Grants in Action

In February, young adult author Nancy Werlin visited Needham High School to conduct a series of workshops and speaking sessions with students. Nancy Werlin is a New York Times bestselling author whose young adult books cover a wide array of genres, including realistic...

NEF funded this grant in the Fall 2014 cycle, which financed the purchase of Bee Bots, Curriculum Mats, Lesson Plans and a set of 24-unit LegoWeDo robots for each of the five Needham Elementary schools. According to Barbara Tennyson, Instructional Technology...

NEF and the Pollard PTC co-funded this grant, which gave each student and teacher a copy of the summer reading book Schooled by Gordon Korman. Tamatha Bibbo, Pollard Principal and grant writer said, “We had a team of teachers work incredibly hard over the summer to...

Needham High School is bringing education into nature with a new outdoor classroom, featuring benches, newly planted trees and shrubs, and a walkway designed to create a garden setting. The project was funded by a grant from the Needham Education Foundation and the...

Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli entertained and educated students at all of Needham’s public elementary schools this week as part of a rousing and inspiring kick-off to the Understanding our Different Abilities program. Luca was born with Arthrogryposis, a rare disorder that...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...