Student Achievement Grants Summer 2007
Student Achievement Grants: Summer 2007 Recipients
Rhett D. Buchanan, Wasilla
7th Grade Science Teacher
Teeland Middle School
Partner: Mike Shea
Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Shea, and their seventh grade students study stream ecology, conduct and share scientific research, and help preserve an important local salmon stream. Students acquire real-life science and technology skills to improve the water quality of the stream. Students collect baseline water quality data at stream sites and analyze the data to identify a site that has been negatively impacted by human activity. At the conclusion of the study, students design and implement a re-vegetation plan.
Jesus Arrizon, San Luis
7th to 8th Grade Mathematics Teacher
Southwest Junior High School
Partner: Irving Silva
To help at-risk students begin working toward a college degree, Mr. Arrizon and Mr. Silva partner with a local community college to offer college level mathematics courses to middle school students whose socioeconomic status might otherwise prevent them from considering college. Students work in cooperative groups to acquire advanced mathematics skills and keep a journal of their experiences and feelings during the course. Students who successfully complete the course are allowed to enroll in the next college level mathematics course with the goal of completing a two year college degree by the end of their senior year of high school.
Jenni Taylor, Lawndale
9th Grade Environmental Science Teacher
Environmental Charter High School
Partner: Sara Laimon
Ms. Taylor and Ms. Laimon implement “Plastics are Forever” to increase students’ awareness of environmental issues and expand science lessons beyond the classroom. Applying critical thinking skills, students examine the importance of non-point source pollution and the impact of marine debris on environmental quality, community health, and marine animals. Ninth grade students work with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation to study local beach sand and educate the public on their findings. Tenth grade students dissect albatross to study the effect of plastics and share their findings with elementary students. Finally, eleventh and twelfth grade students conduct a study of three watersheds and present their findings to local government agencies to promote policy changes.
Angela Hale, Fort Pierce
6th to 8th Grade Health Occupations Teacher
Forest Grove Middle School
Partner: Kerri Walukiewicz
To encourage students to consider a career in health care, Ms. Hale and Ms. Walukiewicz design a mock hospital and doctor’s office environment in which students experience the physical sense of health professions. In preparation for an existing high school medical studies curriculum, students explore the role of medical secretaries, biomedical technicians, doctors, nurses, dental assistants, and medial records clerks. Students learn how to measure height, weight, temperature, and blood pressure, how to use a microscope and prepare slides, how to keep medical records and handle privacy issues, and how to administer CPR.
Nathan Meyer, Downs
8th Grade English Teacher
Tri-Valley Middle School
Partner: Alan Wilson
Recognizing the importance of cross-curricular and experiential learning, Mr. Meyer and Mr. Wilson supervise the design and creation of a twenty-four hole miniature golf course by their eighth grade students. Each hole of the course represents one decade of United States history and contains three obstacles that represent challenges faced by Americans of that decade. For each hole, students also create a scale drawing, budget, written report, one mathematically-proven hole-in-one shot, and a downloadable podcast with appropriate music for the decade and an explanation of the key features of the hole.
Esther Oganda Ohito, Chicago
6th to 8th Grade Language Arts Teacher
John J. Pershing West Magnet School
Partner: Monica Sims
Ms. Ohito and Ms. Sims develop a project that allows fifth and eighth grade students to develop advanced research skills and explore historical events through fiction. Students use museum trips and print and media resources to research an event in history while also reading historical fiction related to their topic. To encourage growth in reading, older students read their fiction selection to their younger reading buddies. Applying all the information they’ve collected, students produce a formal research paper and write short stories based on the historical events they have analyzed.
Kimberly Lesher, Louisville
6th Grade Science Teacher
Farnsley Middle School
Partner: Leslie Gividen
Ms. Lesher and Ms. Gividen convert their science classroom into an interactive planetarium to provide students with hands-on learning experiences. Students apply mathematical concepts to design and build a planetarium and create star shows. Using models and technology, students recreate activity and movement that occurs in space and in the night sky.
Julie Reyers, Grand Rapids
9th to 12th Grade English Teacher
Grand Rapids Montessori High School
Partner: Dana Walthorn
Students in Ms. Reyers’s and Ms. Walthorn’s Language Arts classes explore Middle Eastern literature, culture, and traditions. Students choose from selected texts involving Middle Eastern culture, participate in literature circles and Socratic seminars to aid their study, and write reflective journals as they analyze the portrayal of other societies and cultures. To make real-world connections to this unfamiliar region of the world, students visit the Arab-American National Museum and attend lectures by guest speakers. At the culmination of the project, students create a multimedia presentation of their work and present it to younger classes.
Glory Ann Oljace, Minneapolis
3rd Grade Teacher
Pillsbury Mathematics, Science, and Technology Magnet School Partner: Kirstin Parker
Recognizing students’ natural curiosity and love of discovery, Ms. Oljace and Ms. Parker implement “Power of 1” to connect all disciplines with hands-on, real life, multi-sensory experiences to increase student achievement. Students complete a variety of hands-on projects organized around four interdisciplinary themes: describe it, celebrate, weather watch, and structures. Among the activities, students create an illustrated mathematics book, build a multi-pitched instrument, design and fly a kite, construct a proportional, moving puppet, and write and illustrate a fairy tale.
Linda Beebe-Boring, Lee’s Summit
4th to 6th Grade Gifted Education Teacher
Westview Elementary School
Partner: Wanda Hartter
A simulated crime scene investigation forms the backdrop for eight scientific lab experiments that require critical thinking. Integrating handheld computer technology, students collect and organize data from scientific investigations. Using software integration programs, real-time information is incorporated into student reports and collected data helps students determine which suspect is the criminal. After solving their crime scene, teams create their own forensic simulation and labs for other schools’ students to solve.
Kristen Van Ollefen, Woodbridge
1st to 5th Grade Music Teacher
Mawbey Street School No. 1
Partner: Alice Quinn
Ms. Van Ollenfen’s and Ms. Quinn’s fifth grade students build upon skills taught in both general music class and language arts class to create musical compositions that evoke a scene, mood, or image from C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Students learn how to analyze and describe music and learn compositional techniques such as instrumentation and orchestration by attending a live performance of the New York Philharmonic. Applying critical thinking skills, students use notation software to compose a piece of music, transfer it to an instrumental setting, and perform their work at a spring concert.
Jonathan Atlas, New Rochelle
5th Grade Teacher
Trinity Elementary School of Communication Arts & Technology Partner: Lisa Fillat
Recognizing the need to engage both advanced and at-risk students in critical thinking, Mr. Atlas and Ms. Fillat develop a business project to make mathematics meaningful to students. Students plan and run a school store, calculating product quantities, estimating prices, and investing the profits to help pay for a class trip to the New York Stock Exchange. During stock market simulations, students collaboratively research stocks using trade newspapers and the internet and extrapolate and analyze data on their chosen stocks. Students perform standards-based statistical and graphing activities and calculate stock changes in investment portfolios.
Jennifer Bodkin, Haverstraw
7th Grade Science Teacher
Haverstraw Middle School
Partner: Kathryn Tantillo
To develop a deeper understanding of infectious diseases, where they are found, how they are transferred, and how they can be controlled, students engage in a school-wide research activity. Students create a plan for tracking and identifying common sources of transmission of microorganisms and design, implement, collect, and present data over the course of several weeks. At the culmination of the project, students devise a plan of action to reduce contagious illnesses and promote a healthier school environment.
Mary Brandenburg, Hope Mills
9th to 12th Grade Functional Life Skills Teacher
Gray’s Creek High School
Partner: Christine A. Condon
Ms. Brandenburg and Ms. Condon implement a nutrition project to help their mentally disabled students become more self-sufficient and to aid the students’ transition to independent living. Students study the food pyramid and assemble menus of balanced meals. Building on collaboration, budgeting, and shopping skills, students learn to hygienically prepare meals, properly set a table, and correctly use appropriate utensils.
Teresa Anne Caron, Bryson City
9th to 12th Grade Mathematics Supervisor
Swain County High School
Partner: Anne Watkins
To help students prepare for post-secondary education and see the relevancy of mathematics in the real world, Dr. Caron and Ms. Watkins implement an integrated honors pre-calculus and AP physics course that teaches mathematics concepts within the context of college physics. Students collaborate with the Western Carolina University Physics Club and participate in university level laboratory experiments. The inquiry based course helps prepare at-risk students for a rigorous calculus course, exposes them to mathematics and science careers, and allows them to earn college credits.
Jennifer Morrier, Houston
3rd Grade Teacher
Boone Elementary School
Partner: David Sebek
In a school still struggling to serve the influx of evacuees from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Ms. Morrier and Mr. Sebek implement a program to provide the enrichment necessary for gifted students to succeed beyond grade level expectations. Students work as a team to solve a problem and present their solution to a real world audience at a regional competition. Expanding their problem solving skills, students engage in an independent research study, create a professional level product around a topic of their choosing, and submit their advanced product to be scored by trained appraisers.
Andrew G. Smith , McAllen
6th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Travis Middle School
Partner: Kimberly Klingensmith
Through “Show Me the Money,” Mr. Smith and Ms. Klingensmith use numismatics to introduce science and social studies students to both the ancient and modern worlds. Students clean, classify, and create a timeline for bronze coinage of ancient Imperial Rome and explore the modern world of the past century through the coinage of dozens of countries on six continents. In addition to gathering, organizing, and displaying data, students produce written compositions and create a board game specific to a coin type from a country of their choice.
Deborah Johnson, North Troy
K to 8th Grade Art Teacher
Troy School
Partner: Jane Boutin
Ms. Johnson and Ms. Boutin implement interdisciplinary studies of their students’ French Canadian heritage and its innate connection to France as well as a cultural study of Mexico and its impact on the United States. Looking for connections and contrasts among the two cultures, students study folk tales, music, art, food, and language and create presentations to share their learning with peers. To expand the isolated, rural students’ realm of experience, they participate in video conferencing with schools in Canada, France, and Mexico and work with visiting French-Canadian and Mexican musicians and artisans.
Deborah Greif, Independence
9th to 12th Grade Special Education Teacher
Grayson County High School
Partner: Margaret Joines
To increase students’ understanding and motivation in mathematics, Ms. Greif and Ms. Joines integrate technology into their algebra classes. Students choose a mathematical topic, videotape themselves demonstrating an activity that illustrates the topic, and edit the digital footage to create a movie for their peers. To further demonstrate their understanding, the student filmmakers share their videos with other mathematics classes in the district and field questions from the audience after screening their movies. Students also use technology to design and create mathematics themed tee shirts.