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Last updated 6.15.05 |
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Innovation Grants: Winter 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.
AL CA DC FL HI IN IL KY LA MD MI MN OH OR VA WA WY
ALABAMA
Angela Hill, Roanoke
5th Grade Teacher
Handley Middle School
Partner: Shawanna Cofield
Ms. Hill and Ms. Cofield enhance the critical thinking and problem solving skills of their students by incorporating a robotics lab into their curriculum. After learning about robots and their components, students design, construct, and program their own robots. Students showcase their robots at a science fair.
CALIFORNIA
Julie Maharaj, Los Angeles
7th Grade Teacher
Hollenbeck Middle School
Partners: Bernie Carrasco, Gardenia Gonzalez, Christine Rosser
Ms. Maharaj and her partners implement a multidisciplinary project that teaches students about health issues and concerns in their local community. After collaborating with the city’s health department and researching the most prevalent health problems, students develop strategies and resources, such as brochures, that address these concerns and disseminate the information to the community.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Mark Tatum
K to 6th Grade Music Teacher
LaSalle Elementary School
Partner: Anne Burson
Mr. Tatum and Ms. Burson introduce their students to West African and Caribbean cultures through the World Music Drumming curriculum. Students learn drum patterns and songs from each culture and participate in improvisational activities. Working cooperatively, students research a culture and present on the significance representative instruments play in that culture.
FLORIDA
Janis Klein-Young, Miami
9th to 12th Grade Teacher
Miami Douglas MacArthur Senior High South
Partners: Stephan Alterman, Peter Caproni, Beatriz Hermann, and Wendy Robbins
Collaborating with a local cultural arts group, Ms. Klein-Young and her partners empower their at-risk students with entrepreneurial and visual arts skills. Students work with local artists to explore studio art, crafts, marketing, and sales. Students apply what they learn as they manage their own business designing, producing, promoting, and installing artwork for exhibition and sale at public events.
HAWAII
Lawrence Rice, Kailua-Kona
9th to 12th Grade Teacher
Kealakehe High School
Partner: Sharon Chern
Mr. Rice and Ms. Chern develop “Mapping the Kona Coast” to introduce their students to local Hawaiian religious, cultural, and linguistic sites. Students visit sites, such as burial grounds and migration trails, and use global positioning technologies to map the Kona coastline. From their research, students create a website about the region.
INDIANA
Shawn Turner, Borden
4th Grade Teacher
Borden Elementary School
Partner: Patricia Renn
To create an outdoor learning experience for their students as well as rebuild their school landscape in the wake of a tornado, Ms. Turner and Ms. Renn construct outdoor learning centers. Students plant a pioneer garden to explore the early settlers’ survival needs, develop wetlands to learn about small ecosystems, and build a weather station to chart weather systems and their affect on the environment.
ILLINOIS
Lori Stenger, Chicago
6th Grade Teacher
Joseph E. Gary Elementary School
Partner: Tanya Turner
To enhance the literacy and science skills of their sixth- and seventh-grade students, Ms. Stenger and Ms. Turner design a collaborative school garden project. Students read a story about an urban garden that instills hope and community, and then create books and quilts based on one of the story’s characters. Students also plan and plant their own school garden, and engage in experiments to learn about horticulture.
KENTUCKY
Tracy Little, Rogers
2nd & 3rd Grade Teacher
Rogers Elementary School
Partners: Mary McWhorter, Amanda Sparks
Ms. Little, Ms. McWhorter, and Ms. Sparks collaborate with a local nursing home to implement a service learning project that enhances skills across disciplines. Each month, students read books to the residents. Students also write to and create poetry and crafts for the residents. To prepare for their final project, students read and select play scripts and design, produce, and perform in a play at the nursing home.
Christi Miller, Catlettsburg
K to 5th Grade Teacher
Ponderosa Elementary School
Partners: Nancy Adams, Diedra Patton
Working with an artist, students study wire-sculpting techniques to create their own sculpture. After visiting local art museums and businesses, students work in groups to learn engineering principles for building permanent wire sculptures for their school. Students host an art show for their parents and community.
LOUISIANA
Lucille Roberts, Saint Martinville
4th to 6th Grade Interventionist
Saint Martinville Elementary School
Partner: Angie McKinley
Collaborating with the University of Louisiana, Ms. Roberts and Ms. McKinley use a horticulture project to increase the mathematics and science skills of their at-risk students. Students participate in workshops that are led by university professors and local gardeners, and research and choose plants that are suitable for their climate and region. Students conduct experiments and collect data on their garden and sell their products at a local farmers’ market.
