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	Last updated 6.15.05

Innovation Grants: Winter 2006 Recipients

The NEA Foundation's Innovation Grants are funded in part by Staples Recycle for Education.

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CALIFORNIA

Gerald A. Garwood, III, Corona
6th Grade Teacher
Coronita Elementary School
Partner: Lupe Flores

Mr. Garwood and Ms. Flores combine advanced technology skills and hands-on science learning through the development of “Science Buddy” teams. Cooperative learning groups of first and sixth grade students use handheld computers and light, temperature, and voltage sensors to conduct Earth science investigations. Teams create PowerPoint presentations to report their data to an assembly of parents and peers.

Ana Maria Luna, San Francisco
9th to 12th Grade Humanities Teacher
June Jordan School for Equity
Partner: Armon Saleh-Kasmai

Ms. Luna and Mr. Saleh-Kasmai create “Deep Thoughts and Funky Feats,” a three-week hiking course, to allow their at-risk students to experience education in the outdoors. Students study nutrition and the food industry and record their hiking and nutrition progress in a daily journal. During hiking trips, students learn about the local wildlife and read literature dealing with the environment. At the culmination of the project students share their experiences with the community through a chosen form of visual art.

Jay Steven Vavra, San Diego
11th to 12th Grade Biotechnology Teacher
High Tech High School
Partners: Rod Buenviaje, Tom Fehrenbacher

As part of a continuing study of the San Diego Bay, Dr. Vavra and his partners implement a field-based project integrating science, mathematics, and literature to reconnect their urban students with environmental issues and to teach the importance of stewardship and conservation. Students conduct environmental assessments of the bay and consider the human impact by charting changes in abundance and diversity of fauna over time. Combining their data, creative writing, photographs, and historical research, students produce a field guide for citizens, city officials, and environmental groups to help evaluate the health of the San Diego Bay.

CONNECTICUT

Rebecca Elaine Knight, New Haven
Kindergarten Teacher
Museum/MicroSociety Magnet Elementary School
Partners: Michelle Maiorino, Karen Pepe

Mrs. Knight and her partners enhance the literacy skills of their students through an interdisciplinary unit about animals and their habitats. Students use multiple sources to research animals, learn to photograph live animals, attend animal-themed theatrical productions, and visit the local zoo and aquarium. Inspired by these sources of knowledge, students publish their essays, reports, poems, and stories about animals in a student magazine and present their work at an assembly for parents and students.

FLORIDA

James Robert Payne, Fort Lauderdale
9th to 12th Grade Engineering Teacher
Stranahan High School
Partner: David Stockser Platt

Mr. Payne and Mr. Platt develop the “Hydraulic Robot Challenge” to enrich their comprehensive engineering program. After exploring robots and hydraulic systems used in everyday life through field trips to a robotic surgery lab and a construction equipment supplier, students learn to create electrical circuits and simple machines powered by hydraulic syringe systems. Expanding on these skills, teams of students design and build a robot capable of completing assigned tasks. Teams develop formal presentations about their project and participate in a school robotics competition.

Teresa M. Stevens, Kissimmee
6th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Denn-John Middle School
Partners: Michelle Deiter, Tommy Jurgens, Ben Osypian, Michelle Sandage

Ms. Stevens and her partners implement an interdisciplinary project that examines the geographical and cultural development of Asia through the study of biomes. While studying the organisms and climates of each biome and the way climate affects biodiversity, students learn about literary and cultural innovations in Asia. To enhance literacy skills and cultural understanding, students correspond with pen-pals who live in some of the Asian biomes. At the culmination of the project, students work collaboratively to create travel guides and oral presentations that entice guests to travel to their chosen biome.

ILLINOIS

Stephen Birmingham, Wheeling
6th to 8th Grade Music Teacher
Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle School
Partners: Jim Christopher, Grace Konopacki

Through “Music in the 21st Century,” Mr. Birmingham, Mr. Christopher, and Ms. Konopacki expand students’ music skills and exposure to technology careers. Students use technology to compose, arrange, and perform several digital music pieces including a soundtrack for a movie scene. Students study music history and learn how to incorporate past techniques into current technology. To relate their new skills to twenty-first century careers, students take field trips to observe music technology being used in the workplace.

Wade Tillett, Chicago
8th Grade Teacher
Jose Clemente Orozco Community Academy
Partners: Dawn Creed, Rosa Visinaiz

Mr. Tillett, Mrs. Creed, and Ms. Visinaiz implement an interdisciplinary, problem-based learning project to help students become autonomous learners, view the world as changeable, and increase their connection to the community. Students construct a problem statement inspired by a positive or negative aspect of their community and propose an action for positive change. Acting on their problem statements, students develop and execute a project that will have a tangible effect on the community. Students produce a video documentary about their work and how it has changed both the community and themselves.

IOWA

Scott Rieker, Des Moines
6th to 12th Grade Vocal Music Teacher
Meredith Middle School
Partner: Anna Wolf

To foster creativity and increase students’ music proficiency, Mr. Rieker and Ms. Wolf implement a cross-curricular music composition project. Students conduct a hands-on exploration of range and rhythm through Orff instruments. After reading The Little Prince, each student is assigned one page of the book to capture through music. Students compose and refine their individual pieces using music technology software. All individual segments are combined into one piece, which the students perform at a concert.

