Teachers at six West Palm Beach public schools won nine GoTeach! grants worth $27,000. Forest Hill High robotics got $5,000. Here is who won and what for.
Teachers at six West Palm Beach public schools won nine GoTeach! classroom grants worth $27,000 this fall. The money pays for projects from a robotics program at Forest Hill Community High School to a science research program at Palm Beach Lakes Community High School.
The Education Foundation of Palm Beach County handed out the grants Thursday, Oct. 29, at its awards night at the Center for Public School Excellence and Innovation in Lake Worth Beach, about nine miles south. The foundation published the full list of 2026 recipients on its event page.
Countywide, more than 130 teachers from 50 schools earned 82 grants worth $207,500 in all, the School District of Palm Beach County said in a news story Thursday. Schools inside West Palm Beach took nine of those grants, about 13% of the money.
The West Palm Beach winners
Our count covers the district schools inside the city limits listed in our West Palm Beach schools guide. Amounts are the award level the foundation set for each grant category.
| School | Teachers | Project | Grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Beach Lakes High | Rachel Wellman, Margarette Marturano and Mary Fish | Empowering Students and Teachers Across Science Research Programs | $5,000 (STEM Innovation) |
| Palm Beach Lakes High | Julius Edwards and Michael Marrero | Mic ON: Empowering Student Voices Through Technology & AI | $3,000 (GoReach! High Impact) |
| Palm Beach Lakes High | Rachel Wellman | Bringing Agricultural Biotechnology to the Classroom | $1,000 (Individual Teacher) |
| Forest Hill High | Matthew Shea | Falcon Robotics: Soaring Beyond Barriers | $5,000 (STEM Innovation) |
| Conniston Middle | Emily Sleezer and Osma Castro | The FinFluencer Frontier: Project Pioneers | $5,000 (FINLIT Innovation) |
| Jeaga Middle | Tacara Ferguson and Ricky Smith | Sow, Grow, & Know: A Garden-to-Table STEM | $3,000 (GoReach! High Impact) |
| Roosevelt Middle | Alma Atkins-Robinson | Finding Our Voices: Building Literacy Through Readers’ Theater and Performance | $3,000 (GoReach! High Impact) |
| Westward Elementary | Marwa Jaber | Stories by Young Authors | $1,000 (Individual Teacher) |
| Westward Elementary | Linda Villarson | Panther Innovators: Design for Good | $1,000 (Individual Teacher) |
Palm Beach Lakes did best of any city school, with three grants worth $9,000. Rachel Wellman is on two of them.
How the grants work
The foundation’s event page lists five award levels:
- Individual Teacher Classroom Grant: $1,000
- Team Teacher Classroom Grant: $1,500
- GoReach! High Impact Classroom Grant: $3,000
- STEM Innovation Award: $5,000
- FINLIT Innovation Award: $5,000
The grants focus on literacy, career education, graduation rates, financial literacy, STEM and support for underperforming students, the foundation said. The district said the money comes from local businesses, individuals and philanthropic groups. A state matching grant program for school district education foundations adds to it.
Schools with a West Palm Beach mailing address outside the city limits are not counted here. They are on the foundation’s full list.
What it means for you
- Parents: if your child is at one of these schools, ask the teacher how the project will run in class this year.
- Know a teacher who deserves credit? The district gives a $500 Thank a Teacher award each week. Nominate someone at palmbeachschools.org/thankateacher, the district said.
- Which school is yours? Our West Palm Beach public schools page lists every city school with its zone and 2026 state grade.
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