DEF Spring 2022 Grant Recipients

HACT Shack Free Little Library, Jennifer Augustson, CHES Librarian. $695.71;  A Little Free Library will be installed on the playground at CHES. The free book exchange will promote reading culture on the campus of CHES and also in the community.

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.  Book set could be shared with other English 1 classes.

Reading Recovery Books, Angela Dowdy, MES 1st Grade. $500; Reading Recovery books for early intervention for the 12 lowest performing students in grade level.

Classroom Headphones, Beverly Hagy and Jessea Waterfield, CHES 3rd Grade.  $294.64; 30 headphones to be used in 3rd grade classrooms. Headphones are requested on Supply List each year but not all families are able to purchase high-quality headphones for their children.

5th Grade Math Hands-On, Small Group Instruction, Laura Piland, NHES 5th Grade Math.  $1000; Manipulatives to use in the math classroom to allow students to learn math concepts using a hands-on approach.

21st Century Active Learning, Marianne Lowe and Hillary Braden, FFMS interventionist and Instructional Technology Facilitator.  $1700; Portable dry-erase boards and carts in order to facilitate small group, collaborative learning in math classroom.

AVID 11 College Field Trip, Ralph Cleaver, MHS AVID Coordinator. $680; 11th Grade AVID students from MHS and FFHS will take a one-day field trip to NC State, Wake Tech, and NC Central.  58 students participated.

Hooray for the Hurrah Players, Hollie Writtenberry & Yudialejandra Suarez, MES Bilingual Chorus and Musical Theatre Clubs (4th/5th Graders).  $900; 50 students will attend a performance of “The Little Mermaid” at the Sandler Center in Virginia Beach at a discounted student group cost. 

International Career Development Conference, Suzanne Jennette, CHSS Career Development Coordinator and DECA Co-Advisor. $750; Three students from CHSS won first place in a state Community Awareness Competition, and will move on to compete at the international level in Atlanta. Their project was entitled “Lose the Phone, Get in the Zone”, and encouraged peers to participate in technology-free activities.  

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. 

Hot Melt Glue Book Binder Perfect Binding Machine, Kathryn Downing, MHS English teacher and AIG Facilitator. $1400; Equipment will be used to create professional quality books of student writing and art.

DEF Fall 2021 Grant Recipients

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.

Bringing Ideas to Life with 3D Pens, Carrie Houseknecht, MMS, $699;  3D Pens will allow students to problem solve, design, and create, and can be used for any class.

Document Camera for Read-Alouds, Marli Boyd, MES, $400;  High quality document camera will display physical books and other materials on a large scale for all students in the library.

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.

Alternative Seating and Decompression Area hammock stand. Alyssa Hannon, FFMS, $500; Grant will fund the purchase of a portable Eno 3-hammock stand for EC students who require physical support in order to focus in the classroom. 

Multilingual Classroom Library, Mora Newton, FFHS, $1000; Funding texts with the same titles in English & Spanish, with the goal of developing literacy skills in English through the accessing of knowledge in a student’s native language. 

ESL Classroom Library, Leah Dias, FFMS, $1000;  Texts with the same titles in English & Spanish, with the goal of developing literacy skills in English through the accessing of knowledge in a student’s native language. 

Drumming for Wellness, Hollie Writtenberry, MES, $1250; A variety of world drums and percussion instruments to facilitate a drum circle -- which has been proven to positively affect social-emotional well-being.  

Quaver SEL program, Kristine Caroppoli, CHES, $2100;  Evidence-based instruction to provide a social-emotional learning curriculum to all students at CHES.  The 5-year contract includes online resources, student access to resources, professional development for staff.

“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.

Enriching Kindergarten in a Multi-Sensory and SEL Focused Way, Nicole Farrell, KHES, $1250;   Provides multi-sensory materials such as liquid floor tiles, light centers, manipulative centers, and weighted lap pads to kindergarten classrooms to enrich learning activities and support social-emotional learning strategies. Aim is to address the negative impacts of pandemic-related deficits among learners.

Engaging Early Readers through Authentic Decodable Books, Rhys Lamberg, MES, $1145;  In the past, DEF funded Level 1 of these books, which help young readers build word tackling skills, comprehension skills, and a love of reading.

What is Climate Change?, Jenna Dayan, NHES, $450;  Project includes copies of the book “What is Climate Change?” for all 5th grade students at NHES and will pull in standards from 5th grade ELA and 5th grade science.

