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Jeff Crapper Awarded NWPE New Classroom Start Up Grant
posted by: Cindy Omlin | February 28, 2014, 12:55 AM   


Congratulations to Mr. Jeff Crapper, an NWPE member and science teacher at Five Oaks Middle School in Beaverton, OR.
 

jeff crapper clipMr. Crapper will use the funds to purchase basic, but essential science supplies, such as lab glassware and equipment.  Northwest Professional Educators is happy to provide Mr. Crapper with this New Classroom Start-Up Grant to enhance student learning.


Mr. Crapper, who is also a licensed minister, says he loves working in a school like Five Oaks Middle School because he can witness miracles happen. “Many of my students experience significant obstacles in their lives and must demonstrate an incredible amount of resiliency. I strongly believe that receiving a quality education is one of the few ways my students can overcome many of the destructive cycles that prevent them from reaching their full potential.”

Seeing his students excel far beyond his imagining has been his greatest satisfaction as an educator.  For example, one of the students whom he actively mentored was selected as one of the 1000 students nationwide for the Gates Millennium Scholarship.  He also mentored and taught two Oregon Ford Family Scholars as well. Mr. Crapper notes that, “All three students were an incredible inspiration to me, escaping tremendous poverty and overcoming significant adversity to be some of the first people in their family to even graduate from high school. Now, all three students are attending college and plan on entering the medical field, hoping to give back to their community.”


Mr. Crapper believes that cooperation and responsibility are two keys to advancing the professionalism of educators. He also thinks that “unless teachers take more ownership in their professional responsibility, I believe the students will continue to suffer.”  He feels that educators need to demonstrate and exhibit the same type of resiliency during these difficult financial times that are expected from students.  “Instead of merely complaining about our situation and circumstances regarding education funding, I strongly feel teachers can use this recent financial adversity as an opportunity to break the complacency that has infiltrated the education field and develop new, cost-effective and academically-effective instructional techniques.”

NWPE membership is important to Mr. Crapper because it allows him to be a part of a teaching association more focused on assisting teachers than politics. “As a licensed minister, I cannot morally support many of the non-education issues that the Oregon Education Association advocates for politically. NWPE provides me the professional support that I need without having to compromise my values and beliefs as a means of obtaining liability insurance as an educator.”

NWPE is proud to reward educators like Mr. Crapper for their hard work and creativity in the classroom. His award is well-deserved as he seeks ways to increase student achievement.

NWPE awards teacher scholarships and classroom grants up to $500 and $250 new classroom start-up grants. All educators are eligible for the awards although NWPE members receive first preference.  The next application deadline is October 1, 2014. See more at www.nwpe.org.

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