Barona Band Of Mission Indians Awards Johnson Elementary School $5,000 Grant For Swivl Technology

Henry C. Johnson Elementary School students hold a replica of a $5,000 Grant For Swivl Technology. Courtesy photo

SAN DIEGO–The Barona Band of Mission Indians has awarded students and teachers at Henry C. Johnson Elementary School in San Diego a $5,000 Barona Education Grant.

The public elementary school will use the grant to purchase innovative Swivl C5 classroom technology to advance education for students.

The grant was sponsored by California State Senator Toni Atkins. Barona Tribal Vice Chairman Ray Welch presented the $5,000 check to students and Principal Tracey Jenkins-Martin.

“Due to budget cuts, faculty at Johnson Elementary work to meet the needs of all students through more group work and projects in the classroom,” said Edwin “Thorpe” Romero, Chairman of the Barona Band of Mission Indians. “Our Tribe is honored to present this grant to provide teachers with the latest technology available to assess student learning in an evolving classroom environment.”

Henry C. Johnson Elementary is a unique neighborhood magnet school for K through 5th grade students in the Emerald Hills community of San Diego.

Since the Barona Education Grant program was launched in 2006, Barona has awarded over $3.4 million to California schools statewide. The program has equipped 689 schools with hundreds of computers, thousands of books, iPads, computer software programs and various other technologies and school supplies.

The Barona Education Grant program is the first of its kind in California created and administered by a Tribal Government. The goal of the program is to create strong educational opportunities for the children of California building upon the success of the Barona Indian Charter School, which operates under a continuous improvement model.

Schools throughout California can apply for educational grants from Barona to purchase much-needed supplies and materials that promote academic improvement. Each grant awarded by the Barona Education Grant Program is $5,000. Applications can be downloaded at http://barona-nsn.gov/education.