The Board of the Northampton Education Foundation approved funding the following 11 grants for a total of $$26,882 for the Fall 2018 cycle.

F18-1 The Wonders of Water, Year 1 $3000

BSS

Nicole Bunnell, Mary Demerath

Second graders at Bridge Street will connect with nature and science by using the topic of water and aquatic ecology. Laura Beltran, Environmental Educator with Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, will work with teachers and students to conduct hands-on environmental activities on aquatic ecology and water related topics. Students will participate in interactive learning of the water cycle, watersheds, and aquatic ecology. Laura will work collaboratively with second grade teachers to facilitate classes and engage students to explore science concepts and vocabulary associated with aquatic ecology.

Funds consultant, bus and supplies

F18-2 PLC: Number Talks and Socio-emotional Learning, Year 1 $1200

JSS

Mary Cowhey, Talia Cossin

This Professional Learning Community of teachers at JSS will read and discuss Number Talks: Whole Number Computation, by Sherry Parrish, with the goal of increasing teachers’ skills in using the program to develop computational fluency and socio-emotional learning in their students. Students will learn to explain their thinking and work to understand the thinking of others, to solve problems without giving up, and to show their work and think about numbers in many ways. 

Funds substitutes and books

F18-3 Red-backed Salamander Project, Year 3 $2810

Leeds 

Renee Bachman

Third graders will continue to work with Ted Watt, naturalist at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst, to learn about red-backed salamanders in the forests along the Mill River. They will explore the soil communities and under-rock and under-log habitats will search for salamanders under cover boards placed in April 2018 by students during year 2.  Students will then research red-backed salamanders to learn about their life history, their place in the food chain, and their role in the ecology of the forest floor. Data gathered will be submitted to SPARCnet, a multi-state initiative of the United States Geologic Survey’s Northeast Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative. 

Funds consultant and supplies

F18-4 A Multi-media Approach to Immigration, Year 1 $2550

Leeds 

Andrew Foster, Rocky Mariani-Prall

Fourth graders will write, edit, produce, design, perform, and distribute a film about immigration from the early 1900’s to the present. The theatre piece (research, writing, acting, sets, costumes, etc.) will be done with the Enchanted Circle Theatre. The technology piece (audio and visual, editing, distribution, sharing, etc.) will be done with the district Integrated Tech Specialist. 

Funds consultant and materials

F18-5 Pottery on Wheels, Year 1 $2040

RKF Ryan road

Gregg Kerstetter

Pottery on Wheels (POW) will bring a mobile pottery studio to the RK Finn Ryan Road School, where 5th graders will learn to throw bowls on a wheel, make cups from clay slabs, and learn to glaze.  The final part of the POW experience is a lesson in giving away what you’ve made and receiving a gift from a stranger. Because each piece that a child makes must be fired in a kiln, that child cannot bring home her/his pot. But, he or she will be able to select from an array of cups that previous potters have made in POW activities. The cup that he/she selects now is theirs.

Funds consultants and supplies

F18-6 Lassia-Tuolo Pen-pal Project, Year 1 $500

JFK

Phil Cote, Laura St. Pierre, Kaitlyn Myers, Sara Churchill-Winsor

All students on the Recyclones team will correspond with students Lassia-Tuolu, a rural village in northwestern Ghana. Their first exchanges were introductory, inviting friendship and correspondence. Students will continue to exchange letters, learn about the Lassia-Tuolo culture, try to do video-conferencing, and build a relationship between the two schools. Phil Cote visited Lassia-Tuolo and is coordinating the project.

Funds writing materials, postage and wire transfers 

F18-7 After School Science Super Group, Year 1 $2500

JFK

Ellen Kennedy

JFK students, representing a cross-section of the student body, meet four times a week, twice during lunch hour and twice after school, to explore topics in physics and science.  They create various projects that can be shared with students not in the group, and often assist in teaching and designing lessons where applicable. Each SuperGroup creates its own lasting year-end ‘project.’ Such as lesson plans, highly amusing videos that explain concepts such as red and blue shift, relativity, quantum mechanics, non-linear time and the prevalence of the MC1R allele.  At the end of the school year students go to MIT’s plasma fusion lab, and/or the genetics lab at Harvard. 

Funds teacher time

F18-8 Identity Masks Revealed, Year 1 $2527

JFK

Michelle Mallory, Peter LaBrusciano

Students will create three-dimensional masks that represent what is important to them as they transition from Middle School to High School. A visiting artist and mask-maker will work with 8th Grade students, using physical theater and visual arts techniques, and then brainstorm ideas for creating their own mask. They will also analyze masks from other culture, speculating and being inspired by the stylistic choices made by those artists. Finally students will construct papier-mâché masks and write about their process and the stylistic choices they made.

Funds consultants and supplies

F18-9  Jazz Ensemble, Year 1 $2355

NHS

Paul Kinsman

This project will reinvigorate the jazz program at the High School by creating a jazz ensemble and bringing in local jazz artists to work with students. Building a HS Jazz ensemble will allow students in the thriving, NEF-funded middle school jazz ensemble program to continue to develop as jazz musicians. 

Funds teacher time, music scores, and local jazz artist coaches

F18-10 Bringing the Latin American Rain forests to Life, Year 2 $3900

JSS/JFK

Tracy Dawson-Greene, Diane Zamer, Laura St Pierre, Tara Robinson

Bringing the Rain forest to Life uses a real rain forest on the Caribbean coast of Panama, in Central America, to guide students through a largely self-directed exploration of Latin American geography, ecology, human-environment interaction and conservation initiatives. The eight-week program will bring together sixth grade teachers and students from a number of subjects, including social studies, science, math, ELA, art and Spanish, as they work as large and small groups to investigate the fascinating components of a tropical forest located near Panama City, Panama. The 6^th graders will then have an opportunity to teach what they have learned to 5^th graders.

Funds consultant, transportation and materials

F18-11  Reading Into Diversity, Year 1 $3500

Bill Brown, Holly Taylor, Lauren Lawrence-Riddell

 This project will create an extensive, annotated reading list of  elementary level books that address race, culture and diversity.  A core collection of reading materials drawn from this list (including picture books, middle readers, biographies, and other non-fiction) will be placed in the libraries of each of the four NPS elementary schools. Consultants will train teachers, library staff and parents in using the newly purchased books as a catalyst for talking about issues of race and culture, diversity, inclusion, and equity, and using these new materials in the classroom and at home.

Funds consultants and books

The Board of the Northampton Education Foundation approved funding of $26,230 to the following 8 applicants for the Spring 2018 cycle.

S18-1   Building a Mindful School Community, Year 1

$3000

BSS

Sara Coblyn Porth, John Zyskowski

Sara Coblyn will deliver mindfulness lessons, based on the Mindful Schools curriculum, to five classrooms at Bridge St. School.  Six teachers at Bridge street school will be trained in the mindfulness curriculum as well as learn and practice mindfulness techniques that they can use personally and deliver to their classrooms. Teachers will be mentored and have the opportunity to collectively develop mindfulness toolkits.  This grant will continue the work begun this past school year.

Funds consultant and materials

S18-2   Jackson Street Peacemakers, Year 1

$3000

JSS

Jodi Shaw, Joan Cameron

The Mediation & Training Collaborative of Community Action Pioneer Valley will work with Jackson Street School to create a “Peacemakers” program. This pilot program will build on existing socio-emotional learning curricula and offer training to all 5^thgraders, teachers and related staff at JSS.  Additional training will be offered for a smaller group of 5^thgraders interested in doing more as “Peacemakers” with students in other grades

Funds consultants

S18-3   Florence Heights/Meadowbrook Family Engagement, Year 1

$5000

Leeds and Ryan Road Schools

MaryBeth O’Connor, Holly Taylor

This collaboration between Ryan Road and Leeds Schools will offer a program of after-school family engagement events that will take place at two of Northampton’s low-income housing developments, Florence Heights and Meadowbrook. This project builds on successful NEF-funded programing at each location with an increased emphasis on family engagement. In addition to educational family programs, this project will include training a cohort of teachers in the fall around family engagement with specialist Alice Levine.

Funds staff time, consultant and materials

S18-4   Summer Reading Success: It’s in the Mail!, Year 3

$1000

Leeds and Ryan Road Schools

MaryBeth O’Connor, Rachel Ellis

The goal of the project is to motivate approximately 40 students to read over the long summer months by supplying them with a steady stream of new and exciting books. Six books will be mailed to students over the course of the summer. Each package will contain a new book and a letter from the teacher.

