Super Bowl Champion Brandon McManus, kicker for the Denver Broncos and North Penn High School (NPHS) Class of 2009 graduate is kick-starting super ideas in the North Penn School District (NPSD) by recently funding $25,000 in staff-inspired projects that will help NPSD students reach their goals in all areas of their lives and education.
Through a newly created program called the Brandon McManus Kick-Start Grant, staff members at NPSD were encouraged to submit proposals for groundbreaking projects. McManus received 25 great ideas and worked with district administration to review each grant application. After careful consideration, Brandon recently announced that he and his wife, Nadia, will be funding eight exciting programs initiated by the staff at NPSD to support the learning of students of all ages.
Congratulations to the following grant recipients: Chelsea Beck, Knapp Elementary; Melanie Baker, Bridle Path Elementary; Nicole Lanetti, Oak Park Elementary; Janine Bertoti, Gwyn-Nor Elementary; Maria Stratton, North Wales Elementary; Julie Ortlieb, Inglewood Elementary; Megan Schoppe, NPHS; and Joanna Boland, A.M. Kulp Elementary.
The Brandon McManus Kick-Start Grant will support a wide range of programs in eight schools reaching both elementary and secondary level students. Bridle Path Elementary School students will be kick-starting their library lessons with the use of Sphero Robots to promote coding, programming, and nurture imagination by exploring the world of robotics. The relationship between pulse rate, stress and performance will be measured and examined by students at Gwyn-Nor Elementary School with the use of Face Lake Blue Pulse Oximeters.
Flexible seating devices and standing desks will be introduced to classrooms at A.M. Kulp, North Wales, Knapp and Oak Park elementary schools allowing students to be comfortable, calm, focused and productive while promoting collaborative and discussion-based group work.
In support of NPSD's commitment to inclusion, the Brandon McManus Kick-Start Grant will fund the addition of an adapted swing to the swing set on the playground at Inglewood Elementary School for students with disabilities. And finally, McManus will give back to his roots in the athletic department at NPHS by providing warm-up jackets for the Unified Track Team.
"I want to thank everyone who submitted an application," said McManus in a letter to NPSD staff. "I hope that my initial donation will make an immediate positive impact in our schools, but please know I intend to continue this support at an equal level next school year."
In addition to McManus' $25,000 donation for the 2018-2019 school year through the Kick-Start Grant program, he has committed to funding an additional $25,000 in grants to be implemented in the 2019-2020 school year. Staff members at North Penn will have another opportunity to apply for a grant at the start of the new school year.
"With that in mind I hope you will start thinking now about what I might be able to support in your classroom, school or department come this September," McManus said to NPSD staff.
The NPSD is thrilled to accept this generous donation from Brandon and Nadia McManus and looks forward to bringing these innovative ideas to life. It is the hope of both NPSD and Brandon McManus that he will return to his Alma Mater in the near future to see these exciting projects in action.