Education Grant WinnerPeggy Trejo

Communications is an area where students can develop skills such as public speaking, planning, and thinking on your feet when things don’t go as planned or stories change. Knowing the ins-and-outs of communications from broadcasting to writing, to name a few, is also essential for stronger collaboration and moreover building confidence and leadership potential.

Peggy Trejo, educator at Collier Elementary, wanted to continue to round-out her school’s news team by purchasing additional items that would progress her students’ engagement and develop further skills centered around communications. Thanks to Power of the Dollar^® members, she was awarded a $1,000 grant in December 2024 for her “Collier News Team/Media Club”, which she then used to buy high-quality cameras, some wireless microphones, and more!

“Teaching at a Title 1 school, a lot of kids don’t have a Canon camera and they’ve been loving taking pictures with it at all the events that have been going on,” said Trejo. “They’ve learned what they don’t technically learn academically, and they’ve been able to pick up knowledge on the technology side of it!”

The media team has been around for three years, and this year they now have more members than they ever had. With increased inclusion, Ms. Trejo’s club has certainly picked up steam to build longevity at her school. Outside of doing the morning announcements for the whole school to view—check out how they did in year two here—they now are involved in taking pictures for the school yearbook, which illustrates how far they have come from year one. Most importantly, the kids are having fun.

“It’s been wonderful,” she said. “Their speaking skills have gotten way better. They’ve grown so much and come out of their shell!”