Funds staff time, food, books and postage

S18-5   JFK Day of Service, Year 3

$2890

JFK

Michael Soucy, Lesley Wilson

This school-wide day of community service intends to strengthen community connections, promote leadership and citizenship and build pride and self-confidence in the student body. Service work has included a wide range of activities such as: yard work/clean up on the bike path, pulling invasive plants at Fitzgerald Lake, mulching downtown Florence and Look Park, performing a community Jazz band concert, planting trees and flowers at JFK, building bird houses for the neighborhood, cooking for the Manna House soup kitchen, making pet toys for Dakin, reading to the elementary schools, making dresses, writing letters and sending care packages to soldiers. This year the 3-hour service period will most likely be expanded.

Funds staff time, transportation and materials

S18-6   Finding Our Voice, Year 1

$4340

JSS and NHS

Gwen Agna, Nick Ames

SASH (Students Against Sexual Harassment) students from NHS will run a 6-8 week after-school program in the fall for 4^thand 5^thgrade students from Jackson Street School on understanding sexual harassment and exploring ways to find their voice and stand up to sexual harassment.  Coach/mentors will help SASH students develop and refine a curriculum and deliver the workshops. This project builds on a 2017-18 pilot program at JSS.

Funds staff time, consultants, materials and postage

S18-7   REAL (Racial Equity and Learning) Northampton, Year 2

$4000

K-12

Deborah Keisch and the NPS Anti-Racism Affinity Group

The overall mission of the NPS Anti-Racism Affinity Group is to support the school community through ongoing development and implementation of intentionally anti-racist culture and practices. In year two the group will continue to expand their community and school base, deepen connections with schools and collect stories in writing and through interviews. Training Core members of REAL to co-facilitate conversations about race and racism will continue.

Funds consultants, transcription and supplies 

S18-8   ELL Acculturation Project, Year 2

$3000

K-12

Susan Sullivan

The purpose of this project is to introduce ELL students, many of whom are immigrants or refugees, to US history and culture through hands on experiences and to have them document these experiences in writing, photos, and displays to share with their peers. Possible local field trips include Old Deerfield, North Hadley Sugar Shack and the Springfield Museums. Longer trips might include Old Ironsides, the Freedom Trail and Lexington battlegrounds, Sturbridge Village, the Boston Museum of Science, the New England Aquarium and Mystic Seaport.

Funds staff time, transportation and admission fees

The Board of the Northampton Education Foundation approved funding of $25,650 to 10 applicants in the Small Grants to Teachers Program for the Fall 2016 cycle.

1. Folk Tales and Puppets   (Y1) $1500

BSS

Brenda Lilly, Kate Galenski, Kristen Strong, Carol Ruyffelaert

The second and third graders at Bridge Street School will create multi-cultural hand made puppets to narrate a chosen folk tale theme that they will be studying in their classroom. Artist in residence, B. Z. Reily, will present a different type of puppet making project for each of the classes, including shadow, hand, paper mache, found objects, and clay puppets. Students will create stories and stages and perform their tales.

2. Dance: Who? What? Why? (Y1) $2500 ($2822)

BSS

Elizabeth Haymaker, Craig Murdock, Beth Choquette

Dance: What? Who? Why? is a three year project that will bring a dynamic musical, kinesthetic, and theatrical experience to Kindergarteners, First, graders and Second graders at Bridge Street School. The children will learn about dance in the past and present and about themselves through inquiry and direct experience. Year 1: Who?: Professional dancer Jonathan Riseling, will be artist in residence for the two second grade physical education classes. With the assistance of local percussionist Ellen Clegg, he will teach the children about modern dance in general and Alvin Ailey’s Revelations which “tells the story of African-American faith and tenacity from slavery to freedom through a suite of dances set to spirituals and blues music.” The second part, “What is Dance?” – an interactive performance by the Lisa Leizman Dance company, encourages students to ask about what dance is. Discussion of “Why we dance” will permeate the work.

3. Promoting Racial Literacy (Y1) $2000

JSS

Gwen Agna, Kim Gerould, Tom Chang

JSS proposes to continue its ongoing work on race relations through continuing work with Andrea Ayvazian. Andrea will present a performance piece to the JSS staff/faculty at a 2-hour workshop that will include role-plays and talkback sessions. Following this workshop, up to 20 staff members will participate in a “Professional Learning Community” (PLC), facilitated by Andrea, using the text, “Promoting Racial Literacy in Schools – Differences That Make a Difference” by Howard C. Stevenson. We will use our own school professional development funds to supplement the NEF grant in paying staff to participate and meet for at least 4 one-hour, after-school sessions.

4.  Red-backed Salamander Study   (Y1) $2000

Leeds

Renee Bachman, Andrew Samuelson, Laura Ginsburg-Peltz

The third grades will work with Ted Watt, naturalist at the Hitchcock Center to learn about red-backed salamanders in the forests along the Mill River. Following an initial exploratory field trip, back in the classroom, students will research red-backed salamanders and then return to the forest to set up data transects and record numbers and locations. Data will be submitted to SPARCnet, a multi-state initiative of the United States Geologic Survey’s Northeast Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative

5.  Day of Service   (Y2) $3000

JFK

Leslie Wilson, Dinah Mack, Melissa Phelan

This project builds on the success of last year’s NEF-funded JFK Day of Service, a school-wide day of community service with the aim of strengthening community connections, promoting leadership and citizenship and building pride and self- confidence in our student body. This year is plan is to expand the original 3-hour service period and build on service opportunities developed in Year One.

6.  Peer Mentors   (Y1) $3000

NHS

Bryan Lombardi, Heather Berlin

This program will provide support for at-risk 9th grade students in their transition from middle school to high school and in the areas of academic, social, and emotional development during their high school years. Specific focus will be incoming 9th grade students identified from JFK guidance counselors as well as those enrolling from local charter or private schools or recently moved into the district. An older NHS junior or senior will serve as a mentor for a younger 9th grade.

7.  Summer Reading Success   (Y2) $2500

RKFRR/Leeds

Mary Beth O’Connor, Rachel Ellis

The goal of this project is to provide struggling readers the chance to read over the summer by providing them with a steady stream of new and exciting books. Books will be sent to the students every few weeks so that they would always have something new and exciting to read. The students would also receive a letter from one of us about the book or author and a pre-stamped postcard with our address so that they could write back about the book if they wished.

8.  Youth Farm Field Trips   (Y2) $2500

Elementary/JFK

Katharine Walmsley

During Spring 2017, Grow Food Northampton will provide at least 15 field trips, in the form of in-kind grants to schools, that will bring at least 600 Northampton elementary and middle school students to our community farm. Grow Food Northampton will provide bus transportation to and from the school, professional tour leaders, and (weather and timing permitting) produce harvested by students to take back to the classroom or donate to soup kitchens.

9.  Sojourner Truth’s Florence: A Walk Through History (Y2) $3000

Leeds/BSS/JSS/HS

Michele Subocz, Roxanne Nieman, Karen Hurd, Rey Harp

In Year 2 this project has expanded to seven teachers in four schools: three fifth grades from Leeds Elementary, three third grades from Bridge Street and Jackson Street schools, and one high school history class. The project covers the history and legacy of Sojourner Truth through a walking tour as well as reading materials about her life and work, the abolitionist movement, the Underground Railroad, and social activism in 19th century Florence. Students will be introduced to grade appropriate books and material about Sojourner Truth and 19th century abolitionists, and bring them on a field trip to walk through the history of Florence in this time period. Teachers will participate in a consultant-led workshop on abolitionism and develop a grade appropriate lesson plan.

10.  Improv Out  (Y1)           $3650

JSS/Leeds/NHS

Molly Burnham, Heidi Haas, Lisa Papademetriou

Students and teachers will work with Molly Burnham, Lisa Papademetrio and Heidi Hass – JSS 5^th grades; Leeds 3^rd grades; NHS one 11^th grade English – to explore three essential elements of writing – character, setting, and conflicts/problems through improvisation games and techniques. A workshop for teachers will explain and coach them in both the improve process and in using improv for writing.

The Board of the Northampton Education Foundation approved funding of $30,774 to 11 applicants in the Small Grants Program for the Spring 2016 cycle.

