Sharon Manley

Manley’s innovative teaching idea, “Pioneer Playhouse,” focuses on creating a space for the neighborhood children of Terre Town Elementary to play games, engage in arts and craft activities, play basketball, read books, and roller skate. With the Voya grant, the team will take a retired school bus and remodel it to enable a space for creating, reading and playing. The bus will drive to lower-income areas with a goal of building community relations between the school and the families in which it serves. Currently, many families are not able to attend school activities due to lack of transportation. The remodeled bus would allow Manley to bring these families to the school. In the end, the she believes the students will not only have an opportunity to play, but will engage in positive interactions with the staff and the local community will become stronger.