MARYLAND
Mary Ruth McGinn, Silver Spring
2nd Grade Teacher
New Hampshire Estates Elementary School
Partners: Kara DiPietro, Ellen Levine
To connect learning to life experiences and integrate all content areas, Ms. McGinn, Ms. DiPietro, and Ms. Levine develop an opera program for their students. After forming their own opera production company, students apply for jobs, such as set designers and writers, and audition for parts in the production. Students then compose, produce, and perform in an original opera.
MICHIGAN
Megan Burgess, Springport
9th to 12th Agriscience and Technology Instructor
Springport High School
Partners: Patrice Henne, Lisa Locke-Overweg, Rob West
Through “Quality Learning: Community and Environment through Quality Food,” Ms. Burgess and her partners convert school land into grazing pastures to provide an meaningful learning experiences for their at-risk students. Students research grazing techniques and raise animals to produce high-quality meat and eggs. As mentors to elementary students, high schoolers teach their younger peers about animal life cycles and agriculture. After raising the animals, high school students develop business plans to market and sell their animals and products.
Linda Geiersbach, Birch Run
2nd Grade Teacher
Brucker Elementary School
Partner: Danielle Letter
Ms. Geiersbach and Ms. Letter use quilting to enhance their students’ mathematics and social studies skills. Students read literature to understand the historical significance of quilting. Using pattern blocks, students compare and categorize shapes to design quilt squares. Based on their learning, students make and donate quilts to local shelters.
MINNESOTA
Crystal Rouleau, Buhl
7th to 12th Grade Special Education Teacher
Mesabi Academy School
Partners: Paul Knutson, Carol Zakula
Ms. Rouleau, Mr. Knutson, and Ms. Zakula implement “Creative Expression Course,” a curriculum that encourages their at-risk students to express themselves through music, drama, dance, visual arts, and poetry. Students study poetry, combine prose and music to sing and record a poem, and use graphic design software to create original artwork. At the course’s conclusion, students present or perform their projects at a school show.
OHIO
JoAnn Pfeiffer, Stewart
9th to 12th Grade Agriculture Teacher
Federal Hocking High School
Partner: Jeremy Falk
Ms. Pfeiffer and Mr. Falk give their students real-world agricultural experiences through several production farming projects. Students learn techniques for selecting, feeding, and raising livestock. In addition, students develop forest management techniques as they learn about planting, maintaining, and harvesting trees to create a school arboretum. Students also prepare for careers in agriculture by developing resumes and practicing interview skills.
OREGON
Rose Tyvand, Milwaukie
9th & 10th Grade Science Teacher
New Urban High School
Partners: Cliff Geispoage, Brian Sien, Jon Wolf
Ms. Tyvand and her partners implement “Alternative Energy Project” to develop their ninth- and tenth-grade students’ understanding of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. Students examine the economic, environmental, political, social, and medical benefits and drawbacks of alternative energy. After researching the topic, students construct water rockets and alternatively fueled model cars and create public service announcements on energy resources and their health effects. Students host an “Energy Night” at the project’s conclusion to highlight their projects and research findings.
VIRGINIA
Camilla Walck, Virginia Beach
11th & 12th Grade Teacher
Princess Anne High School
Partner: Adrienne James
To give their students hands-on experience with botany, Ms. Walck and Ms. James help students build a school greenhouse. Students use the greenhouse to investigate plant growth and artificial plant propagation.
WASHINGTON
Lary Barilleau, Seattle
6th to 8th Grade Teacher
Hamilton International Middle School
Partners: Deena Docter-Richardson, Herb Ellis
Mr. Barilleau, Ms. Docter-Richardson, and Mr. Ellis implement “Musical Markers of the African Diaspora,” a cross-curricular project that explores music traditions that reflect African heritage. Students learn about jazz traditions in African, Caribbean, and Latin American cultures and study the mathematical and physical concepts needed to construct instruments. For their final project, students collaborate with musicians to develop an African and Latin American percussion performance.
Mario Alberto Godoy-Gonzalez, Royal City
9th to 12th Grade Science Teacher
Royal High School
Partners: Nathan Graham, Sydney Ortega
Mr. Godoy-Gonzalez, Mr. Graham, and Ms. Ortega engage students in hands-on science activities through “Forensic Science: Sherlock Holmes Meets CSI.” Students develop problem-solving skills as they learn technologies and techniques for investigating and solving crimes. In a mock crime scene, students analyze trace evidence and present their findings to the class.
WYOMING
Lorrain Rudd, Rock Springs
9th to 12th Grade Teacher
Rock Springs High School
Partner: Debbie Varras
To improve their students’ environmental science skills, Ms. Rudd and Ms. Varras design research projects on a local site that is the center of controversy between environmentalists and developers. Students conduct research on a local community problem that has national implications and learn how industry affects ecosystems. After collecting and analyzing data, students share their findings, including recommendations for protecting the environment, with government agencies.
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