S16-1  Kindergarten Outdoor Classroom, Year 1

$2500

RR

Andrea Egitto, Michelle Smiarowski, Lisa Lebeau, Bill Owen           

This grant supports creation of an outdoor STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) activities space available to all kindergarten students.   Children will explore the concepts of water flow using tubes, funnels, mills, and landforms, and design and construction with varied materials such as natural blocks, logs, ramps and arches. While open to all students, the space would be of particular value to individual students who need a break from the routine of the day and will use the space while working with the guidance counselor or the special education teacher. This space will complement Focus K2, an integrated approach to play, for which teachers are being trained.

S16-2  Florence Heights Community Engagement Project, Year 2

$2250

RR

Rachel Ellis

This grant supports continuation of a community engagement and literacy program at the Florence Heights housing complex.   Once a month, for one hour, from October 2016 – June 2017, teachers will engage children and their families in an activity such as partner reading of a book the child can take home, playing math games and journaling.  This project aims to strengthen the connection between these families and Ryan Road school.

S16-3  Leeds School Community Outreach Program, Year 2

$2500

Heide Eriksen, MaryJo Nagle, Leslie Macutkiewicz, Lisette Rodriguez

This project is designed to create a supportive educational collaborative between students and their family’s from Meadowbrook Apartments and Leeds Elementary School. The purpose of this proposal is to build an onsite teaching community that strengthens student/family learning in content areas such as reading, math, technology and art. Twice a month for 6 months (11 sessions) between October 2016 and April 2017, a team of educators from Leeds Elementary School will work with students and their families for two hours at the Meadowbrook complex in the areas of Lego Robotics and keyboarding, Literacy, Math and Art.                                                                                         

S16-4  JFK Technology Conference 2016, Year 2

$1925          

JFK

Dinah  Mack, Molly McLoughlin, John Crescitelli

JFK Middle School will sponsor a two-day intensive technology conference open to faculty and staff. Participants will be trained on all aspects of Google and move beyond Google apps to explore the many free resources currently available to develop their curriculum. With access to the support and guidance of the conference facilitators, participants will be asked to utilize what they have learned to complete a culminating project that they will implement in the 2016-2017 academic year                                                

S16-5  Theater Outreach, Year 1

$3000

NHS

Stephen Eldredge

The NHS Theater Outreach project will work with a consultant to involve students from every part of the theater program in developing productions that can tour and perform for other schools in the district, community organizations (such as the Northampton Senior Center), and in statewide Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild (METG) competitions. The grant will support membership in the METG, which will also provide study and audition opportunities.

S16-6  3D Modeling/CNC STEAM Bootcamp, Year 1

$2999

NHS   

Jeromie Whalen

Partnering with individuals from the UMass College of Engineering and Computer Aided Design (CAD) Club, this project will offer a 4-week workshop for students to introduce them to 3D modeling through the use of Autodesk Fusion360 CAD software. The workshop culminates with the printing of students’ 3D and CNC models

S16-7  Math Recovery Book Group, Year 2

$3500           

Elem

Mary Cowhey, Beth Brady, Tasha Rimany, Kate Natale

This grant support year two of a Math Recovery book group, using the book Teaching Number in the Classroom with 4-8 Year Olds by Robert J Wright et al, to support teachers who will get trained in Math Recovery in September 2016. Participants will read, try out activities together, make teaching materials that teachers can take, go back and implement these in our classrooms, and reflect on that teaching and learning.

S16-8  Arts Integrated Curriculum Enhancement Language Learning Disabilities Students, Year 1

$2850           

Elem

Michelle Carr-Mal, Deb Willis

Arts Integrated Curriculum Enhancement (AICE) is a targeted arts integration literacy curriculum specifically designed for students in grades 1-5 in the Language Learning Disabilities (LLD) program in the Northampton Public Schools. Teachers and students will work with Enchanted Circle Theater (ECT) to implement two projects: Reading Alive: a workshop/performance designed to engage children and family audiences in dramatic readings and language-rich arts activities as strategy to introduce the children to story-theater and dramatic word play; and From Page to Stage: Using a storybook as a jumping off point for both academic and social learning, students embody the story physically, explore domain specific vocabulary, engage in read aloud skills, and investigate concepts such as character, setting, and plot.

S16-9  Life in a Changing Climate, Year 1

$4500

NHS+JFK

Kate Parrot, Dan Moylan

Science teachers from JFK Middle School and Northampton High School will partner with Mass Audubon’s Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary to bring engaging, hands-on, and standards-based lesson on climate change to our students. Students and teachers will about climate change and its impacts on the local and global environment, along with empowering students to take action in their homes and community.

S16-10 Development Techniques for Students with Severe Sensory Challenges,

Year 1

$3250           

NHS+JFK+JSS

Linda Mondschein, Gina Roman        

This grant supports creating a program for the growing number of students at NHS and JSS who have severe sensory challenges through training on sensory integration techniques for ESPs and special education staff. And creation of “sensory rooms at each of the three schools. Staff will use these spaces to work with each student to design strategies for dealing with severe sensory overload/or under-registration, and help them gain independence and life skills in these areas.

S16-11 Garden Club, Year 1

$1500

NHS+Smith Voc

Madge Evers  

This grants supports the after-school Garden Club at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School (SVAHS). The club will introduce gardening to high school students and foster responsibility to and a deeper understanding of the environment. Using the SVAHS resources, including a greenhouse and a large garden site on agricultural land leased by the state to the school. Students will learn about soil structure and health, seed propagation, plant cultivation and care, and the importance of irrigation. Weed and pest management without the use of chemicals will be practiced. The garden site will allow students to take temporary ownership of a garden plot and experience the magic and rewards of growing vegetables and flowers.

The Board of the Northampton Education Foundation awarded funding of $14,815 to 10 applicants in the Small Grants Program for the Spring 2014 cycle.

14S-1 Outdoor Learning Playground Enhancement Project
BSS $2,000
Mandy Gerry, Craig Murdock, Michele Marotta
Projects enhancements will include mathematical components, signage, and state map painted on playground surfaces. These tangible elements will be used to present fundamental curriculum at all levels (pre-K-5th Grade) to enhance understanding of core mathematical concepts, as well as focusing on students’ “sense of place” through social studies and geography.

14S-2 See Hear Feel Film Visual Literacy Program for 3rd Grade Students
BSS $1,727 (year 2)
Kristen Gianchetti, Karen Hurd, Beth Choquette, Jennifer Sanders James
Lead teachers plan to tie See Hear Feel Film in with the Writer’s Workshop curriculum, an important 3rd grade literacy program where students are given the opportunity to write in a variety of genres. Year 2 will emphasize journal writing and include collaborative writing project with 4th grade “graduates” of See Hear Feel Filmprogram.

14S-3 Professional Learning Community (PLC) for Math Inquiry (year 3)
JSS $1,000 (year 3)
Mary Cowhey, Holly Ghazey
Project will continue to support the ongoing professional development of classroom, Title 1 math and special education teachers at JSS. Continuing the process from prior PLCs, 3rd year will emphasize collaborative discussions on readings, implementation and reflection of math curriculum; its effectiveness in engaging students in classroom setting and achieving learning targets via student-engaged formative assessments.

14S-4 Family Math Night
RKFRR $1,813 (year 2)
Mary Beth O’Connor, Beth Brady, Michele Andrews, Paula Drabeck
One family math night (K-5) will be held in early fall 2014. Parents will be introduced to games specific to the Investigations math curriculum. Families will learn the importance of playing games as a way to support their child’s mathematical understanding. Simple materials (dice, cards) will be used so these games can be easily played at home. Families will collect game directions and leave with a complete set of game rules and cards to take home.

14S-5 Stop-Motion Animation Workshop
RKFRR $1,450
Andrea Marks, Leslie Maculkewicz
Project will engage 5th graders in the design and creation and creation of stop-motion animated films. Students will learn visual, media and technology literacy skills, as wellas the opportunity to use computers for creativity and self-expression.

14S-6 Introduction to Color Glass Fusing with Visiting Artist (year 3)
JFK $400
Herschel Levine, Michelle Mallory, Max Lefko-Everett
This project will introduce all 7th grade students at JFK Middle School to the history and art of glass, specifically glass fusing. The visiting artist will share his knowledge and experience of glass with students. The artist will also demonstrate and work with students to create their own glass fused artwork.

14S-7 After School Buddies for Elementary School Students
JFK, JSS, Leeds $2,000 (year 2)
Linda Hamashima Umbach, Scott Andrews, Sal Canata, Gwen Agna
8th grade students will be trained as “After School Buddies” for individual or groups of special needs students at Ryan Road, Leeds and Jackson St, schools. Supervised by a JFK program advisor and after school personnel, buddies will help assigned students with after school activities including homework, art, as well as group activities such as basketball or tag. Buddies will meet with students on a weekly basis for 14 weeks.

