NEF Announces Recipients of 2013-2014 Large Grant Awards
The Needham Education Foundation (NEF) announced the recipients of its 2013-2014 Large Grants. Three grants totaling over $40,000 were awarded. Two grants support iPad pilot programs at Newman and Hillside Elementary Schools. The third grant supports an interdisciplinary partnership between social studies and visual arts for 6th graders at High Rock School.
iPads for Learning
Newman Elementary School was awarded a $14,935.95 grant to provide 17 iPads (with cases, cart, and teacher’s iMac) to be used to enhance the literacy curriculum with connections to other curriculum when appropriate. The Media Center faculty plan to focus on digital storytelling applications to be piloted in at least one class per grade level in grades 1-5. The iPads will also be available to other classrooms. This grant will be overseen by Jennifer Murray (Media Specialist) and Mary Werlin (Instructional Technology Specialist) and is strongly supported by Newman Principal, Jessica Peterson, and Needham Technology Director, Deb Gammerman.
iPad Pilot Program at Hillside
This grant of $14,995.95 provides 17 iPads (with cases, cart, and teacher’s iMac) to further improve engagement, reading, written language, and math skills across all learning environments. The recipients plan to begin a phased approach to the iPads’ introduction to the school by focusing on English Language Learners (ELL) and Special Education students this spring. In September, they plan to expand the iPads’ use to grades K-2, and by the end of 2014-15 school year, they will include grades 3-5 and art and music classes. Chanit List, Early Learning Center (ELC) teacher, and Jamie Singelais, ELL teacher, will be guiding the iPad use with support from Deb Gammerman, Needham Technology Director.
Deb Gammerman, Needham Technology Director, will gather and evaluate information about both of these pilots to assess how iPad technology can best be used in the Needham Elementary Schools.
Interdisciplinary Arts Integration Project
High Rock School was granted $11,775 to fund a pilot program adding an interdisciplinary learning component to the 6th grade. The High Rock visual arts teacher will partner with the social studies faculty to co-teach interdisciplinary lessons designed to support both the Social Studies and Visual Arts curricula goals. The grant funds instruction, materials and planning. The pilot will be implemented in the 2014-15 school year in three clusters, with the remaining two clusters serving as a control group to determine the impact of the pilot on student growth and achievement. It enjoys strong support from David Neves, Director Fine and Performing Arts, and the High Rock faculty.
Sigh/Omelas
A one-man show, written and performed by actor Steve Kidd, was performed for 406 students in eighth grade at the Pollard Middle School. The play was originated by Steve following several summers of work at a camp for HIV-positive children. He wrote the play in an effort to inspire young people to do public service through telling the stories of some of these children and families. He combines actual stories of children living with HIV/AIDs with excerpts from Ursala Le Guin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.”
The performance ties into the students’ unit on short stories (which includes “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”). It also connects with the eighth-grade Community Service Learning program. Steve told the students about how he first volunteered to work at the HIV/AIDs camp mostly because he did not have anything else to do for a summer and how it has enriched his life more than anything else he has done in his career. One of the reasons that he created this program was to encourage public service. The students recently had their introduction to the CSL program and “Sigh/Omelas” will inspire them to understand their ability to make a positive impact, just at the time when they will be choosing their projects.
Fall 2013 Small Grants Announced
We’re pleased to announce that the NEF awarded over $60,000 in funding to 21 grant applicants this fall. Through these grants, Needham students are learning from visiting authors and dancers in residence, a program to teach high school students to create stained glass pieces, and even a week-long residency with an urban planner.
James Rojas/Urban Planner
James Rojas, an activist, artist, and urban planner, came to Broadmeadow School for a week-long art and design residency involving the entire Broadmeadow community. Rojas travels the world engaging ordinary people, young and old, in the planning process through “build it” workshops, translating city planning into activities that are visual, tactile, and playful—the language of how we actually experience the world.
Rojas brought these workshops to Broadmeadow students through their art classes. He presented the students with thousands of intriguing found objects and then engaged them to build their favorite place in their community. He got them thinking, building, and creating, individually and then collaboratively. After building, each student shared his or her ideas. During the residency, photographer Tiziana Rozzo documented students’ work, creating a slide show and photo exhibit. The exhibit was presented at a reception with town officials at Needham Town Hall on March 24th.
Helen Keller: A One-Woman Play
Students in grades 1 to 5 at all Needham public elementary schools were exposed to history through performance thanks to a Small Grant awarded by NEF during its spring 2013 grant cycle. The program, “Sheryl Faye Presents Historical Women,” served as the kick-off event for the town-wide Understanding Our Different Abilities program, which is coordinated by each school’s PTC. This fall, each elementary school had two sessions of the performance followed by a question-and-answer period with the performance artist.
Local actress Sheryl Faye presented a one-woman play that portrayed moments from Helen Keller’s childhood and young adulthood and her struggles to overcome obstacles and learn to communicate. Faye stayed in character for the 35-minute play in which she revealed the life of this historical woman who was deaf and blind yet achieved success. “Sheryl Faye showed the students that people such as Helen Keller who live with a disability are really not disabled but differently abled, and this is the same message as our program,” said Suzanne Lissy, chair of Understanding Our Different Abilities and an NEF board member. “Faye also explained to the kids that if you see someone who is differently abled not to be scared or to stare but to talk to them and ask questions if you have any.”
