Oak Hill Elementary School first-grade teacher Renae Hernandez is a top 10 finalist for a $10,000 grant called the Rather Prize, which annually recognizes the best idea for improving Texas education.
The grant would go toward materials and teacher training at Oak Hill for a program called Blast Foundations.
The program, a phonics and phonemic literacy training, is designed for students in kindergarten through second grade. It aims to teach students how to read using physical and verbal cues in addition to learning letters. The goal of the program is to increase literacy and improve instruction among varied levels of learners.
Votes are being accepted through Feb. 15. Each person can . Hernandez's project is idea No. 8.
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Former television news anchor Dan Rather and his grandson Martin Rather, author of "The High School Truth," are the co-founders of the Rather Prize.
The prize is open to teachers, students, administrators and those who attended a Texas educational institution within the past three years.
Eastside Memorial High School won the 2016 Rather Prize for its STEP Up Challenge proposal.
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