14S-8 Poetry Workshops Mentors at the High School
NHS $1,625 (year 2)
Suzanne Strauss, Heather Brown
Project will again bring three former NHS students, now practicing poets, back to the high school to conduct poetry workshops with English students. Faculty and students from other disciplines will be encouraged to attend. Each poet will conduct 10 “sessions,” in both small and large groups, working with English teachers on specific content.

14S-9 Scholastic Arts and Writing Contest
NHS $1,251
Holly Graham, Stephanie Osienski
After-school program will provide 8th grade students with coaching and peer support as they develop fictional writing skills beyond classroom writing expectations, and learn the process of writing for publication. Students will participate in the Scholastic Arts and Writing Project and may submit art and creative writing pieces in a regional contest.

14S-10 Upgrade and Advancement of NHS Online Newspaper
NHS $1,550
Scott Mahar, Angela Rota, Jonathan Goldman
Project will redesign and upgrade NHS online newspaper Devil’s Advocate through the purchase of SNO, a software program pertinent to high school newspapers. Interested students will participate in 2 -part workshop on the use of software program, as well as the design, editing and maintenance of newspaper’s website.

The Board of the Northampton Education Foundation awarded funding of $24,795 to 15 applicants in the Small Grants Program for the Fall 2012 cycle.

12F-1 What’s the Big Idea? (2nd year)
JFK $2,000
Julie Akert, Nancy Cheevers, Dinah Mack, Leslie Skantz-Hodgson
Grant will allow director, Julie Akert,, to work with teachers and designers to finish building the “What’s the Big Idea?” web site, as well as provide teacher training for use of the web site in a variety of classrooms.

12F-2 Celebrate the World
BSS $1,988
Jennifer Sanders James, Beth Choquette, Sarah Towers, Michele Marotta Project will bring awareness to the diversity of countries around the world. For a week in June 2013, all classrooms in grades Pre-K through 5 immerse themselves in learning about a selected country other than their own. The week will culminate when the students come together to teach their peers about their adopted country through presentations, artistic exhibits, and performances.

12F-3 Student and Faculty Book/Film Club (2nd year)
SVHS $1,300
Leslie Skantz-Hodgson, Maureen Ryan-Wise
Student and Faculty Book/Film Club will discuss/write about one book each month, and two films over the course of the semester. Books and films will be supplemented by related readings, and will focus on issues involving culture, workplace readiness and social justice, as well as topics identified as important by the students.

12F-4 Adding Alternative Energy to Engineering the Future
NHS $719
Robert Melnik
Project will add “hands on” activities to electrical engineering curriculum, which will expose students to alternative energy and demonstrate their benefits.

12F-5 Math Department Data Analysis
JFK $2,000
Laurie Boosahda, Eli Edinson, Mike Soucy, Laurie Walker
Teachers in the Math Department will be trained in the use of Smart Response technology (clickers and receivers). This will facilitate the collection of data to track student progress and comprehension. Grant will provide additional Smart Response technology to math classrooms.

12F-6 Wright Flight (2nd year)
JFK $2,000
Sal Canata, Matthew Collins
15-20 8TH grade students will attend 10 one-hour classroom sessions at JFK taught by 3 volunteers. Following the classroom sessions there will be a field trip to the New England Air Museum and a culminating personal flight out of Northampton Airport for all participants.

12F-7 Student Government and Electrical Go to Boston
SVHS $1,557
Chris Tremblay, Michael Parks
11th grade students from the Electrical shop and Student Government will visit the State House and the Boston Museum of Science. This trip will foster interdisciplinary learning through cross curricular collaboration in the areas of law, trade, policy and history.

12F-8 Inspiring and Creating Young Writers
BSS $1,988
Beth Choquette, Jed Dion, Carolyn Moriarty, Laurel Cuylo
In an effort to promote and develop greater writing fluency, teachers and students in both 4th and 5th grades will participate in a series of 6 one-hour writing workshops. Both 3rd grade teachers will participate as well.

12F-9 Bridge Street School Garden Project
BSS $1,995
Louise B. Homstead, Mandy Gerry, Laura Vachula, Deborah Bazer
Project will facilitate the design, rehabilitation and maintenance of pre-existing garden. A garden educator will provide relevant education for teachers and staff.

12F-10 Heritage Project
SVHS $760
Shannon Brisbois
Grant will provide funding for school library subscription to ancestry website. This tool will assist 10th grade students in the completion of multi-genre projects related to their own personal histories.

12F-11 Centripetal Force Swing
NHS $590
Amy Johnson, Eric Newman
Project will provide funds for AP Physics students to assist in the building of a Centripetal Force swing. Once built, the swing will be available for use by Middle School Science teachers.

12F-12 Non-Fiction Zone
RKFRR $2,000
Paula Cleary Drabek, Beth Brady, Andrea Egitto, Greg Kerstetter
Project will create a comfortable, appealing “non-fiction zone” in school library, which will allowing students direct access direct access to reading materials.

12F-13 Training for VINS Volunteers in K-5 Literacy Support
BSS, JSS, Leeds, RKFRR $2,000
Lynn Barclay, Mary Porcino Project will provide training of volunteers to support teachers of reading and writing in all NPS elementary school.

12F-14 Jackson St Extended Day Program (2nd year)
JSS $2,000
Beth Bellavance-Grace, Amy Martyn, David Marlin
Grant will provide “need based scholarships” to JSS students for participation in an extended day program designed to enrich the learning experiences of students K-5. Administrative revisions to ensure financial viability beyond NEF grant limits.

12F-15 Math Inquiry Group
JSS $2,000
Mary Cowhey, Holly Ghazey
Project will support the ongoing professional development of classroom, Title 1 math and special education teachers at JSS. Specifically, this Math Inquiry Group will focus on improving teachers’ ability to orchestrate mathematical discussions ( a critical component of the investigations math curriculum) and increase their capacity to heighten the mathematical reasoning of students.

$14,945 awarded! (Projects to be completed between 7/1/12 and 6/30/13)

12S-1 Music Together Preschool! (2nd year)
BSS $1485
Barbara Black
Weekly “Music Together” group for three of NPS half-day preschool classes. The BSS preschool program serves children from all of Northampton, providing programming for children with disabilities and age appropriate peers.

12S-2 Outdoor Classroom Gardens (2nd year)
Leeds $2,000
Renee Bachman, Bonnie Palmer, Mary Jo Nagle, Hannah Kristek
The rehabilitated elementary school garden will provide hands-on curriculum based lessons that will accommodate all learning styles. In a continued collaboration with School Sprouts, teachers and students will maintain a viable outdoor classroom throughout 2012 growing season

12S-3 The Power of Our Words- ESPs and Teachers Together
JSS $2,000
Mary Porcino, Kathy Bredin, Paula Welchman, Maria Rivera
ESP’s are frequently called upon to work with our most challenging and challenged children. ESP’s will join teachers in a monthly study group to examine The Power of Our Words as well as the companion video: Teacher Language in a Responsive Classroom. Both the book and video demonstrate how to use words, tone, and pacing to build a school community and enhance our work with children.

12S-4 Jackson St School Mindfulness in Education Initiative (2nd year)
JSS $2,000
Gwen Agna, Ellen Goldsmith, Tiki Govantes, BethAnn Albro-Fisher
PHASE 2 of the JSS Mindfulness Program will support Phase 1 participants in bringing mindfulness practices more fully into the classroom setting. Through mentoring and coaching in research-based mindfulness curriculum, teachers and students will experience discreet mindfulness activities, as well as begin to develop mindful behaviors that will support positive learning communities, enhance academic performance and promote social-emotional growth.

12S-5 Responsive Classroom-Train the Trainer
RKFRR $1,945
Margaret Riddle, Susan Lucey, Patty Tosswell, Beth Brady
Three staff members will receive training to lead their colleagues in Responsive Classroom workshops. The training will provide materials to use in leading colleagues in up to eight training sessions. This project will allow RKFRR teachers to deepen their understanding of the Responsive Classroom approach and train new staff who join the community.

