One School at a Time: Marquette Montessori wins Martin’s grant

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Marquette Montessori is a South Bend school with around 400 students.

2nd grader Bryce Williams wants to be a scientist someday.

“I want to learn how to be. How to make things,” said Bryce.

Indiana Wiesinger wants to develop video games.

“There’s this video game I really like, it’s called Minecraft,” said Indiana.

Bryce, Indiana and the rest of the kids at Marquette go through a lot of school supplies.

“Pencils. Coloring pencils. Notebooks,” said Bryce.

“Erasers, rulers, stuff like that,” added Indiana.

“As a Montessori school, we have a lot of materials that are very specific to what our children are learning and doing in the classroom,” said Amy Nussbaum, Marquette Montessori Head of School.

And that’s why a lot of teachers end up buying their own supplies…

“As teachers we want to run out and help our kids. And just buy it, but after a while, we just can’t afford it all the time,” said principal Matt Emery.

A solution? The Marquette Montessori PTO developed a grant program to help teachers pay for those extra expenses.

“Just stuff that I wouldn’t normally think about that really does aid in the day to day of making kids successful in the classroom,” said PTO president, Nikki Hammond.

The Martin’s money will help the PTO fund their program, giving a nice boost to their fundraising goals.

“We feel like we’ve done a really good job if we raise a hundred buck so to raise a thousand dollars -it’s just such a blessing. We just don’t see that kind of money come in,” said Hammond.

It’s a welcome boost for South Bend’s future.

“We want to be the best school in South Bend,” said Emery. “We want to provide our children with the best here. And that’s in all facets -extracurricular activities, academic activities. We want the best for our kids.”

Click here to nominate your school for the 2022-2023 school year, One School at a Time grant from Martin’s Super Markets. One School at a Time - Nominate Your School (wndu.com)

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