Past Educator Grant Recipients

2025–2026 Grant Recipients (so far!)

For the 2025–26 school year, xMinds has already distributed nearly $8,000 to 79 educators, directly impacting the daily lives of more than 1,250 autistic students in Montgomery County. Our early-year grant cycles have focused on providing immediate "day one" supports, allowing teachers to customize their classrooms to meet the unique sensory and academic profiles of their new students. We continue to see a high demand for tools that foster both emotional regulation and cognitive engagement in inclusive settings.

Grantees have utilized their funds to purchase a sophisticated range of materials, moving beyond basic supplies to high-utility items like noise-canceling headphones for auditory sensitivity and problem-solving puzzles designed to build critical thinking. Sensory regulation remains a significant priority, with many educators using their grants to assemble "on-the-go" sensory bags—portable kits that allow students to maintain focus while transitioning between different school environments. Other popular items included tactile squishy figures and pop-it boards, which provide the subtle motor input many students need to stay grounded during classroom instruction.

In addition to physical materials, this year’s educators are increasingly seeking resources that promote student autonomy. This includes the purchase of visual schedules and individual task boxes, which help students manage their own workloads with less teacher prompting. By providing these targeted funds early in the school year, xMinds is ensuring that MoCo educators have the specific, hands-on tools necessary to create a predictable and supportive learning environment from the very first bell.

2024–2025 Grant Recipients

 In 2024–25, xMinds continued its commitment to supporting neurodiverse classrooms by distributing over $6,000 to educators across Montgomery County. Our "Back-to-School Kickoff" campaign remained a vital resource for teachers looking to create more inclusive environments. This year, we saw a particular focus on bridging the gap between general education and specialized support, ensuring autistic students had the tools to succeed alongside their peers.

Grantees purchased a diverse array of teaching materials, ranging from flexible seating options like floor rockers and surf desks to literacy-building tools such as interactive adapted books. Visual supports were a high priority, with many teachers using funds for laminators, Velcro, and visual timers to help students navigate daily transitions. To support sensory regulation, educators outfitted their rooms with weighted lap pads, light filters to reduce classroom glare, and specialized "calm-down" kits designed to help students de-escalate without leaving the classroom.

Professional development grants remained a cornerstone of our mission this year. Educators used their funding to attend high-impact trainings, including the Social Thinking® conference and workshops on Universal Design for Learning (UDL). By funding these opportunities, xMinds helped ensure that MoCo educators are equipped with the most current, evidence-based strategies to foster independence and social connection for their autistic students.

2023–2024 Grant Recipients

In 2023–24, xMinds expanded its reach by distributing over $12,500 in funding to support autistic students across Montgomery County. This school year was marked by a significant focus on vocational readiness and life-skills transition, particularly for students in secondary programs. With the help of our "Cash for Your Classroom" campaign, educators were able to move beyond standard supplies to acquire specialized tools that help students bridge the gap between the classroom and the community.

A standout theme this year was the use of grants to provide dignity and autonomy through assessment. Educators purchased assessments for transition Interviews and interest inventory kits to better align IEP goals with students’ actual career and recreational interests. In the classroom, funding was used for a variety of high-impact tactile materials, including cube chairs for specialized seating and solar system floor puzzles that integrated sensory play with the new reading curriculum. Teachers also prioritized emotional regulation by stocking their rooms with "transformer fidgets" and other tools designed to keep students’ hands busy so their focus could remain on instruction.

Professional development grants this year allowed educators to deepen their expertise in evidence-based practices for complex learners. Staff utilized funding to access specialized training such as the Learn Play Thrive neurodiversity-affirming workshops. Other educators used their grants to attend the Social Thinking® conference and the Maryland Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) conference.

2022–2023 Grant Recipients

xMinds continued its popular “Cash for Your Classroom” campaign in 2022-23, distributing nearly $10,000 to 95 educators of autistic students in Montgomery County. We awarded 87 grants, each up to $100, to help educators purchase materials that support autistic students. We awarded another eight grants, each up to $250, for trainings on how to support autistic learners.