12S-6 What’s Math Got to Do With It? (3rd year)
RKFRR $600
Margaret Riddle, Michele Andrews, Beth Brady, Paula Drabek, Mary Beth O’Connor
This project will acquaint teachers and family members, working together, with the research that supports a new way of teaching math. The group will read the book What’s Math Got to Do With It? and, in one-hour sessions, try out addition and subtraction operations using strategies the children use. Since all mathematics computation is based upon similar principles and strategies, we propose to complete our three year series by concentrating only on addition and subtraction, moving along only as fast as the group is able to handle. We feel this approach will better meet the adult learner’s needs.

12S-7 Introduction to Color Glass Fusing with Visiting Artist
JFK $1,200
Michelle Mallory, Herschel Levine, Max Lefko-Everett
This project will introduce all 7th grade students at JFK Middle School to the history and art of glass, specifically glass fusing. The visiting artist will share his knowledge and experience of glass with students. The artist will also demonstrate and work with students to create their own glass fused artwork.

12S-8 Northampton Robotics FIRST Program
NHS $2000
Amy Johnson, Mark Arsenault, Scott McEuen, Scott Barton
Weekly meetings will be held in the fall 2012 to introduce students to software necessary to design a robot, the hardware involved, basic techniques and safety procedures of the workshop, and other topics critical to the building of a successful robot. Beginning in January 2013, students will spend 6 weeks designing and building a robot to compete in the Worcester Polytechnic Competition in early March 2013.

12S-9 Caught Off Guard- Theater Education/Peer Health Troupe
NHS $2000
Karen Jarvis Vance, Heidi Hass, Trenda Loftin
This project is designed to implement peer health education into the curriculum by establishing a student based troupe to work with their peers and younger students. The program would be modeled after the NYC troupe NiteStar, which has performed at JFK in the past.

12S-10 NHS Model UN Club Conferences
NHS $1,720
Ben Taglieri, Sara Moss-Horowitz, Katie Sperry, Sage Loomis
This project will expand Northampton High School’s Model UN club, both in terms of numbers and increased activity. The plan is to attend three Model UN conferences in the 2012-2013 school year, as well as to explore international issues by sponsoring simulations within the NHS Model UN club.

$23,036 awarded! (Projects to be completed between 1/1/11 and 6/30/11)

10F-1 Mural Project (Year 1) BSS $1,750
Jackie Coe, Johanna McKenna, Laurie Sperry, Mandy Gerry
Using the theme of “friendship,” students from all grade levels will be involved in submitting artwork to be included in a mural installed on the exterior wall of BBS. Fifth grade students will help design and paint the mural, which will be donated to the school as their parting gift.

10F-2 For Whom the Belle Tolls (Year 3) JSS/NHS $1,000
Susan Ebitz, Suzanne Strauss
After studying aspects of Emily Dickinson’s biography and poetry, students at NHS and fourth graders at JSS will partner four times for the purpose of developing and deepening their understanding of Dickinson and the beauty of her work. Docents from the Emily Dickinson Museum will visit and share artifacts and background material appropriate to the development of the students. Later, the two school groups will visit the museum together and use Dickinson’s poetry as a model to write their own poems at the very place where she composed 1800 pieces. During the third year, the program will expand by offering guidance and materials to other teachers at both JSS and NHS interested in including Dickinson’s work in their classrooms.

10F-3 The Kime Project (Year 1) JSS, $2,000
Janis Totty, Mary Cowhey
The Kime Project offers a novel, integrated approach to issues of safe and healthy schools, with a particular emphasis on bullying prevention. For three weeks in March, all K-5 physical education classes will practice skills, games and role-plays designed for teaching self-protection and non-violent martial arts skills to children. In addition, two “Families with Power” workshops will be co-hosted and planned in conjunction with Families of Power, a grass roots organizing effort of low-income families of color in Northampton schools. These workshops will include a family fitness component linked to content from Kime Project PE classes, followed by dinner and discussion, sharing ways families practice safety, respect and caring.

10F-4 Creating a School Garden as Outdoor Classroom (Year 3) JSS $1,000
Mary Bates, Aaron Piziali, Mary Ellen Reed, Susan Ebitz
In the first year of this grant a school garden was created that functioned as a viable outdoor classroom. Teachers spent hundreds of hours designing, creating, and maintaining the garden, coordinating volunteers, and developing related lesson plans. Students used the garden for a range of lessons – from organisms to seasonal changes, Native American traditions to economics. In the second year of the project teachers and students, with the help of a consultant, continued to maintain and cultivate the garden, connecting it with the classroom curriculum. During the third year organizers will continue to develop and implement a strategic plan to make the program sustainable. This plan includes connecting with local farms, promoting healthier eating through collaboration with Healthy Foods in Northampton Schools and GAINS, and identifying additional funding sources.

10F-5 Ewe Drumming-Adding the Dance (Year 2) JSS/RKFRR $2,000
Kim O’Connell
Ewe drumming is a complex tradition from West Africa. Workshops and classes will be held for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at both schools on drumming, lyrics, and basic dance steps. A master drummer will teach exercises using patterns and movements. The students’ work will culminate with concerts in March.

10F-6 “Better Together” (Year 1) Leeds $2,000
Roxanne Nieman, Karen Bryant
A three-part anti-bullying project will teach students and staff concrete skills in school-wide peace-building, and further develop a tolerant and civil school climate. An in-service training and two assemblies will build and make transparent intervention skills used in “speaking up” during a conflict. Students will participate in the writing, shooting and editing of two brief peace-building videos, to be shown in Community Meeting and later in class rooms.

10F-7 Teacher Round Table (Year 2) JSS/Leeds $275
Mary Bates, Hannah Kristek
In seven after-hours workshops, elementary school teachers will participate in a research group on student thinking and the ways in which classroom teachers can access and understand student learning. Students benefit from teachers who develop a habit of mind of paying closer attention to student thinking. They learn how to pay closer attention to their assignments and activities, and begin to see themselves and their classmates as thinkers.

10F-8 Rehabilitated Garden (Year 1) Leeds $2,000
Bonnie Palmer, Roxanne Nieman, Micki Darling, Heidi Renauld
This will be a collaborative effort, involving teachers, principal and parents, to rehabilitate and maintain the elementary school garden. In consultation with School Sprouts, teachers will create a viable outdoor classroom, connecting the garden to classroom curricula. Students’ participation will correlate to the GAIN environmental curriculum, currently being introduced in the class rooms.

10F-9 Sojourner Truth “I will shake every place I go.” (Year 1) JFK $1,000
Aelan B. Tierney, Lesley Wilson, Tracey Dawson-Greene
Two performances of Enchanted Circle Theater’s touring, theatrical concert will be performed for all grade levels at JFK, coordinated with a walking tour of Florence for several social studies classes, provided by the Sojourner Truth Memorial Organization.

10F-10 Story Theater Workshop (Year 1) JSS/RR/NHS $1,600
Elizabeth Wotjusik, Stephen Eldridge, Kim Gerould, Aaron Pizali, Andrea Egitto, Diana Ramsden
NHS theater students will perform original plays based on well-known global folktales for two RR 1st grade and two JSS 3rd grade classes. These performances will be structured in an intentional way that supports development of children’s oral discussion, reading and writing skills.

10F-11 Landscape, Memoirs, Paper (Year 1)JFK $1665
Michelle Mallory, Sheryl Jaffe
7th and 8th grade art classes will make numerous sheets of paper from cellulose plant fibers such as corn husks, iris leaves and onion skins. 7th grade classes will use the paper for landscape drawings and printing. The 8th grade will use their handmade paper for original poems and print-making. These pages will be bound as books. Both projects will be displayed and shared in an evening “demonstration event” at JFK. All works will then be displayed in the JFK library.

10F-12 Adventure Education (Year 1) FLC $500
Jason Scavotto
Students will participate in a series of in-class activities that focus on team building, critical thinking and problem solving. In addition, students will work with Outdoor leadership Program from Greenfield Community College to experience rock climbing and ropes courses.

10F-13 Chemistry Olympiad Competition (Year 3) NHS $997
Susan Biggs
Sixty-five AP and Honors Chemistry students will attend the local Chemistry Olympiad competition in March of 2011, with the prospect of sending individuals on to the national and international Olympiads. NHS teams have had impressive results in past years, including 1st place in the 2010 local competition, 2004 and 2009, sending two students to the nationals.

10F-14 Contemporary Scrolls (Year 1) NHS $2,000
Lisa Leary, Sheryl Jaffe
Drawing and Painting 1 students will create handmade paper scrolls and books that incorporate historical process photography, drawing, painting collage and print-making techniques. Final projects will be exhibited publicly in downtown Northampton and the Forbes Library.