KANSAS

Elizabeth Lawlor, Ness City
1st to 6th Grade Special Education Teacher
Southwest Kansas Area Cooperative District #613
Partner: Brenda Horchem

To increase their rural special education students’ opportunities to work cooperatively, Mrs. Lawlor and Ms. Horchem implement a program to target mathematics skills through activities that address multiple intelligences. Students participate in several hands-on explorations to build understanding of mathematics concepts. To strengthen understanding, older students mentor and plan activities for younger students. Building both written and oral expressive language skills, students maintain a journal explaining the math concepts they have learned. Journal passages are bound into books for classroom libraries.

MASSACHUSETTS

Sarah Hostage, Brighton
9th Grade Mathematics Teacher
Brighton High School
Partner: Linda Shannon

To help students develop mathematics skills through real-world applications, Ms. Hostage and Ms. Shannon develop a project-based unit on personal finance. Students learn about financial terms, checking accounts, and how to create a budget. To address standards focusing on fractions and decimals, students compare states’ sales tax rates, learn to compute a tip as part of a purchase, and investigate the principles of compound and simple interest. Applying these skills, students design a model family based on their chosen profession and create a financial report for the family that includes all possible expenses, savings, and investments. Students use technology to produce graphs of their budgets and create a multimedia presentation of their financial report.

MICHIGAN

Meredee Vaughan, Lansing
6th to 8th Grade Magnet Focus Teacher
Dwight Rich Middle School
Partner: Raymond Freeze

Ms. Vaughan and Mr. Freeze implement the “Greenhouse Ecosystem Project” to provide students with an understanding of the complexities of ecosystems and to expose them to a real-world entrepreneurial venture. Students learn basic engineering principals and construct a greenhouse that uses solar panels as an energy source. After using multiple references to study the interrelationships of ecosystem components, students research soil and fertilizer effects on plant growth, track the greenhouse’s progress, and analyze the data for implications in larger ecosystems. With the assistance of an employee from a local bank, students develop a business plan for their gardening venture.

MINNESOTA

Calvin Entinger, Minneapolis
9th to 12th Grade Teacher
North Community High School
Partner: Robert Montesano

Through “Crossing Boundaries,” Mr. Entinger and Mr. Montesano create Geographic Information System (GIS) courses at their two very different high schools to help students make connections across disciplines, schools, cultures, and within the larger community. To study the ways geographic features influence society, students use GIS devices to plot the pedestrian, auto, and public transportation routes between the schools and to analyze the natural and man-made barriers. Applying their new skills, students use cutting-edge technology to identify, evaluate, and solve problems in cooperation with community partners. One possible project includes students mapping the home and work addresses of current and potential customers of a new internet café to help the owners increase the effectiveness of their advertising. At the culmination of the project, students make professional presentations to the relevant organizations.

MISSOURI

Melinda Merrill, Kansas City
6th to 8th Grade Science Teacher
Center Middle School
Partners: Mauranda Douglas, Tyler Osborn, Sara Wickham

Ms. Merrill and her partners implement an interdisciplinary unit on watersheds. Students examine topographical maps, write letters to local companies and government agencies, conduct animal field studies and classifications, collect and graph data, and create a sculpture or mural to encourage recycling. Working with the Blue River Watershed Association, students participate in the Greater Metropolitan Student Scholar Lab, rotating through career explorations and implementing projects based on information collected by scientists in the field. Final project results are disseminated through the student website.

OHIO

Ruth Anker, Cambridge
9th to 12th Grade Computer Science Teacher
Cambridge High School
Partner: Charles Blair

Mrs. Anker and Mr. Blair help their small rural school and enhance students’ technology and job skills through the implementation of a personal computer maintenance and repair class. Students investigate the inner-workings of a desktop computer and disassemble outdated models to update the components. After exploring the merits of building a computer, students research the price and performance of different components and investigate software prices, compatibility, and performance. Students design, assemble, and test a computer based on their research and donate the completed machine to their chosen school organization.

OKLAHOMA

Christina Surber, Tulsa
Pre-Kindergarten to 5th Grade Library Media Specialist
Hawthorne Elementary School
Partner: Patricia Whitfield

Mrs. Surber and Ms. Whitfield implement an interdisciplinary study of Asia to increase their urban students’ exposure to different cultures. Students research language, customs, geography, and currency in Asia and compare their findings to what they know about American cities. Using this knowledge, students plan a trip to China and teleconference with students in the cities they have studied. Students learn how to reserve airline tickets and how apply for a visa and passport before actually traveling to China. When they return from China, students create travel posters, brochures, and maps based on their trip and use these materials to teach students in other schools about what they have learned.

OREGON

Shawn Daley, Gresham
10th to 12th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies Teacher
Gresham High School
Partner: Thu Truong

Through “Super-Sizing our Powers of Persuasion,” Mr. Daley and Ms. Truong integrate technology into their English classes and promote community involvement among students. Using Fast Food Nation as a guide, students learn the art of persuasive writing. Students choose a community issue that is also connected to their work in another academic department and write a persuasive essay about the issue. After viewing the documentary, Super-Size Me, and comparing persuasive techniques, students film and edit a documentary based on their essay. Students present their documentaries at a classroom film festival and to a class in the related academic department to extend the learning throughout the school.