Grantees purchased a range of teaching materials with the funds, everything from the Zones of Regulation curriculum to help students develop self-regulation and emotional control, to household items, including a countertop burner, silverware, and a clothing rack, to teach life skills to secondary school students. Sensory materials were particularly popular, with teachers using their funds to purchase hammock chairs, stress balls, Play-Doh, sensory string, and more.

Educators who received grants toward trainings, tapped into a number of different programs, including the Learn It Today, Use It Tomorrow! course on improving students' executive function skills and the Meaningful Speech course on how to support children with delayed echolalia (scripting).

2021–2022 Grant Recipients

In 2021–22, xMinds distributed nearly $18,000 to 165 Montgomery County educators to purchase classroom materials geared toward autistic students and attend trainings on how to better support these learners. Thanks to our generous donors, we increased funding this school year and helped more educators than ever before. We were thrilled to receive a $9,250 grant from the Women Who Care of Lower Montgomery County giving circle, who recognized the importance of our work.

We started the school year with our Cash for Classrooms campaign, which awarded grants of up to $100 to purchase materials that support autistic students, such as noise-canceling headphones, weighted vests, fidgets, beanbag chairs, standing desks, wobble stools, hand-strengthening tools to help with handwriting, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) apps that help nonverbal students express themselves. With the need for classroom supports still pressing, we launched our Winter Wish List campaign to supply more classroom materials and fund professional trainings. One educator used the funds to earn certification as an Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist, while another is attending a weeklong institute on using AAC with students who have Cortical Visual Impairment. After a year of virtual education, MoCo educators were excited this year to be back in the classroom with much-needed hands-on materials and fresh teaching strategies.

Photos: (Top) Elizabeth Nardin, a teacher in the School Community Based program at Gaithersburg High School, put her grant toward a yearlong project in which her students built a Butterfly Sensory Garden. The students engaged in job skills and created a peaceful spot at the school for students to enjoy. (Bottom) Michelle Kerbel used her grant to purchase daily planners to keep her students organized and help them develop executive functioning skills.

2020 Grant Recipients

In February 2020, xMinds awarded two MCPS educators grants to attend the NESTCON2020 conference in New York City. NestCon is a bi-annual conference to share lessons learned in the highly-successful New York City Public School system’s Autism inclusion program called “ASD Nest.” MCPS instructional specialist Dr. Susan Mason and MCPS special education teacher Claire Lanham joined xMinds Executive Director, Sue Keisler, and xMinds Advisory Board member, Monica Martinez, at the conference. We heard from educators, researchers, administrators, and autistic self-advocates who were involved with the Nest Program. We were also excited when we learned that New York University, who provides professional development and support to the Nest program, will launch a new program in September to support schools that want to start their own ASD Nest programs. In October 2020, xMinds funded 11 para-educators and 1 occupational therapist to attend the 7th Annual Innovators in Education Conference, titled Emotions Count: From Research to Practice.  All the grant recipients support autistic students in MCPS, some in special education programs and some in general education. They heard speakers present on a range of important topics, such as the importance of friendships in learning, how to encourage internal motivation, how to support mental wellness with positive psychology and understanding anxiety. 2019 Grant Recipients Sligo Creek Elementary School hired two new teachers for their Asperger Program for the 2019-2020 school year. Thanks to an xMinds Educator grant, Marguerite Fitch and Liana Rouse, were able to attend Unstuck and On Target training at the Ivymount School before the start of the school year. Unstuck and On Target is a foundational intervention for the MCPS Asperger program.    In October 2019, xMinds partnered with the Center for Communication and Learning to fund MCPS educators to attend the 6th Annual Innovators in Education Conference. Thanks to xMinds, the staff of the Brook Grove Elementary School Learning Center were able to attend the conference as a team to learn cutting age strategies for their Learning Center teaching students.