10F-15 Stage Craft: Molding and Making Living Elements for the Theater (Year 1) NHS $1,600
Stephen Eldredge, Sheryl Jaffe
Stagecraft students will create molded masks, life-size characters, puppets and sculptural set elements, some of which will be used in spring 2011 stage performances.

10F-16 Exploring Ocean Ecosystems (Year 2) SVHS $1,646
Mary Belge
Seniors in the Environmental Science class will supplement their study of ocean ecosystems and the effects of climate change with a day-long field trip to the New England Aquarium and a whale watch, where they will be accompanied by a marine educator. It is anticipated that this will be the first time that some of the students have seen the ocean.

$16,829 awarded! (Projects to be completed between 7/1/10 and 6/30/11)

10S-1 Bridge After-School Enrichment (Year 1) BSS $2,000
Beth Goldstein, Johanna McKenna, Michaela O’Brien
Until now, BSS is the only elementary school in the district without an after-school program. The project will provide classes in Spanish, computer, fiber arts, animal and pet science, and band instruments. Experienced teachers will provide instruction, and a Program Coordinator will oversee onsite program details.

10S-2 Storytelling (Year 1) BSS $2,000
Barbara Black, Mary Porcino
This project will support the district’s Writers Workshop curriculum by bringing storyteller John Porcino to BSS to work with five classroom teachers in grades two through four. Mr. Porcino will help students remember, shape, write, polish and present their life stories.

10S-3 Yoga in the Classroom (Year 2) Leeds $2,000
Hollie Marron, Janet Spearance, Karen Bryant
In six after-school sessions, teachers are taught to use yoga as a tool for their own health, wellness, and development. Subsequently they will discuss and adapt techniques for use with their students in the classroom. Year 1 of the project has proved that yoga can be a very useful tool for helping children focus and transistion from one activity to the next.

10S-4 Matching Books to Readers (Year 1) RFKRR $1,000
Andrea Egitto, Diana Ramsden, Susan Lavallee, Michele Siarowski, Carlene Osborn
Workshops will guide parents in matching appropriately leveled books with their young readers, and will offer reading aloud skills, and ways to improve children’s reading strategies.

10S-5 The Human Sun Clock (Year 1) RFKRR $1,940
Michele Andrews
A sun clock will be installed by parents and community members in the playground area, and the Amherst College Planetarium Director will volunteer his time to teach the fifth grade how to use it. Those fifth graders will mentor younger students in its use.

10S-6 Inspiring Young Writers (Year 3) RFKRR $900
Margaret Riddle, Michele Andrews, Greg Kerstetter, Santha Parke
Six writing workshops will be offered for fifth grade students and teachers to develop fluent writing to recognize strengths. Teachers from other grade levels may also attend. Students will produce six or more pieces, at least one of which will be fully revised and published in a class booklet.

10S-7 Recess Nature Study (Year 1) RFKRR $1,973
Susan Lucey, Patty Tosswill, Lynne Lovett, Jayne Reeves, Lorraine Caron, Linsay Whittier-Liu, Pat Connors, Alison Gleason, Valerie Tompkins, Evelyn Gore
This project responds to the desire of ESP staff to learn how to guide students in their nature studies during outdoor play times. ESP staff will meet three times with a Hitchcock Center educator, to develop their knowledge and to create a nature guide for each season. The guide will suggest recess nature study possibilities for that season and offer questioning techniques to support the children’s learning.

10S-8 What’s Math Go To Do With It? (Year 1) RFKRR $1,016
Margaret Riddle, Beth Brady, Michele Andrews, Patricia Erikson, Rebecca Thomas, Pamela Maurer, Jen Crowther
This project will acquaint teachers and family members, working together, with the research that supports a new way of teaching math. The group will read the book What’s Math Got To Do With It? and, in one-hour sessions, try out each of the four number operatins using strategies the children use. The result will be that parents are prepared to support their children’s math education at home.

10S-9 Middle School Mentors (Year 2) JFK, RKFRR, Leeds $2000
Linda Hamashima Umbach
This project trains Middle School students to become peer mentors for elementary schoolers. With supervision from elementary after-school staff, the mentors assist with reading skills, board games, and art and science projects. After each session, mentors meet with project advisor for debriefing and support.

10S-10 Jazz Education (Year 2) JFK $2,000
Claire-Ann Williams
This project invites students from all four JFK bands to participate in a jazz clinic which is conducted jointly by the band director and members of a professional jazz quartet. Weekly JFK jazz band rehearsals will result in integrating jazz pieces in the three JFK annual band concerts. The JFK jazz band will compete in a “Junior Jazz Festival” competition at the end of the year.

$24,891 awarded! (Projects to be completed between 1/1/09 and 6/30/09)

08F-1 Inspiring Young Writers (1 st year) RFKRR $1,991
Margaret Riddle, Paula Drabek, Cindy Berry, Sara Simmons
The goal of this project is to inspire students to write fluently. A consultant will lead a series of eight writing workshops in each third grade classroom. As a result, students will be able to recognize the strengths in their pieces and teachers will learn how to lead the workshops themselves. Each student’s favorite piece will be published in a class booklet. In addition, a writing workshop for the entire faculty will be offered so that other grade levels may benefit as well.

08F-2 Kindergarten and the Bauhaus(1 st year) RFKRR $2,000
Andrea Egitto, Michelle Smiarowski, Susan Lavallee, Ann Desmond, Barbara Kowalski Kindergarteners and their fourth grade learning buddies will explore the study of form and design using teaching styles from the Bauhaus art school in Germany. The students will visit the Bauhaus exhibit at the Smith College Museum of Art and subsequently create collages, weaves, block structures, mosaics, and together with a master carpenter they will build tables and benches for their classroom.

08F-3 Enchanted Circle Theater Arts Residency (2 nd year) JSS $2,000
Holly Ghazey, Paula Welchman, Kathleen Bredin, Mark Dean
An Enchanted Circle Theaterartist will spend 3-4 months working with 5 th graders, who will research, write, improvise, produce, and perform plays for local public performances. Students will identify stories on themes including local history, conflict, and community resolution. The NEF grant will be supplemented by three other grants for this project.

08F-4 Rhythms of the World (1 st year) JSS $1,700
Kim O’Connell, Leslie Farlow
Two artists from The Bamidele Dancers and Drummers will work with K-5 students on songs, dances, and instruments of West Africa. The music teacher will work with students on pieces in preparation for an all-school concert.

08F-5 Smile – Photography and Bookmaking (1 st year) JSS $2,000
Maria del Carmen Garcia, Mary Ellen Reed, Parmalee Jones
This project will integrate photography and literacy for Kindergarteners. Students will receive disposable cameras and be invited to take pictures at home and in their neighborhoods. The photographs will be turned into books which each student will write or dictate. Parents will be involved in various aspects of the project.

08F-6 Families with Power/Familias con Poder (3 rd year) JSS $1,000
Mary Cowhey, Kim Gerould, Janet Namano, Norma Cardona
This project uses basic concepts from the National Writing Project, with local family leaders modifying them for our community. A Family Writing Project will be held at the Meadowbrook Apartments Community Room over six weeks. Two-hour sessions co-facilitated by FWP parents and teachers will feature free writing, sharing published writing, and modeling particular writing styles. The project will conclude with a published bilingual anthology and community reading. The results of the project will be documented to make it replicable.

08F-7 Plena Drumming Artist Residency (1 st year) JSS $2,000
Mary Cowhey, Eneida Garcia, Lesley Farlow
Last school year an after-school plena (Puerto Rican) drumming program resulted in the formation of a student drumming group called Los Pleneritos. The current project will revive Los Pleneritos, featuring its members as “teaching assistants” to the third, fourth and fifth grades, during the artist residency classes led by professional plena group, Los Callejeros. Subsequently Los Callejeros will perform for the whole school. Finally, Los Pleneritos and Los Callejeros will offer a ten-week after-school drumming program for students and their families.

 08F-8 For Whom the “Belle” Tolls (1 st year) JSS/NHS $1,390
Susan Ebitz, Suzanne Strauss
After studying aspects of Emily Dickinson’s biography and poetry, students at NHS and fourth graders at JSS will partner four times for the purpose of developing and deepening their understanding of Dickinson and the beauty of her work. Docents from the Emily Dickinson Museum will visit and share artifacts and background material appropriate to the development of the students. Later, the two school groups will visit the museum together and use Dickinson’s poetry as a model to write their own at the very place where she composed 1800 poems.

