Best Place to Work
Firstmark has been named a Best Place to Work for five years in a row!
Advanced technology is a hot commodity in today’s society. From electric cars to artificial intelligence, human beings continue to evolve and be as innovative as we can be. For students, getting involved within this realm at an early age is extremely beneficial to stay in rhythm with this pattern—that’s a lot why STEM is so popular now.
Alisha Stults, educator at Memorial Elementary in New Braunfels, envisioned developing a STEM club for her students, where she would include activities such as coding, engineering, circuits, and other hands-on learning initiatives. Thanks to Power of the Dollar® members, she was awarded a $1,000 grant in December 2025 for her “Math & Makerspace: The Perfect Combination” project idea, which she then used the grant funds to purchase squishy circuit dough, copper tape, LED diodes, slide puzzles, coding games, magnatiles, and more!
“I applied for the Firstmark grant because we’re a Title 1 school and we can always use extra money to provide services and different experiences to our students,” said Stultz. “They don’t often get these kinds of experiences, so any time we can get extra money to help supplement that income, or that budget that we have, it helps our students, and it helps them grow.”
When Ms. Stultz’s class is involved with the resources she’s provided with the grant money, wow, are they ever interested and excited to jump right into it! Their collaboration is off the charts. Each student brings an attribute that will help their fellow classmates get through each task. Mixing and matching different qualities, students are learning not just from the STEM subjects but the STEM environment, working together to achieve the solution. And it’s creating a buzz within the district, with students talking glowingly about the newly revamped makerspace!
“The activities that we’re able to do with these grants really help our students because it gives them an opportunity to learn,” she said. “What’s great about this is, I start them off and then I let them do; that way, they learn by doing—they learn from their peers. When you’re learning from a peer, sometimes you learn better than when you’ve listened to your teacher all day long. So, it’s very tactical. They’re going to be talking about it for days to come, telling other students who couldn’t come … it just builds up interest!”
Looking to help local schools, invest in your community, and support educators like Alisha Stults? Make a tangible positive impact by joining the collective giving of our Power of the Dollar® membership.
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Firstmark has been named a Best Place to Work for five years in a row!
Firstmark has been named a Best Place to Work for five years in a row!