American Association of School Librarians

Inspire Collection Development Grant Application

Stallings Island Middle School, Martinez Georgia
Emma Stephens- Media Paraprofessional
November 15, 2016
About Stalling Island Middle School and our Vision for the Grant
Stallings Island Middle School is a 6th- 8th grade public middle school in Augusta
Georgia. We have a certified, full-time Media Specialist, as well as a full-time Media
Paraprofessional. We do not have 85% of our students on FRL. We have never
applied for or received this grant.
At Stallings Island Middle School, we have three visually impaired students. In all
three cases, this is their only disability. Two of the students are gifted and all three
are all A-students. Large print books are not sufficient for these students, however,
e-readers that have unlimited zoom, text to speak functions and can also download
audiobooks would greatly serve these students and lead to greater achievement.
There are some e-readers where you can take pictures of book pages, newspapers,
etc. and the e-reader reads the text out loud to you. The idea is that these students
would keep their e-reader for the whole year and that they could utilize it for
textbooks, leisure reading, class assignments and more!
Project PlanWe would purchase 5 of the Kindle Paperwhite Blind and Visually Impaired Reader
Bundles from Amazon. These e-readers would have the Kindle Audio adapter which
allows the reader to navigate the Kindle with a text-speech features as well as an
audio book features. They also have touch exploration which allows readers to
explore content and navigate the Kindle using accessibility gestures and item by
item touch navigation. The Kindle that comes with this bundle also has an
adjustable reading speed which controls the rate of speech at 8 different speeds.
They are also equipped with VoiceView tutorials that help navigating the Kindle
easier. These also offer Wifi connection which would aid in the students utilizing
them in their other classes.
We are planning on purchasing 5 to meet the needs of future visually impaired
students, as well as offer them to other students to check out and use as e-readers
and electronic devices.
This grant would immediately reach our three vision impaired students but would
have school wide positive implications.
The deadline for this grant is February 1 st 2017. If we receive the grant I would hope
to have the e-readers purchased and ready for students by April 1 st. We would allow
the three visually impaired students to take their e-readers home over the summer
to become further acclimated with them.

Staff InvolvedEmma Stephens- Media Paraprofessional

Ms. Stephens graduated in 2008 with her bachelors degree from Georgia Southern
University in Studio Art- Photography. She taught pre-kindergarten and then worked
at a law firm for two years. In late 2012 she decided to return to school to get her
Masters in Instructional Technology with the plan on becoming a Media Specialist.
While she was in graduate school she got the best job with the most ideal
experience as the Media Paraprofessional at SIMS. Ms. Stephens coaches basketball,
loves sports, her dog Tyson and to read!
Annie Kaigler- Media Specialist
Mrs. Kaigler graduated in 2002 with BFA in Speech Communications, then with her
M.Ed. in Instructional Technology in 2003 and then her Ed.S. in 2006 in Educational
Leadership. She has been the Media Specialist at SIMS for 8 years. She has 3
daughters, Audrey Elizabeth, Charlotte Mae and Julianna Rose and one new baby
boy, Ellis.
Budget5 Kindle Paperwhite- Blind and Visually Impaired Readers Bundles. $139.98 each.
Totaling $699.90.
These bundles include-

Physical Kindle
Wi-Fi
Kindle Audio Adapter
$19.99 account credit for books