08F-9 Creating a School Garden (1 st year) JSS $2,000
Mary Bates, Mary Ellen Reed, Jen Reed, Brigitta Sebesta
The goal is to create a school garden that functions as a viable outdoor classroom. A garden educator will assist teachers and students in the design and planning of the garden, with an emphasis on spring and fall crops. Teachers will use the garden for hands-on, place-based investigations, and real-life applications of concepts and skills in the areas of science, social studies, and math. The timeline for this project necessarily extends from the spring into the fall of 2009.

08F-10 Dance! Baile! Drum! (1 st year) JFK $1,000
Julie Spencer-Robinson
Seventy-five sixth-graders will learn Latin American and West African dance from native teachers. The two weeks of intensive dance and drumming instruction complement the varied approach to teaching about Latin America and Africa, which will also include: reading and writing, researching chosen topics, cooking food from the regions, and creating Latina American and African art projects.

08F-11 Middle School Science Fair (1 st year) JFK $1,386
Joan Tabachnick, Lesley Wilson, Kate Parrott
During class, and in after-school sessions, teachers will work with students to develop projects tied to the science curriculum and well-suited for exhibition. A science exposition will then be held over two days, with students presenting their work within the school. The PTO will host an evening reception for students, parents and teachers, in which three experts from the community will examine the projects and present each student with a winner’s certificate for successful participation.

 08F-12 Monumental History of the Pioneer Valley (1 st year) FLC $2,000
Randy Gordon, Jason Scavotto
Students will research a given town in Hampshire County, visit the chamber of commerce and/or historical society, locate and identify all known statues or other monuments, photograph them, research the significance of each in terms of local and national impact, and create a web page with the findings. A print book will also be created and presented to each town that was studied.

08F-13 Theater Improv (2 nd year) FLC $2.000
Chip Kaufman, Heidi Haas A theater consultant will meet with students twice a week throughout the spring for warm-up, check-in, and theater improvisation games. Students will also read plays, watch videos, and attend one or two live performances, focusing on three African American female artists. Students will have the option to perform either their own work or their adaptation of these playwrights’ works.

08F-14 Rags to Stitches: Enriching Middle Eastern Curriculum (1 st year) NHS $1,350
Ernie Brill, Sheryl Jaffe
A unit on Islamic/Middle Eastern literature will include studying the history of bookmaking, calligraphy, and papermaking in the Islamic world. Students will create their own handmade paper, books, and calligraphy, inspired by their readings and study of Islamic culture.

08F-15 Science Olympiad (1 st year) NHS $1,434
Susan Biggs
Forty-seven AP Chemistry students will attend the local Chemistry Olympiad competition in March, with the prospect of sending individuals on to the national and international Olymiads. NHS teams have had impressive results in past years, including, in 2004, sending two students to the nationals.

$19,271 awarded! (Projects to be completed between 7/1/08 and 6/30/09)

08S-1 How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk (3rd year) RFKRR $900
Susan Lucey, Margaret Riddle, Patty Tesswill, Cindy Berry, Lynne Lovett, Pat Connors, Evelyn Gore
ESPs and teachers must work collaboratively and consistently with students yet they have almost no chance to do professional training together. Teachers and ESPs will gather to read a Responsive Classroom book that addresses both groups. The intended result is to provide clarity and consistency for students. The positive effects of this initiative are noticed every day.

08S-2 Peer Educator Participation for Summer Adventure and Leadership Inst. (1st yr) JFK, NHS $2,000
Keri Camarigg, Salem Derby, Gail Scordilis
Twelve to fifteen incoming 9th grade students will be identified for participation based on risk factors. The goal of the program is to provide these students with support and strategies for improving in the identified categories of risk, through their participation in The Summer Adventure and Leadership Institute. The Institute will take place over five weeks, starting in July, 2008, and be led by high school students who have completed a semester-long Peer Educators course. Programming will include kayaking, rock climbing, problem solving, trust building, mountain biking. The project will receive substantial in-kind contributions from the Smith College, and the Northampton Athletic Club.

08S-3 Building Bridges (1st year) NHS $2,000
Maureen Moore, Yajaira Fuentes, Kathy Goodwin-Boyd, Ellen Hirschberg
This project provides an academic support component to at-risk students involved in the Summer Adventure and Leadership Institute. It will be carried out through the students’ first semester at NHS via in-class supports, and after-school tutoring and activities to help bring them. Skills learned during the summer will be reinforced on a consistent basis throughout the fall to help in a successful transition to NHS.

08S-4 Serious Play! Theatre Ensemble Residency (1st year) NHS $2,000
Stephen Eldredge, Jane Madden
The Serious Play! Theatre Ensemble residency will introduce NHS theater arts students to the methodology and techniques of physical theater through a 3-day intensive. The methodology used will explore “the actor’s readiness and availability, dramatically speaking.”

08S-5 Literacy Through Photography (2nd year) NHS $2,000
Kate Way, Michael Jacobson-Hardy
This year-long project will serve up to twenty “underachieving” students, who will borrow the project’s cameras to document their lives, both in and outside of school. The focus will be on combining written and visual literacy as a means of expression, and on producing work of quality and depth which reflects the students’ lives. The final phase of the project will be to select and combine various photographs and writing from each student into a group show to be exhibited in the area. At each step along the way, students will be learning skills deeply embedded in both language and image-based literacy.

08S-6 Down the Hall, Across a Divide (3rd year) JFK $1,000
Julie Spencer-Robinson
Ms. Spencer-Robinson notes that the previous years of this grant provided one of the best experiences of her teaching career. Ten students with developmental disabilities spend time with a sixth grade reading class of regular and special education students. This project provides a weekly opportunity for the two classes to learn about each other and from each other, through reading and writing on themes including disability. In addition to classroom shared activities, the two classes have social events and a field trip to the Eric Carle Museum.

08S-7 Parent Math Nights (1st year) Leeds $1850
Michelle Subocz, Ruth Mackenzie, Kathleen LaJoie, Dar Cote-Houghton
The goal of this project is to increase mathematics achievement at Leeds School by providing information to parents so they can support their children in making sense of mathematics. Three evening sessions will be held.

08S-8 20th Century Irish Literature (1st year) NHS $2,000
John Selfridge
This project is the development of a multi-media course in Irish literature. The course would bring reading, writing, and research together to foster an understanding and appreciation of an important national literature, and will include an internet exchange between NHS and Irish high school students.

08S-9 The Bridge Street Chess Club and Tournament (2nd year) BSS $886
Johanna McKenna, Pamela Schwartz
This project will allow for the continuation of an after-school chess club and in-classroom chess teaching. It will include third through fifth graders, and will culminate in the second annual chess tournament.

08S-10 Geography Studies (1st year) BSS $635
Susan Carroll Hanno
There will be 10 after-school study sessions for all interested 4th and 5th grade students. They will use maps, atlases, study guides and websites. The project will culminate in voluntary participation in the National Geographic Bee, in January, 2009.

08S-11 Culinary Competition (1st year) SVAHS $2,000
Nelson Lacey
All interested students take part in eight weeks of after-school training in the areas of menu building and design, food cost %, plate presentations, garnishing, hands-on practice with different foods, equipment and cooking methods, and practicing working in competition-like conditions. Five students will be selected to take part in the state-wide Pro-Start culinary competition, with a chance at advancing to the national level.

08S-12 Veterans in the Classroom (2nd year) SVAHS, FLC, NHS $2,000
Robert Wilson, Kathy Brown, Chip Kaufmann, Ernie Brill
The project will bring volunteer veteran speakers, trained by the Veterans Education Project (VEP), into classrooms to give presentations that will complement the History, English, Health, Violence Prevention, and Substance Abuse Prevention curricula. Speakers will share compelling stories about important historical eras, drawn from wartime and civilian life experiences, from the 1940s to the present.

$17,670.00 awarded! (Projects to be completed between 1/1/07-6/30/07)

F06-01: Transition Book for Incoming Sixth Graders $1200
John Crescitelli; JFK
Students create a book, Through our Eyes – Life at J.F.K., for incoming sixth graders, explaining the ins-and-outs of JFK. Incorporating technology and language arts by using digital photography, publishing software, expository writing and website design, students create both the book and a website. The books distributed by this project in past years have been most welcome by Northampton fifth graders, and also by secondary school schools throughout the US, who learned about it through the website. The project received rave reviews when presented at the New England League of Middle Schools Annual Conference in the spring of 2006.