History Repeats Itself – Thanks to NHS Class of ‘63!
Members of the Needham High class of 1963 celebrated their 50th reunion with a donation of $3,063 to the Needham Education Foundation. The NEF was founded by members of the class of 1939 who established the NEF with $3000 from their 50th reunion fund. Following in their footsteps, the class of 1963 collected $3,000 and added an additional $63 to signify the class of ’63. The effort was spearheaded by Christine Hoffmeister, daughter of Ralph Leader who founded NEF.
From left to right: Leslie Tillotson, Co-President, NEF; Bob Papetti; Jane Smalley, Co-President, NEF; Marty Remsen; Christine Hoffmeister; Tom Hallliday; and George Hoffmeister.
Needham Education Foundation Awards Second Year of Funding for Innovative Interdisciplinary Class at Needham High School
The Needham Education Foundation (NEF) has awarded a grant of $115,275 to fund an innovative interdisciplinary course for a second year at Needham High School and to continue developing additional interdisciplinary initiatives and coursework.
With this funding, next year’s high school seniors will be able to enroll in the Greater Boston Project. This course incorporates English, social studies, and math as students study specific turning points in the city’s history. This interdisciplinary approach is regarded as essential for 21st Century education.
“I thank the NEF for taking a chance on this innovative collaboration and the teachers and principal of Needham High School for taking this opportunity and making something of it,” said Needham Public School Superintendent Daniel Gutekanst. “Already the students are saying, ‘This is a different kind of school experience than I’ve had before.’ It’s the kind of powerful collaboration that we should explore more.”
Currently, 50 high school seniors are enrolled in the year-long Greater Boston Project, a first-time course at Needham High School. Students in the course make connections between academic disciplines and develop problem-solving skills that are needed in higher education and beyond. Last year’s NEF grant of $111,500 to the school district launched the Greater Boston Project, which was developed collaboratively by NEF, district leaders, and the three high school faculty members who teach the course.
Included in this year’s grant, which was accepted by the School Committee on October 16, is up to $20,000 to seed additional interdisciplinary learning opportunities for students.
Author Grace Lin at Mitchell
Newbery Medal–winning author Grace Lin presented her seminar, How a Book Is Made, to the first- and second-graders at Mitchell Elementary School. She also read an excerpt of her book The Ugly Vegetables to the kindergarten classes.
Lin provided the students with insight into the steps of how a book is made. She began by showing them her “personal idea book” where she jots down ideas and words, which then become the inspiration for her stories. Through her interactive presentation, she demonstrated the many steps in publishing an illustrated picture book. Lin also read an excerpt from her junior novel Year of the Dog to teach the children about the Chinese zodiac and the traits associated with each year. She ended the program with a “draw-along,” teaching the students how to draw a dragon or a dog.
The engaging program walked the students through the complete process from story ideas to illustrations to the published work, all while infusing insight into Chinese culture. NEF grant writer Patty Deroian said, “Ms. Lin presents a fantastic program combining writing and diversity in a way that really connects with the students.”
Engineering Extravaganza
With help from an NEF grant, the Hillside Family Engineering Extravaganza welcomed nearly 300 parents and children on a recent Saturday morning to solve engineering design challenges together. Activities included designing REAL Angry birds (working catapults) and windmill blades, making bubble wands, and saving Humpty Dumpty by building contraptions to protect a real egg from a real fall. Engineers from around Needham joined the Extravaganza to demonstrate projects as did Olin College students and the Needham High School robotics teams HackHers and T-10. Robots from MIT and a 3-D printer from Olin were also popular with children and parents alike.
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a … 3-D Printer!
Students in the robotics club at Needham High School unboxed a new 3-D printer, funded by a grant from NEF, to be used by the club and soon in the school’s new robotics class. Using the printer, students will be challenged to design 3-D objects and write the necessary computer code, which the printer reads and turns into the corresponding 3-D plastic models. What was the sample design on that first day? The NEF logo, of course!
NEF Announces Pilot of Multischool Grants and Express Grants
Multi-School Grants
The purpose of the multi-school grant is to facilitate grant proposal cooperation between and among Needham public schools (particularly elementary schools) and to ensure that the $5,000 small grant award limit does not create an impediment to that cooperation.
For example, a terrific cultural arts program that is planned for one school may be welcome at other schools, too, and there may also be quality, efficiency and cost savings associated with coordinating the same program at multiple schools over leaving each school to individually plan and carry out its own cultural arts program.
The procedures for the multi-school grant pilot will be the same as for regular grants. A single grant proposal will be submitted, signed off by each principal. Following the grant period, each school will submit its own grant reflection. Rather than being constrained by the $5,000 small grant limit, each school involved in the multi-school grant will be eligible for a grant of up to $3,000 (so, four schools could apply and receive a total grant of $12,000 maximum).
Express Grants
The purpose of the express grant pilot is to expand, at the elementary level, successfully implemented grants from one school to another. For instance, if the NEF funds a visiting author-in-residence program at Hillside Elementary School, the grant application will be streamlined for those interested in bringing the same experience to Mitchell Elementary School. With a condensed express application, our aim is to encourage each school to experience innovative programs that meet their particular needs. Express grants will be incorporated into the regular small grant cycle, with the same $5000 limit and principal sign-off requirement. Applicants will be asked to provide feedback from the initial NEF-funded grant.