Sometimes, all it takes is a black Sharpie and a blank page to help a student see herself differently.
At CA Frost Environmental Science Academy, one student initially pushed back when her English teacher, Bea McPherson, introduced a blackout poetry project. “I can’t do poetry. I’m not a poet,” she said. But with the right materials and the freedom to create, she carved a poem from the pages of The Outsiders—and created something she was so proud of that she shared it with her other teachers. “I didn’t think of myself as a poet before I made this poem,” she later reflected.
That moment is exactly what McPherson hoped to create through her $500 GRPS Foundation Teacher Innovation Fund mini-grant. The grant provided her classroom with art supplies and hands-on materials that transformed literary analysis into opportunities for students to create, interpret, and express themselves in new ways.
Students used Sharpies, stickers, cardstock, markers, collage materials, construction paper, and other supplies to create blackout poetry, one-pagers, collages, illustrations, and more. While these projects encouraged creativity, they also required students to dig deeply into the texts they were reading—identifying themes, using text evidence, interpreting imagery, and communicating their ideas.
For McPherson, creativity is an essential part of learning. The projects gave students who may not consider themselves artistic a way to participate and succeed. A student could use stickers to create a title, markers to illustrate an idea, or collage materials to bring a theme to life. The variety of materials made creative expression accessible to everyone.
The grant also supported a memorable field trip to a local thrift and antique store. Students explored the store, found objects that sparked their curiosity, and then imagined the stories behind them. They developed fictional narratives about who might have owned each object and how it ended up in the store—turning an ordinary shopping trip into an engaging writing experience.
More than 150 students benefited from McPherson’s grant, and the response was enthusiastic. One student asked if she could take her The Fault in Our Stars constellation project home because she wanted to display it in her bedroom. Another thanked McPherson for bubble-text stickers because she no longer worried that her handwriting would be too small for her title.
These may seem like small moments, but they represent something much bigger: students discovering that their ideas have value and that they are capable of creating something meaningful.
McPherson plans to continue these projects this year and have students maintain portfolios of their work so they can see their growth and take their creative accomplishments with them.
Through Teacher Innovation Fund mini-grants, the GRPS Foundation gives GRPS teachers the resources to turn innovative ideas into experiences that engage students and expand what is possible in the classroom. At CA Frost, a $500 grant helped turn literature into something students could see, touch, create—and make their own.
Your support makes these moments possible. When you invest in the GRPS Foundation, you help teachers bring creative ideas to life and give GRPS scholars opportunities to discover new ways to learn, express themselves, and thrive.
