EAST PALESTINE – A grant awarded to a mere 20 schools in the nation is still paying dividends for the village school district.

The “Champion Creatively Alive Children” grant through Crayola and the National Association of Elementary School Principals was awarded to the East Palestine Middle School last year.

While the middle school was a recipient of the grant, the funding was for art integration in curriculum throughout the district. The middle school has not had an art program the last three years.

Elementary teacher Susan Wagner said the grant has allowed staff from all three buildings to collaborate in a way they otherwise wouldn’t have.

Teachers at the elementary, middle and high schools can typically go an entire year without seeing one another, she said, so the grant brought them together on a fun project that reaped rewards for the district – and even the community.

Teachers met to learn how to use artwork in their classrooms, with help from elementary art teacher Jackie Bader.

The district received a little more than $3,000 for the art integration, taught by teachers in all subjects. The grant funds innovative programs aimed at fostering students’ critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication skills through artwork.

About $2,500 in cash was earmarked for the cost of substitutes needed for the collaborative aspect and required professional development of the program, and $1,000 was designated for supplies.

Artwork created in the classrooms was then displayed in businesses in the downtown area.

“It was been really well received downtown,” she said, adding that the artwork even drew some people into the stores.

Some artwork was even geared toward aspects of the businesses they would be displayed in, for example, a “patchwork quilt” of different squares of artwork was displayed in Serendipity.

The artwork quilt’s theme was Ohio, with students asked to draw what are some things that are special about the state?

“We were really able to cover a lot of first grade social studies and sciences,” Wagner said.

Wagner presented the results of the art integration to the board at its recent meeting, and said there is still some money and materials left over.

“Our goal is to continue this next year … the money that is earmarked for the teachers for their supplies will probably carry it out at least two years,” she said.

In other business at the recent board meeting, the board approved:

– Alyssa Henderson and Sarrah Matesevac as certified substitutes.

– One-year supplemental contracts for Bonnie Sansenbaugher, CLEAR Adviser and high school science club co-adviser, Lisa Bircher, high school science club co-adviser and high school academic challenge adviser, Sunny Brick, freshman class adviser, Amy Goodchild, sophomore class adviser, Abigail miller, pep club adviser, and Rich Cyrus, incentive scholarship adviser.

– A supplemental contract for Amy St. Clair, freshman class adviser.

– One day without pay for Ron Dunn on Feb. 13.

– The high school academic challenge team to Atlanta, Ga., April 24-27.

– Alexus Robb as an open enrollment student from Columbiana.

– A one-year agreement with ACCESS for wireless products and service, at a cost of $14,775 for wireless Internet, $41,755 for domain name service and dynamic host configuration protocol and $11,631 for the Ohio Uniform School Accounting System, Uniform Staff Payroll System, Education Management Information System, and Student Information System, each to be paid on a monthly basis through June 2016.