringing Real-World Spanish to the Classroom allows students to connect language learning with community and culture, helping them understand how a second language functions outside the textbook.

Across the region, NCEF says it sees educators searching for ways to bring engagement and hands-on learning into the classroom. The grant program is designed for teachers who want to try something new but need resources to make it happen. The foundation encourages educators to use funding as a way to test ideas that could grow or be replicated in future years.

For Cashmere, this year’s grants highlight a mix of academic enrichment and curiosity-driven exploration, and they represent a commitment to learning that adapts to what excites students most. Whether it’s building structures in a STEM bin, learning Spanish through real interactions or exploring a personal passion during Genius Hour, these teachers are bringing local creativity into Cashmere classrooms.

Readers can view the full list of recipients by clicking here.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media