Teacher Spotlight: Innovative Grant Winner Nathan Busse

Bonham Academy’s 7th-grade ELAR teacher Nathan Busse was awarded an Innovative Grant from the SAISD Foundation to support his “Spotlight on Creative Writing” project. With this grant, Mr. Busse was able to obtain a document camera to allow students to view each other’s work, a bulletin board, notebooks, and erasable gel pens to kickstart his project. His goal is to get their literary journals, creative collaboration spaces and Open Mic Night back up and running after COVID.

Mr. Busse also collaborates with Gemini Ink, a San Antonio nonprofit whose goal is “To teach the craft of writing to children and adults of all skill levels. On this day, Joy Jimenez was in the classroom assisting students with their narratives. She started the class off with a three-minute writing warm-up where students were given a sentence and asked to cut it down using 6-8 words while still making it “most interesting”. Throughout the lesson, students were actively engaged and participated in sharing their work. 

Providing a safe space for students to collaborate allows them the opportunity to express themselves through their work. 

Mr. Busse stated, “I can already see that students are more willing to share their writing. Due to the pandemic, students lost the flexibility and resiliency that comes with putting their words out there for others to see. As we recover, I think students sharing their thoughts, and especially their writing, will bring them further out of their shell and help them engage with those people and issues around them.”

To support more teachers like Mr. Busse, visit https://saisdfoundation.com/donate/ and make your gift!