Selection of Recent Grant Highlights
Long Way Down: Sparking Interest in Poetry, Lauren Deal, FFHS English 1 Teacher (9th Grade). $210; Funding for a class set – 30 copies – of Jason Reynolds’ free verse novel Long Way Down.
Reading Recovery Books, Angela Dowdy, MES 1st Grade. $500; Reading Recovery books for early intervention for the 12 lowest performing students in grade level.
Self Portrait and Medium Projects, Lynn Ramirez, NHES Art Teacher. $746.81; Art materials in various media so that students can create self-portraits. This project will encompass the entire student body.
Upgrade of Labpros for Better Student Accessibility, Ray Richards, FFHS Honors Chemistry/AP Chemistry teacher. $2327; New equipment will replace old data collection hardware in the chemistry lab; this system will connect directly with student chromebooks. Students will gain technology experience with systems similar to what is used at the college level.
Let’s Get Interactive, Shannon Gavetti, CHES EC teacher. $1000; Purchased a MimeoBoard for the EC classroom, to support interactive classroom engagement.
Improving Student Announcements, AJ Adams, FFMS, $2500; Desktop computer editing stations/software and Digital Camera so that students can create, film, produce, and edit school-wide weekly announcements.
21st Century Storytelling: Middle School Podcasting, Suzanne Blackstock and Hilary Braden, FFMS, $1150; Students will learn about educational podcasts, and eventually create their own history podcasts involving community members. Grant will fund purchase of equipment as well as a teacher account to facilitate the creation of podcasts.
“You’ve Been Booked” program for Hispanic Heritage Month in Fall 2022, Ellen Bryson, On behalf of all DCS Elementary Schools, $2500; Bags of theme-centric books around Hispanic cultures will be given to each elementary school and will be rotated throughout grade levels. Books are a combination of fiction, non-fiction, maps, flags, and activities.
“Bridges” to Math Intervention, Katie Blanchard, NHES, $1900; Funds the Bridges math intervention program that guides instruction for small groups of students. CHES already successfully uses this program; all other elementary schools have funded it for their schools.
The Walking Classroom, Ellen Bryson and David Dvorin, KHES, $2000: Providing students and teachers with an innovative way to get exercise without sacrificing instructional time because students walk while listening to curated podcasts about science. literacy, health, and other topics.
Student Exploration through Virtual Reality, Charlotte Hester, FFES, $1857: This project is to engage students through three-dimensional, virtual experiences allowing them to explore content beyond the classroom walls.
Exploring Evidence and Fun with Forensics, Carrie Housenecht and Brian Wehner, MMS, $1750: This project will enable students to immerse themselves in hypothetical crime scenes and will solve the crimes using scientific tests and observations.
Engaging Early Readers through Authentic Decodable Books, Rhys Lamberg, MES, $978.48: Providing authentic decodable books to beginning readers to build word tackling skills, comprehension skills, and a love of stories.
Exploring the World Through a Lens, $1200.
Teachers: Kim Dickson MMS 7th Grade Science, Jake Bryson FFMS 7th Grade Science.
All 7th grade science students at MMS and FFMS will benefit. Grant will cover 4 digital microscopes that can be clearly projected on a screen, which can be used in remote learning as well as face-to-face, with only the instructor handling the equipment.