GRANT RECIPIENTS 2008-2009

ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT

Brenda Armstrong
Richmond, CA
Something Good This Way Comes

Richmond College Prep School is based on the premise that “children living in violent, impoverished communities can still achieve academic excellence if provided great teachers, a welcoming campus, and a rich academic and extracurricular experience.” By creating their own music, children will be breaking through barriers that have kept the community apart. Children ages 3-11 will be writing, performing, and recording their own music. The project will be disseminated through students’ production of CDs.

Tanesha Bell
Denver, CO
Manual High School Community Magazine

Student writers and artists will produce a magazine to “communicate meaningful stories of their school and community, build friendships, promote entrepreneurship, and enrich the greater neighborhood with a platform for expression, creating a shared sense of culture and community.” The magazine, published quarterly, will target students, parents and the larger community with art, photography, movie and music reviews, employment opportunities, and current events. Students will distribute the magazine locally and in downtown Denver.

Jennifer Henderson
Holyoke, MA
Our River, Our Community

Students will investigate the role of communities in our lives through an in-depth investigation of the Connecticut River and its watershed. Duggan Middle School in Springfield, MA will be the site of the project. The 7th graders will investigate the ecological, commercial, and economic aspects of the river in an interdisciplinary, inquiry based curriculum. Students will canoe on a section of the river to record their observations and collect data. Students will develop a website to disseminate the results of their investigations.

Wanda Melton
Laurens, SC
Common Ground: Finding our History

Students at Sanders Middle School will discover the rich cultural heritage of the diverse student body at the school. Led by a team of the visual arts teacher, media specialist, and literacy coach, artists in residence will teach students skills necessary to represent their understanding of the diverse cultures through a mural, writing, photography, and video. Students will connect their home and school experiences to create projects that combine academic and artistic skills. Students will present their projects at a Founders Picnic celebration attended by families, community members, local historians, and professional artists.

Juan Pommier
Los Angeles, CA
Community Mapping Project

Using the Geographic Information Systems, the project will use technology to teach geometry concepts. Students will gain an understanding of spatial relationships and tools to map out the community including transportation routes, employment opportunities, community gardens, and historical landmarks. All geometry students at Animo Locke Tech will participate in the project to gain an understanding of the political and social consequences of their own geography. Students will create maps of the Watts area and write research papers to share their learning.

Raymond Veon
Atlanta, GA
On-Site/Insight

On-Site/Insight brings together art students from a high-achieving high school with at risk students in elementary and high schools in disadvantaged areas to create site-specific art works. Students develop interdisciplinary curriculum to explore contemporary art through a museum-based learning and serve as tour guides in the museum. Site-specific art engages students in examining the social, functional, historical, and aesthetic aspects of neighborhoods. Site-specific art motivates students to work together and create new projects. A video DVD will be produced to document the entire process from conceptualization to execution. This project was funded in 2007-2008 and was so successful that it is being funded again.

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT

Heather Bruce
Missoula, MT
The Montana Writing Project Implements “Indian Education for All”

Heather Bruce will be working with a group of K-12 teachers through the “The Montana Writing Project Implements ‘Indian Education for All’” to create curriculum and pedagogy that enhances literacy achievement and understanding of Montana’s Native peoples. In addition to gaining new knowledge about Native groups, “both teachers and students will practice reading, writing, and research practices that stand at the heart of inquiry and literacy.” Teachers will meet quarterly to design materials and share resources and knowledge. Dissemination will consist of materials for teachers, writing up ideas for journals, and publishing classroom anthologies.

Rebecca Cresell
Seattle, WA
Cooper Elementary Buddy Program

Rebecca Cresell and colleagues will be developing an inclusive program to bring together students with and without disabilities. General educators, special educators, and administrators will be working together to design a program that builds skills and motivation for children to communicate with one another. Historically, children with autism have been isolated; the Buddy Program brings together students to build relationships and understanding. Teachers will create a portfolio of training materials and documentation of activities to disseminate to a larger audience.

Genevieve Goldstein
Watsonville, CA
Interdisciplinary Curriculum and Technology Integration

Teachers in grades 9-12 will learn how to use technology tools such as e-portfolios to represent students’ work in English, history, math and science. Teachers will meet together to produce integrated units and learn to use web sites and portals, Wikis, and digital elements. Teachers will disseminate their projects through progress reports, videotapes of portfolio assessment sessions, and workshops with other schools.

Walter Lewis
Oquirrh Hills Middle School
West Valley, UT
Lesson Study to Help Students Understand Mathematics

Walter Lewis and his colleagues will use lesson study, a professional development model developed in Japan, and Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) to help students understand mathematics. CGI focuses on developing teachers’ knowledge to understand students’ thinking about mathematics. Teachers will also meet to plan and discuss integrating technology into mathematics instruction to develop lessons for students to apply mathematic to real life settings. Teachers will document their learning through surveys. Lessons will be disseminated through workshops and websites

Jim Smith
Sandia Park, NM
Student Inquiry and Lesson Study in the Sciences at East Mountain High School

Using lesson study as their professional development program, Jim Smith and his colleagues will help student learn to DO science rather than learn ABOUT science. The science department in the high school will gather input from parents and students as they collaborate to form a vision, mission statement and activities. They will also combine their instructional spaces and meet together to reflect on their teaching.  The team will disseminate their findings through videotapes that document the lesson study process and professional conferences.

 

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Kevin Donoher
New Mexico State University

Martha Ann Flores
New Mexico State University

Jonathan Harris
University of California, Santa Cruz

Kimberly Schneider
West Virginia University

Chelsea Findlay
West Virginia University