Scott Fadness visited classrooms across the Hamilton Southeastern Schools district as the school year wrapped up to announce more than $88,500 in funding through the City of Fishers’ Educator Innovation Grant program.
The program, launched in 2024, is designed to provide teachers with financial support to introduce innovative learning opportunities into the classroom. Since its creation, the City of Fishers has awarded 28 grants totaling $473,093.
City officials say the grants have supported projects at every grade level across the district, including makerspaces, STEM programs, virtual reality, film and media instruction, English as a New Language (ENL) initiatives, and teacher professional development.
This latest round of funding focuses heavily on expanding technology and hands-on learning opportunities at both Fishers High School and Hamilton Southeastern High School.
Among the grant recipients:
• Jeffrey Fronius of Fishers High School’s Engineering Department received $13,900 to purchase a laser cutter for engineering and robotics programs. The equipment will allow students to design and fabricate projects on campus rather than traveling elsewhere for hands-on experience. The tool will also support the school’s FRC #5010 Tiger Dynasty Robotics Team, which recently earned finalist honors and the FIRST Engineering Inspiration Award at a statewide competition.
• Braden Tribolet and Adam Good of Fishers High School’s Media and Marketing Department received $59,854 to modernize the school’s media program. The grant will fund drones, podcasting equipment, professional-grade cameras, and stabilization equipment aimed at helping students develop portfolios aligned with collegiate and industry expectations.
• Lisa Brown of Fishers High School’s Photography and Yearbook programs received $12,933 for two professional-grade cameras. The equipment will be used to capture images for the yearbook, student newspaper, social media channels, and district art shows while giving students experience with professional-level photography tools.
• Risa Petty of Hamilton Southeastern High School received $1,820 to establish a switch-accessible Office and Garden Work Zone for special education students. The project is intended to help students build vocational independence and workplace skills through the use of adaptive tools that simulate real-world office and gardening tasks.
Grant applications are reviewed by a committee made up of former HSE educators, local entrepreneurs, and HSE alumni. City officials say applications are accepted on a rolling basis with no funding cap for project requests.
The next round of Educator Innovation Grants is scheduled to be awarded in the fall of 2026.