Middle School STEAM teacher, Erica Jenkins, received a mini-grant from the Guido A. and Elizabeth Binda Foundation, coordinated by the Calhoun Intermediate School District, allowing her to purchase a Pitsco Structures Testing Instrument.
This school year, 7th-grade STEAM students designed and built balsa wood towers with the goal to build the lightest tower that holds the most weight before it breaks. This new tester, used in High School and College engineering courses and competitions, provides the students with data on where the tower is the weakest, allowing them to improve their designs. The winning tower this quarter held 192 pounds.
Harper Creek Community Schools is grateful to Ms. Jenkins for her time and dedication to creating thoughtful lessons and seeking out new ways to Educate, Empower, and Equip Students for Life.
Seventh-grade STEAM students test their balsa wood towers to see how many pounds they will support.
The Educational Benefits Form (historically known as the Free and Reduced-Price Meals Application) does far more than determine meal eligibility. While universal free meal programs in many states guarantee that every student eats for free, filling out this document remains critical for both the district's operating budget and individual student opportunities.
1. Securing Direct District & Classroom Funding
State and federal funding allocations—such as Title I funds and state equalization grants—are directly calculated based on the percentage of submitted Educational Benefits Forms. Returning these forms ensures schools receive money to pay for:
At Risk: Counselors, Credit Recovery, Paraprofessionals, MTSS and Behavior Academic Interventions, Student Support Specialist
Title: Instructional Coaches, Homeless Help, Professional Development
2. Expanding Community Grants & Tech Discounts
Federal programs rely on school data from these forms to provide steep discounts on internet access, Wi-Fi infrastructure, and hardware for classrooms. Additionally, public and private grant programs often use low-income percentages as a benchmark when deciding which schools receive extra educational grants.
3. Direct Savings for Eligible Families
Qualifying based on the form unlocks direct cost reductions for students, including:
Waived or discounted fees for standardized tests like the SAT, ACT, and AP exams. Fee waivers for college applications. Discounted rates for school athletic participation, club fees, and field trips. Automatic eligibility for household food benefits like Summer EBT.
The Bottom Line
When families skip filling out the form, the district loses out on thousands of dollars. Submitting it ensures the district gets every dollar it is owed to support all students.
Stopfinder September 16, 2026
Harper Creek Transportation Department is launching a parent/guardian app called Stopfinder that will allow parents and guardians to accurately track their children’s school bus in real-time. The easy-to-use app is secure, so only authorized users will have access to school bus information. Stopfinder, created by the district’s routing software company, Transfinder, is free to parents and guardians and allows users to customize when they receive alerts about their children’s bus location. The app is also a two-way communication tool, providing parents with an easy way to communicate quickly with district transportation officials and receive notifications instantly. Because Stopfinder works seamlessly with the district’s routing system, Routefinder Plus, district transportation leaders can target communications to specific regions that may only be relevant for that area. For example, if a road is closed and a bus will be late, only parents/guardians of students affected by that road closure will be contacted.
Harper Creek Middle School STEAM Teacher Grant Recipient May 20, 2025
Seventh-grade students at Harper Creek Middle School are getting hands-on engineering experience thanks to a mini-grant awarded to STEAM teacher Erica Jenkins.
