2008 GRANT RECIPIENTS
Learning Through Movement: Nancy Ahrabi-Nejad, Mary Finn School – $423.00
The goal of this project is to train pre-school staff to appropriately carry out sensory motor activities within the pre-school classroom and, through consultation with physical and occupational therapists, follow through with motor activities within the classroom on a daily basis. This project is designed to assist in imbedding activities that facilitate developmentally appropriate sensory motor skills within the pre-school curriculum. An imbedded sensory motor program helps all students develop good health habits involving exercise and play.
W.O.W. (Working on Words) Words Their Way: Mary Ellen Shields, Betsy Joseph, Mary Finn School – $787.00
Words Their Way is designed to assess the working knowledge each student brings to the tasks of reading, writing and spelling. Through the use of specialized materials, Words Their Way allows each teacher to have a wide variety of new and differentiated materials for each student and strengthens students’ skills in their individual spelling stage before moving on to new skills.
Lexia Reading: Mary Ellen Shields, Katie Nordman, Woodward School, $2,571.00
Lexia Reading is a web-enabled reading program that builds skills with practice in phonemic awareness and phonics while promoting gains in vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. This web-enabled software offers students the opportunity for use at-home and allows teachers to assess and monitor students individually.
Introduction to Latin: Kerry Brown Trautner, Trottier Middle School, $3,949.00
Introduction to Latin will be offered as part of the 8th grade elective program. The class will provide a foundation for Latin offerings at the high school level and give students a strong base for other languages. It will offer teachers the opportunity to collaborate across teams and grades, as the seventh grade celebrates their annual Greek and Roman Day.
Bilingual Language Library: Kerry Brown Trautner, Trottier Middle School, $2,538.00
A French/Spanish bilingual language library will provide students with an appropriate level of foreign language reading materials, including magazines, popular children’s’ books and novel sets. Through reading, students will build and enrich their vocabulary and confidence with the target language, while maintaining a high level of interest.
AP World History Visual Art Comparison: Nathaniel Uttaro, Algonquin Regional High School, $1,161.00
This project will use the visual arts as a basis for comparing different cultures and time periods. Students will view examples of art and learn to identify characteristic symbols and techniques from that particular culture. Students will use this knowledge to identify the values and beliefs of that particular culture as well as to make comparisons across cultures that will help them better understand the issues of continuity and change in world history.
2008 MINI GRANTS:
Children’s Book Award Project: Laurie Woodfin, Margaret Neary School, $500.00
Creating interest through booktalks, discussion groups and class read-alouds, students read or listen to books from a list compiled by our local librarians. Using a web-based program called ReadsinMa.org, students will write reviews, share recommendations and vote for their favorite books. This project will promote literacy through recreational reading and continue to strengthen collaboration between the public schools and the public libraries.
Water; Our Natural Resource: Marnie Hoolahan, Mary Finn School, $500.00
The mission of this project is to educate children about the significance of preserving our natural water resources, focusing on our local water bodies and reservoirs and stressing the importance of storm water drains. This project enlisted the help of a local author and local conservationists to educate children about the benefits of clean storm water drains. Using GIS maps provided by the Department of Public Works, students went on walking tours near the Mary Finn School and placed storm water drain markers.
Total: $12,929.00