Virtual Conferences for Journalism, Steve Hanf, FFHS, $450; FFHS journalism students will be able to attend the online NC Scholastic Media Association Journalism Day program, as well as the online national convention for the Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association. Students will have 10 weeks of on-demand access to over 100 sessions from industry professionals.

Walking in our Students’ Shoes, Kassie Mount, FFMS, $1000;  Interested teachers at FFMS can either shadow a student for a day or conduct Learning Walks and observe fellow teachers for a day.  DEF funds will allow for 10 teachers to participate by covering the cost of substitute teachers.

Project Publish, Kimberly Cherington, FFMS, $850; DEF funded the first year of this club in the 2020-2021 school year.  Students meet after school and write novels & short stories, which are then judged by a panel of community volunteers.  The winner ultimately has their work professionally published. Based on the success of last year’s project, the club has 30 members this year.  The funds cover publisher fees, mentor/judge thank you gifts, and writing club materials.

DEF Spring 2021 Grant Recipients

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.

Sparking Enthusiasm for Growing Readers, Rhys Lamberg and Marli Boyd, MES, $800.26:  Providing high interest/low level reading materials for the MES library, to be used by EC students and all MES students.

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.

Disc Golf Course, Ted Mitchell, MMS, $2000:  Expanding on the Disc Golf Course that DEF helped fund at FFMS, this instructor has the goal of making disc golf a competitive club sport in Dare County Schools.

Engaging Students through Virtual Platforms, Lisa Serfling, MHS, $107.88:   Providing students with the virtual resources necessary for them to practice their content skills, while engaging/immersing them in content in an active learning environment.

Innovative Designs with Little Bits, Christine Spinella, KHES, $2000:  Provide students with an opportunity to work with Little Bits to design simple circuits and experiment with electronic components to solve tasks.

Core Vocabulary Communication Board for Playgrounds, Curtis Price, MES, $500: Provide ten new core vocabulary communication boards with symbols will allow all students the ability to interact with peers on the playground, inspired by a student-initiative at KHES.

DEF Fall 2020 Grant Recipients

 Project Publish, $600.  Teacher: Kimberly Cherington, FFMS 7th Grade ELA. 
Students will be invited to submit novels that they have written this year in class to a competition to have their book published professionally.  The students will be part of a club that will meet virtually (and in person eventually, when it is safe to do so). 

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. 

Bringing the Aquarium to the Classroom through Virtual Programming, $1000.
Submitted by Rhana Paris, NC Aquarium of Roanoke Island.
Staff of the NCARI will provide lessons and virtual field trips to students, following teaching standards of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 8th graders in Dare County.

Diverse Books for Every Reader, $600. 
Teacher: Marli Boyd, MES Librarian. 
Grant will cover Spanish and bilingual books to support the DLI program as well as to support English language learners. 

Outdoor Classroom Initiative, $807.19. 
Teachers:  Trish Decker and Beverly Hagy, CHES 3rd Grade. 
Stadium cushions and lap desks for outdoor learning activities.

Diversifying the Digital Collection so ALL are Represented, $2000. 
Teacher: Elaine Marrion, FFMS Librarian. 
Digital audiobooks will be added to the DCS Overdrive collection to support virtual/remote learning. Titles will be representative of a variety of cultures.

Getting Started with Printmaking K-5, $1800. 
Teacher: Ida Ojanguren, MES Art. 
Grant will provide printmaking tools, ink, and materials to start a printmaking studio at the school. All students at MES will benefit.

Adapted Core Word Books, $1000. 
Teacher: Jessica Boone, DCS Speech Language Pathologist. 
400 EC students in all DCS elementary schools will benefit. Teacher will create books using core words for verbal and non-verbal students. These can be used for both EC students and typically developing children. 

DEF Fall 2019 Grant Recipients

Multi-School Author Visit:

$1500, Amy Powell, FFHS Teacher

Author Visit and Workshop: Teacher and author of youth and young adult books, Scott Reintgen, will visit 5 First Flight and Manteo campus schools to talk with students about his popular books and share his writing process with students. He will also workshop with FFHS creative writing students and meet with the Project Lit club. His book Nyxia is on the Project Lit reading list this year, and the FFHS club is currently reading it. This visit will impact 1500 DCS students at FFHS, FFMS, MHS, MMS, and MES.

Community/School Collaboration:

$500, Lisa Serfling & Elizabeth Gray, MHS Science Teachers, in collaboration with Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research & NC Aquarium

Dolphin Genetics:  Research will provide MHS students in Honors Biology and General Biology with experiences in real-life applications of biotechnology utilizing our local dolphin population.

$1000, Cape Hatters Elementary School in collaboration with Dr. Holly Robinson and Louise Vance, NEST. 

Sea Turtle Curriculum: This project will expose CHES students to the importance of sea turtles to our local beaches. Part of the funds will provide books for the CHES library; part will cover transportation for a student field trip to the STAR center. Click here to learn more about this project as published in the Outer Banks Voice: Cape Hatteras 3rd graders embark on a year-long Sea Turtle Project with NEST.

Field Trips:

$1000, Ralph Cleaver, MHS AVID Coordinator

DCS AVID College Field Trip: All DCS AVID juniors (from MHS, FFHS, and CHSS) will visit six college campuses.  

$600, Teresa Edwards, MMS AVID coordinator

The Places We Could Go:  AVID students from MMS (and possibly from CHSS) will visit colleges.

$1100, Evan Ferguson and Foster Mattingly, CHSS

Sustainable Farming and Farm to Table STEM Career Field Trip: Students will travel to culinary schools and farms in the Raleigh area to explore farm-to-table culinary agriculture, NC businesses, and life-science careers. 

$1644, Christine VanAtta, CHSS. 

CHSS Future Occupations:  Students on track for Future Core Ready General Education Diplomas will take a field trip to three different colleges/trade schools in the Norfolk area to become future-ready and to address their IEP and Transitional Goals.  *Several students helped to write this grant application*

Technology-Related Projects:

$500, Carrie Houseknecht and Kelsey Oglesby, MMS. 

Discovering Coding Through Cubelets: This project will allow kids to grow from Tactile Coding, to software manipulation with the Cubelets app, all the way to programming their own Cubelets personalities, through inquiry learning and collaboration.

$1500, Meredith Harris, FFMS Physical Education

Wii Love Mindful Movement:  Using the various programs that are found via Wii Fit (and XBOX Kinect), we will implement a 21st Century approach to mindful movement. 

Classroom Materials:

$500, Jessica Witter, Exceptional Children Teacher, MHS. 

Redskin Roast Coffee Cart: Students will operate a coffee cart business and will take ownership of the cart by developing their independence, hold themselves to a higher level of accountability, and  work to strengthen skills that are the most challenging to teach in a Classroom. 

$2000, Triva Day, MMS Teacher

Leading with Literacy: “Literacy Footprints” is a reading intervention program for emergent learners, working in small groups.

$1023, Teresa Twyne, FFMS Teacher

Let’s Talk about Math: The goal of this project is to create a space where students can work in teams to talk about math, show their work using white boards, and explain it to others. (using manipulatives as well)

$46 Nitzia Gale, FFHS Spanish teacher

Assessment Materials: Individual white Boards to engage the entire class.

$360, Ida Ojanguren, MES Art Teacher

Document Camera: This tool will allow teacher to demonstrate proper use of media, visual art techniques and reading selections to enhance art instruction.

$975, Connie Rose, MHS Theatre Arts and EC teacher. 

Sew it Up!: 3 sewing machines as well as sewing supplies and other materials for costume construction. 

Teacher Collaborative Book Study:

$750, Holly King, FFMS Teacher

Hacking School Change through Professional Literature:  This project will provide FFMS educators and stakeholders (and eventually all DCS schools) with ten professional titles and organized, teacher-driven workshops centered around these reads, providing building-level reflection and growth as well as build leadership capacity as building teachers lead sessions. 

DEF Spring 2019 Grant Recipients

Technology-Related Grant Awards:

$1999.50, Samuel DeWitt, FFHS Math teacher (MHS math teacher, teaching virtually)

Smart Board for AP Calculus AB & BC, Pre-Calculus, and Math 3 classroom (NOTE: foreign language class also uses classroom, so can also benefit)

$1020, Charlotte Hester, MES 5th Grade teacher

4 iPod Touches with accessories to accompany the Sphero robots funded by DEF in Fall 2019.  Younger students (Pre-K through 2nd grade)      who do not have Chromebooks will use iPod Touches to code with Spheros

$1544.55, Raleigh Hudock, MHS EC teacher (grades 9-12)

MimioTeach interactive system plus document camera for EC students at MHS; goal is to engage EC students with the use of technology.

$695, Christine Spinella, MMS Technology Facilitator, Grades 6-8

Makey-Makey STEM Station to practice coding and STEM concepts. This station will enhance materials purchased with a DEF Grant last year.

Field Trips:

$1253, Evan Ferguson, CHSS Foods & Nutrition teacher, Grades 9-12 & Erin DelMonte, CHSS Science & Math teacher, Grades 7, 9-12

Food & Life Science Field Trip to explore North Carolina’s role in food & animal production.  (DEF’s grant will supplement $2419.66 already provided by HIYEF)

$575, Douglas Potter, NHES 5th Grade Science Teacher

One-Day field trip for 5th graders to CSI to study STEM-related concepts. Grant will be used to pay CSI for staffing & materials. 

Classroom Materials:

$573.25, Suzanne Blackstock, FFMS 8th Grade Social Studies teacher

Printed copies of World History book to supplement & enhance lessons presented via Chromebooks.  Book’s title is Everything you Need to Ace World History in One Big Fat Notebook, and is accessible to students of all levels.

$500, Helen Corbett, MES AIG teacher (Grades 3-5)

Flexible seating for AIG classroom

$1899.00, Solomon Dixon, FFMS PE teacher (Grades 6-8)

Portable Disc Golf Course for PE classes, also ultimately a Disc Golf Club

$1000, Mollee Holloman & Holly King, Dare to Innovate Professional Development Project

Professional Literature Lending Library to be available to all DCS teachers. These teachers were awarded a DEF grant in Fall 2019 for their Digital Tools Lending Library.

$1300, Hollie Writtenberry-Lewis, MES music teacher (grades K-5)

Ukuleles for all 5th graders.  Instruments can be reused for several years.

DEF Fall 2018 Grant Recipients

$1000, Ralph Cleaver, MHS AVID Coordinator,

College trip for 31 Dare County AVID High School juniors from MHS, FFHS, and CHSS. Students will visit UNC-Chapel Hill, NC Central         University, Wake Technical Community College, UNC-Greensboro, Greensboro College, and Appalachian State University.

$1000, Teresa Edwards, MMS AVID Coordinator

College tour for 90 AVID students from MMS. Students will visit Elizabeth City State University, COA, and East Carolina University.

$1000, Ricki Stewart, FFMS AVID Coordinator

College tour for 73 AVID students from FFMS. Students will visit universities as well as public and private colleges in North Carolina.

$540, Ellen Bryson, KHES Media Coordinator (grant to benefit all DCS teachers)

20 copies and 2 digital e-copies of The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity, by Nadine Burke Harris.  Available for all DCS teachers to check out from KHES library. Ms. Bryson will create a digital book club open to all DCS teachers to discuss this book.

$500, Carrie Housenecht, MMS Media Coordinator

Over 50 book titles addressing mental health issues that students may be facing will be purchased for the MMS library.

$592.92, Mary Elizabeth Carlton, MMS EC teacher

Readtopia, a literary curriculum serving students with moderate to severe disabilites. The curriculum includes ELA, Science, and Social Studies for special education classrooms. The grant will cover a license for a one year pilot project.

$2000, Elaine Marrion, FFMS Media Coordinator

A “STEAM Station” will be set up in the FFMS library, with technology kits that teachers can check out to use in their classrooms. Projects will focus on collaboration among students, and will incorporate art, design, engineering, math, and coding.

$1800, Solomon Dixon, FFMS PE teacher

“The Geo Race” requires students to work in teams to complete challenges similar to those in The Amazing Race; students use GPS to find hidden objects and complete team-building mental and physical challenges. All FFMS PE students will benefit.

$2000, Dare to Innovate, Virtual Professional Development Project (Mollee Holloman, Media Coordinator, MES & Holly King, Science Teacher, MMS, co-leads of project)

DEF will fund a Digital Tools Lending Library that will be available to all DCS teachers. Technology will focus on coding/robotics.

$1019, Triva Day, MMS ELA teacher / Ken Middlemiss, MMS Social Studies teachers

MimioFrame touch board to use in 7th grade classes at MMS. This is an interactive smart board where up to 10 users can interact at one time in classroom activities. This technology enhances small-group and whole-group interaction.

$340, Brad Bentley, 8th grade ELA teacher, MMS

43 copies of The Outsiders for 2 sections of 8th grade ELA

$900, Jessica Taylor, Executive Director, Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research, Rhana Paris, Outreach Coordinator, NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island & Meredith Fish, Outreach Coordinator, Jennette’s Pier

This team will present to 2 General Biology classes at MHS, and 2 at CHSS. Their presentation is entitled “Learning about dolphin populations to better understand gel electrophoresis and mapping”. They will incorporate concepts students have studied in biology class and apply it to real-life local research situations.  

$1799.99, Charlotte Hester, 5th grade teacher, MES

One set of Sphero robots which students can code. This technology can be applied to many different STEAM activities and can be applied to art, music, and all other disciplines.