The Needham Education Foundation announced the recipients of 10 grants totaling $31,345 in its third and last grant cycle of the 2018-19 school year.
Elizabeth Lee, a parent at Hillside, was awarded a grant for engineering backpacks for kindergarteners that will include materials, books and instructions for students and parents to complete a critical thinking and building project. Thanks to a grant by first grade teacher Susan Audibert, 20 teachers will take part in an 8-week mindfulness course and then bring mindfulness techniques into their classrooms. Carol-Ann Hurley, literacy specialist, was awarded a grant to fund the creation of an innovative school-wide bookroom that will allow teachers to easily access individual, small group and whole-class texts by subject area.
Mitchell’s Media Center will undergo a redesign with a grant written by principal Greg Bayse. The new Media Center will house traditional and digital media, a STEAM learning center and spaces for collaborative student and adult work. Mitchell parent Liza d’Hemecourt received a grant to fund a screening of the documentary, “Far From the Tree,” which discusses the challenges of parenting and educating students with differences in areas including gender identity, physical ability, cognition, race and ethnicity.
Newman Assistant Principal Andrea Vargas received a grant to fund a Teaching Tolerance Workshop: Facilitating Difficult Conversations for a group of administrators, teachers and specialists, as well as copies of the book, “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain” with a goal of deepening understanding of equity in education.
High Rock will have an expanded collection of Spanish-language and Latino-experience literature thanks to grant writer Elyssa Schneider, a Spanish teacher. Erin Mack, instructional technology teacher, received a grant to fund the purchase of robotics equipment so that teachers may determine which robot/coding would best work in their classrooms.
Sue Doherty, library media teacher at Pollard, received a grant to fund audiobooks to meet the needs of special education, general education and ELL students.
Needham High School history teacher Laura Magno received funding so she can attend the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Summer Institute and learn how to leverage their resources for the teaching of American history.