Walton Education Foundation

My goal is to overcome the dual challenge of acquiring a new language and reading skills. Many of my students in the 2025-2026 cohort are performing below proficiency benchmarks on key assessments, and demonstrate limited foundational skills necessary for grade level success.
This project will help secure essential multi sensory resources to integrate into my daily instruction. Visual and tactile learning materials enable our English Language Learners to see, touch, and master the abstract sounds and structure of English.

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From Sounds to Success

School:
Dune Lakes Elementary School 
Subject:
Low Performing Students 
Teacher:
olga Galvan 
Students Impacted:
29 
Grade:
K-5 
Date:
October 9, 2025
Deadline:
October 10, 2025

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

 

The Alys Foundation - $1,000.00

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Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 28

As we reach the end of the 2025–2026 school year, I’m filled with such pride looking back at how far my 2nd–5th grade ESOL and Newcomer students have come. At the beginning of our journey, the English language often felt like an overwhelming puzzle of abstract sounds and unfamiliar rules. Many of my sweet students were performing below grade-level benchmarks, facing the daunting dual task of learning a new language while trying to find their skills as readers. Thanks to this grant, our classroom was transformed into a vibrant, hands-on workshop. The Multisensory Structured Literacy items to create a Toolkit has been a gift that allowed my students to finally hold the language in their hands. Whether they were feeling the shape of a letter, hearing their own voices through sound phones, or building words on magnetic boards, they moved past the hurdles and into a world of discovery through sight, touch, and sound. Confidence is Blooming. Teachers working with these students have shared great feedback noticing a surge in confidence as students get better at decoding and word recognition. During a recent visit, our District Coordinator for Instructional Support was moved to see just how engaged and happy the students were as they used their new manipulatives to unlock the secrets of phonics. As we head into the testing season, my fellow teachers and I are filled with anticipation. We have seen the daily progress in their composition journals and heard the clarity in their voices. We expect to see significant growth that reflects the hard work they’ve put in all year. More than just "tools", these materials have given my students the chance to feel successful, capable, and seen. We are closing this year with hearts full of gratitude and a classroom of readers who are ready to shine.

 

Original Grant Overview

Goal

My goal is to overcome the dual challenge of acquiring a new language and reading skills. Many of my students in the 2025-2026 cohort are performing below proficiency benchmarks on key assessments, and demonstrate limited foundational skills necessary for grade level success.
This project will help secure essential multi sensory resources to integrate into my daily instruction. Visual and tactile learning materials enable our English Language Learners to see, touch, and master the abstract sounds and structure of English.
 

 

Category

Learning Aids - Sunshine state book sets, robotics kits, puzzle boards, science models, engineering supplies, etc. 

 

What will be done with my students

My students will receive explicit, systematic, and engaging instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics using the multi sensory materials provided by this grant.
Students will use magnetic letters to physically map the sounds they hear in words. Sound tubs help students connect the sound to a tangible item. Whiteboards offer a low stakes environment to be able to quickly erase and rewrite as they sound out a word, encouraging rapid correction during dictation practice. Composition Journals provide a space for students to apply phonics skills to meaningful writing. Word Building boards help students build words they hear, encouraging them to segment the spoken word into individual sounds and select the correct corresponding letter. Sound phones help students focus on the sounds they are producing. Implementation and Instruction will be ongoing during Fall 2025 – Spring 2026.
 

 

Benefits to my students

The use of multisensory materials directly addresses the abstract nature of the English language structure, which is a major hurdle for English Language Learners. My goal is to reduce the percentage of students performing below proficiency on the district's final reading benchmark by 10 percentage points. 80 % of my students will demonstrate an average gain of 15 percentage points in phonemic awareness scores from the Fall 2025 baseline. 

 

Budget Narrative

These items form a complete Multisensory Structured Literacy Toolkit, ensuring that every English Language Learner student receives explicit, systematic, and engaging instruction by activating the auditory, visual, and tactile pathways. Thank you !
 

 

Items

# Item Cost
1 Classic Primary Composition Book - Set of 10 $86.99
2 Hear Myself Sound Phone - Set of 10 $59.99
3 Double Sided Magnetic Write & Wipe Board - Set of 10 $98.99
4 Phonics Magnetic Word Building Boards - Complete Set $159.99
5 Fill-In-The-Blank Phonics Stamps - Set 2 $49.99
6 Alphabet Sounds Teaching Tubs $199.99
7 Classroom Magnetic Letters Kit $99.98
8 Beginner’s Reading Trackers - Set of 30 $19.99
9 Blends & Digraphs Teaching Tubs $109.99
10 S/H $114.10
  Total: $1,000.00

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Special Thanks to Our Presenting Partners

CHELCO

The Alys Foundation

St. Joe Community Foundation

Florida Power & Light

Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa