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Last updated 6.15.05 |
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Innovation Grants: Spring 2005 Recipients
The NEA Foundation's Innovation Grants are funded in part by Staples Recycle for Education.
To search for a specific name, use the find function in your browser.
CT FL IN ME NH PA RI SC TN TX VA
CONNECTICUT
Lesley Stancarone, Guilford
K to 5th Grade Instructional Improvement Teacher
McKinley Elementary School
Partners: Scott Bannon, Maureen Bonenfant
Collaborating with the Connecticut Audubon Society, Ms. Stancarone, Mr. Bannon, and Ms. Bonenfant instruct their third- and fourth-grade students about the habitats, behavior, and ecosystem effects of birds in Connecticut. Students research bird characteristics and build a feeding habitat to observe indigenous birds. Students also create and maintain a website devoted to their research.
FLORIDA
Cindy Jesup, Port Orange
9th to 12th Grade Art Teacher
Spruce Creek High School
Partners: Karen Gokey, Anita MacDonald
Ms. Jesup, Ms. Gokey, and Ms. MacDonald develop “Literacy Links” to enhance the art, technology, and literacy skills of high school students. With the assistance of a children’s author, students learn about writing and illustrating children’s books. A reading specialist helps students develop methods to modify text to accommodate different reading levels. After meeting the children in a local kindergarten and a preschool exceptional education program, the high school students write, illustrate, and bind a book targeted to each child’s interests and needs.
Julia Kasper, Plantation
9th to 12th Grade Journalism Teacher
South Plantation High School
Partner: Catherine Farina
Through “Design on Time,” Mrs. Kasper and Ms. Farina increase students’ employability skills as well as their knowledge of marketing, advertising, and computer design. Using the latest graphic design technology, students create newspaper advertising campaigns to meet the needs of local business owners. Representatives from the local community newspaper, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, advise students and critique their work.
Donica Williams, Hollywood
1st Grade Teacher
Oakridge Elementary School
Partner: Catherine Brownell
Ms. Williams and Ms. Brownell implement "We Are College Bound” to introduce the vocabulary, habits, and desire necessary to attain higher education while providing a rigorous academic curriculum for their first-grade classes. Students research career options and the advantages of higher education. The project culminates in a visit to a career-themed educational park where students actively learn about various careers.
INDIANA
Lori Ann Kurtz, Indianapolis
Guidance Counselor
Broad Ripple High School
Partner: Doris Young
Ms. Kurtz and Ms. Young use drumming to motivate students with behavioral problems and to teach alternatives to violence. Students in alternative education classrooms and the counseling program research the history and folklore of drums, learn to play the instruments, and develop problem-solving skills to avoid aggressive behaviors. Working with a guest artist, students create, record, and present original peace-related chants to the school.
MAINE
Kari Crosman, Pownal
1st to 8th Grade Technology Teacher
Pownal Elementary School
Partner: Diana Mosher
Ms. Crosman and Ms. Mosher enhance the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills of their fifth- to eighth-grade students by incorporating robotics into their curriculum. After designing and building a robotic car, students use technology to program the cars for various missions, such as driving in pattern or completing an obstacle course. Students compete against other local schools in robotic car scrimmages.
Regina K. Herrick, Dexter
Chemistry Teacher
Dexter Regional High School
Partner: Alyson Saunders
Collaborating with the University of Southern Maine (USM), Mrs. Herrick and Ms. Saunders create “wet lab” research units to increase students’ scientific understanding and literacy skills. After researching the topics, students work with USM graduate fellows to design and implement community-relevant experiments in medical research/biotechnology, water toxicology, or fuel cell technology. Students lead conferences to present findings to the community and participate in a USM symposium on student research, scholarship, and creativity.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Janice Mudgett, Bartlett
K to 8th Grade Media Specialist
Josiah Bartlett Elementary School
Partners: Amelia Emery, June McLeavey, Shawna Swett
Mrs. Mudgett and her partners implement a multidisciplinary project to enhance students’ knowledge of technology, theater requirements, media use, art frameworks, and social studies content. Students script, design, and record original clay animation films to portray a historical event in an ancient civilization. Students submit films to the local public access television station and the Family Film Festival.
PENNSYLVANIA
Gregory Daniel Brumagin, Titusville
6th to 8th Grade Technology Teacher
Titusville Middle School
Partner: Adam Huck
Mr. Brumagin and Mr. Huck incorporate a student newsroom into classroom instruction to enhance students’ technology and problem-solving skills. After researching the responsibilities of various newsroom jobs, eighth-grade students apply their new technology skills to produce daily school announcements for the local news network. Seventh-grade students expand their knowledge of technology by creating television commercials for imaginary products.
Anthony A. Dalasio, Factoryville
7th to 9th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Lackawanna Trail Junior/Senior High School
Partners: Steve Beckish, Timothy Pierce
Mr. Dalasio, Mr. Beckish, and Mr. Pierce implement “Enhancing Your Economic Success” to increase students’ economic and political awareness and to develop academic skills in both social studies and mathematics. Using a wide variety of technology and other resources, students examine the effect of government spending on them as individuals, the influence of international spending on the American economy, the impact of deficit spending over the long-term, and the historic consequences of the American government’s economic policy.
Kathy Hunter, Latrobe
Kindergarten Teacher
Latrobe Elementary School
Partners: Marian Ferlin, Mary Jo Welty
To increase students’ letter knowledge and phonological awareness as well as parents’ involvement in their children’s education, Mrs. Hunter, Ms. Ferlin, and Ms. Welty create literacy backpacks. Students bring home weekly backpacks with activities that address a difficult literacy skill. Students demonstrate their enhanced literacy skills by creating an illustrated rhyming book to keep in their home library.
Matthew A. Klass, Berwyn
K to 4th Grade Technology Teacher
Hillside Elementary School
Partners: Christine Braun, Patricia Lucy
Mr. Klass, Ms. Braun, and Ms. Lucy develop students’ technology, literacy, and mathematical skills through the implementation of the “Interactive Storybook” project. Pairs of fourth-grade students form publishing companies to create interactive stories that help younger students learn to read. Students write, illustrate, and produce interactive books as well as maintain the company’s checkbook of expenses and income. Final versions of the books are saved as digital media for younger children to use.
Rosemary Luksha, Shickshinny
7th to 12th Grade Fine Arts Teacher
Northwest Area School District
Partner: Scott Quinn
In consultation with an artist-in-residence from Ballet Northeast, a local dance performance company, Ms. Luksha and Mr. Quinn present a dance workshop to introduce students to jazz dance and ballet. Students experience the elements and style of dance and perform final choreographed pieces during the school’s evening music assembly. Participants write essays about the components and principles of dance form, the social and cultural aspects of dance, and their personal connections to the workshop. Students’ new interest and knowledge in dance provides the foundation for a competitive school dance team.
Carla-Lee Plomchok, Downingtown
9th to 12th Grade Technology Teacher
Downingtown Senior High School
Partners: Robert Shultz, Shawn Walker
Through “Downingtown CSI & Robotics Applications,” Ms. Plomchok, Mr. Shultz, and Mr. Walker improve students’ scientific inquiry and knowledge with practical applications of forensic science and robotics. Using real-world procedures, students learn terminology, conduct experiments, and explore career options in forensic science. In the robotics portion of the program, students design, build, program, and troubleshoot robotic devices related to industry, law enforcement, and firefighting.
Miles Roe, Warrington
1st Grade Teacher
Mill Creek Elementary School
Partner: Barry Zakroff
Mr. Roe and Mr. Zakroff enhance the writing and technology skills of their students by incorporating a student newspaper into their curriculum. Students use computers to develop a comic strip and to write and edit articles, movie reviews, and editorials for a quarterly school-wide paper.
Tina Shank, Lancaster
8th Grade Family and Consumer Science Teacher
Manor Middle School
Partner: Heidi Long
Mrs. Shank and Ms. Long implement “FCS Online: A Digital Bridge for Remote Collaboration” to prepare students for work and develop communication, technology, and problem-solving skills. Students at two regional middle schools use an online discussion forum to share their ideas and opinions about issues relevant to their lives and future. Practicing their business communication skills, interschool groups use the online forum to collaborate for a technology-based presentation about a chosen issue.
RHODE ISLAND
Joseph Gilmartin, North Kingstown
8th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Davisville Middle School
Partner: Mary Barden
Mr. Gilmartin and Ms. Barden develop a watershed project to help students create a positive environmental change. Students study the history of the local river region, learn to identify species of fish and macroinvertebrates, and conduct field studies to test the river’s water quality. Inspired by previous data, the students work to improve the habitat for cold water species and ultimately reestablish the river’s brook trout population. After writing letters to attain permission from local landowners, the students sample the current fish population for baseline data, complete river restoration work, and monitor the fish population to assess the results of their restoration.
Kathleen Trimmer, Westerly
Special Education Teacher
Springbrook Elementary School
Partners: Susan Casale, Kathleen Edgerley-Higgins, Brenda Poole, Deborah Stott
To help their special needs students develop a sense of community and view themselves as valued community members, Ms. Trimmer and her partners implement several outreach and garden projects. Working with local high school volunteers, students build bird feeders and plant a garden. Students also take field trips to learn about services in the community and to understand the importance of food and its origins.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Rebecca Connolly, Cowpens
2nd Grade Teacher
Cowpens Elementary School
Partners: Keilah Abbott, Wanda Clary, S. Lorraine Moore
Mrs. Connolly and her partners implement “Setting the Stage for Science Standards” to enhance students’ comprehension of nonfiction texts and to build scientific understanding in a hands-on setting. After exploring a variety of science concepts through literature and experiments, students choose a topic of interest and design and complete a unique science project. Students present their results to the class.
TENNESSEE
Sharisse Dye, Lebanon
7th to 8th Grade Special Education Behavioral Specialist
Walter J. Baird School
Partner: Melba Carr
Through “CSI @ WJB,” Mrs. Dye and Ms. Carr cultivate cross-curricular learning and career interests in students with both academic and social needs. With mentoring from local police, newspaper reporters, and attorneys, students research the responsibilities and requirements of various careers. Putting their research into practice, students experience forensic science through hands-on experiments, publish a school newspaper, and investigate constitutional rights and the judicial process. At the end of the project, students simulate a mock crime, investigation, media coverage, and trial. A jury composed of the entire student body renders a verdict on the case.
Patricia Marie Royle, Camden
6th to 7th Grade Science Teacher
Camden Junior High School
Partner: Sarah A. Cantrell
To encourage scientific inquiry and increase hands-on learning, Mrs. Royle and Mrs. Cantrell develop a project that explores the sun. Using sun projection screens to view features of the sun’s surface, students keep a data log of their observations and produce graphs from the collected data.
TEXAS
Kathleen McHugh Dyer, Rio Grande City
9th Grade English Teacher
Rio Grande City High School
Partner: Alan Crawford
Recognizing that their at-risk students respond best to culturally relevant literature, Ms. Dyer and Mr. Crawford implement “Voices of the Valley” to improve students’ writing and technology skills. The bilingual students interview community members who immigrated from Mexico and convert the interviews into creative first-person narratives. Students refine their drafts for publication in a collected anthology to be used by future English classes. The project culminates in an exhibition night for the community during which students read narratives and display presentation boards of their projects. The local scholarship fund receives proceeds from the published anthology.
Jennifer Pali, Houston
After-School Program Coordinator
Purple Sage Elementary School
Partner: Malikah Marshall
Through “Tell Me a Story: Innovative Uses of Digital Cameras and Multimedia for Writing,” Ms. Pali and her partner implement an integrated writing and technology project. After reading biographies of famous people, students write their own personal narratives. Students create multisensory presentations of their narratives with digital cameras to present to the school community.
Julia Anne Young, Dallas
K to 6th Grade Library Media Specialist
George Peabody Elementary School
Partners: Michael Elliott, Angel Mahoney, Catherine Shugart
Ms. Young and her partners implement a school garden project to provide cross-curricular learning opportunities for their at-risk students. Students design and cultivate fruit, flower, and native plant gardens in the school’s courtyard. To care for these gardens, students research plant care and feeding, possible pest concerns, and organic methods of pest control.
VIRGINIA
Sarah Chadbourn, Alexandria
K to 2nd Grade Literacy Coordinator
Hollin Meadows Elementary School
Partners: Mary Ann Dzama, Zelnita McIntosh, Nanci Osborne, Marlene Reagin
In response to research that at-home reading results in higher student achievement, Mrs. Chadbourn and her partners create the “Keep Books” program to build home libraries for their Title I students. Students receive one book weekly and complete reading activities at home. Books are mailed home during the summer to promote continued literacy work.
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