F06-2: Bridge Street School Fourth Annual Science Fair $1,275
Joan Tabachnick, Johanna McKenna, Karen Hurd; BSS
Over the years, the BSS Science Fair has grown to include more than half of the student body at BSS. Teachers work with students in grades 2-5 to develop science projects tied to their educational curriculum and suitable for exhibition, helping those interested in participating in the science fair. If out-of-class time is necessary, students may participate in any one of five days of a week-long after-school clinic. The science fair will be held over the course of two days, and each student will receive a “winner’s certificate” for successful participation.

F06-3: Alternative Renewable Energy Sources $2,000
Douglas Andrew, Ellen Kennedy, Jim Kohrman, Brandon Abbott; JFK
This project entails showing and using models of many different alternative energy sources, such as hydrogen fuel cell cars, solar panels for cars and houses, wind turbines, and hydroelectricity. The equipment purchased by this grant will be available to all 8th grade students. Some will build the models and the others, together with the 6th and 7th graders, will be invited to demonstrations.

F06-4: Developing Reading Fluency Through Picture Books $1,600
Pamela Gauthier-Lynes, Ann Walasek, Joan Leonard, Patti Chandler; JFK
All JFK students in the reading program will complete an in-depth study of selected picture books, do oral presentations for their class, take part in classroom presentations by a children’s author and an illustrator, and read to pre-school children, including once at Forbes Library’s story time.

F06-5: Family Empowerment Project $1,950
Mary Cowhey, Kim Gerould, Eneida Garcia; JSS
This project will cultivate family and community leadership, especially among low-income families and people of color, to collaborate in creating a model to close the achievement gap. The project involves identifying and meeting with family member and community participants, sending two participants to attend a popular education training at Highlander Research Education Center in Tennessee, and conducting a weekend workshop in which 20-30 family and community leaders take part in community-building activities, facilitated discussions, communal meals, cultural activities, and generation of action plans.

F06-6: Bridget Street School Newspaper $910
Jane Fleishman, Johanna McKenna, Mary Tighe; BSS
With guidance from parents and teachers, students will take key leadership roles, identifying a process for submitting materials, selecting materials, notifying students of their selection, layout, printing, and distribution. Content will include artistic and written work, including interviews of students and faculty.

F06-7: World Rythms and Les Ballets Africains: West African Connections $2,000
The band World Rythms will conduct a 2-3 day intensive residency on West African culture, music, storytelling, and dance, for grades 2-4. The band leader, Tony Vacca, will be a delegation member on a trip to Senegal in February, 2007, and will communicate experiences to JSS and other schools around the country via a website. Also included are performances of Les Ballets Africains at each of the elementary schools.

F06-8: Family Writing Nights $525
Leslie Skantz-Hodgson; SVAHS
The project will improve reading and writing skills, promote parental involvement in student learning, and celebrate diversity. Students and parents will write about a randomly chosen topic, then discuss the various viewpoints, responses, and genres used, including how culture informs responses. Another session will involve creative writing prompts and letter writing activities designed to lay the foundation for longer pieces.

F06-9: The NHS Community: A Visual Celebration $1,000
Martha McCormick; NHS
Students in the Printmaking and Book Arts Class will learn from a local printmaker the techniques of monotype printing and the incorporation of these prints into collages. Students will create printed papers for collage, then reflect on their community in the high school and produce at least six collaborative works exploring this theme.

F06-10: Under One Sky, Part Two $2,000
Beth Brady, Barbara Dihlmann, Paula Drabek, Cindy Berry; RKFRRS
Second grade teachers will help students to interview family members, map their country of origin and learn about their own ethnicity and culture of origin through songs in different languages and dance. Roger Tincknell, a musician, will then be invited to conduct a 4½-day residency, facilitating the teaching of the Social Studies curriculum “E Pluribus Unum” through music and folkdances from many cultures. The residency will culminate in performances of songs and dances to an audience of kindergarten and first grade students.

F06-11: FLC Mindfulness and Stress-Reduction $2,000
NHS/FLC
This project is designed to introduce interested juniors and seniors to a variety of self-reflection/-awareness, stress-management, and coping tools, such as Yoga, meditative breathing, visualization, reiki, acupuncture, and other techniques. Studies have shown that these techniques help increase focus, self-discipline, self-awareness, and healthy behavior, while reducing stress and anxiety among teens. The project will integrate these techniques into several classes, create and run an intensive spring seminar, and educate FLC staff in restorative techniques so that they may also benefit personally and maintain the continuity of the practice beyond the scope of the grant.

F06-12 Friends of Charlotte $1,210
Susan Lavallee, Barbara Kowalski, Lynne Lovett; RKFRRS
Fourth graders will read Charlotte’s Web and, together with kindergartners, create a story board to depict each chapter. They will then take part in drawing lessons, create “Barnyard posters” to be displayed in the schools’ entry, and write. Finally, fourth grade and kindergarten students will attend a live theater production by THEATERWORKS USA.

$27,577.40 awarded! (Projects to be completed between 7/1/06 and 6/30/07)

06S-1 A Celebration of Ancient and Classical Greece $1,000
JFK Middle School: Tracy Dawson-Greene, Diana Ajjan, Nick Kachulis

During the last two years a pilot project involving a team of two teachers, Nick Kachulis, and 50+ students per year has taken place at the school. Based on this successful experience, the current program extends the project, using NEF and other grant funds, to include two additional 7th grade teams, four more core curriculum teachers, and four specials teachers. The project is an integrated learning program about Ancient Greek mythology, history, and culture, using stories, art, music, dance, dramatic play, technology, research, and classroom projects for 240+ 7th graders. Mr. Kachulis will work with teachers to plan, create and implement lesson plans and extensions for the program. A student showcase, professional development, curriculum development, and a community service learning program are included.

06S-2 Ryan Road Garden Project $1,840
Ryan Road School: Andrea Egitto, Beth Brady, Susan Lavallee, Pat Erikson, Barbara Dihlmann, Diana Ramsden

The kindergarten through second grade students at R.K. Finn Ryan Road Elementary School will design and develop landscaped flower beds and a vegetable garden in courtyards in and around the school grounds. The project will enhance the current Language Arts, math, and science curricula by creating meaningful learning experiences addressing an authentic need for planning, researching, record-keeping, measuring, and discovering the life cycle of plants. The gardens will also offer a place for children to go who are having a rough time in class to find solace and offer constructive tasks to blow off steam.

06S-3 Understanding Issues to Close the Achievement Gap $1,225
Ryan Road: Barbara Black, Mary Ellen Reed, Diane Connors

Teachers will meet to discuss readings related to closing the achievement gap. Teachers will read and discuss The Shame of the Nation, by Jonathan Kozol, and selected related articles. They will then develop an action plan to address the achievement gap, and begin implementing it. It is anticipated that the action plan will be incorporated into the school’s Improvement Plan.

06S-4 Community Members and Children Read Together $2,000
All schools: Johanna McKenna, Janet Gary

The idea of this proposal is to give volunteers training in tutoring reading so that thy are more effective and feel more confident as reading tutors. The project consists of a series of workshops offered to community volunteers in the fall of 2006, and repeat for a second group of volunteers in the spring of 2007. Dr Donna Park, a retired NPS Reading Specialist, will lead the workshops. Tutors will learn techniques for helping children read, and methods of tracking progress through record keeping, feedback, and reflection on their experiences as reading tutors. This program will provide tutors with literacy knowledge and confidence in tutoring children at any school in our city. Bringing community members into the schools will give them insight into the challenges of educating our children and the notion that they can make a difference.

06S-5 Kindergarten ABC Book $450
Ryan Road: Sue Lucey, Margaret Riddle

Students in grades 1 and 2 will write and illustrate an ABC book specific to our school, to be copied and given to incoming kindergarten students the next year. The students creating the book will be resource room students, who need to practice literacy skills in an authentic format with a real audience.

06S-6 Shakespeare & Company Performance and Workshops $2,000
JFK Middle School: Diana Ajjan, Elaine Kachavos

This project includes a performance by Shakespeare & Company for all eighth grade students, as well as three workshops supporting a Banana Split and Blue Dolphin student production of A midsummer Night’s Dream. The project is a springboard for a unit on Shakespeare, in which students will delve deeper into the life of Shakespeare, research Elizabethan culture, and read, analyze and perform the play. The participation of Shakespeare & Company will take place in one school day in April, 2007.

06S-7 Phonics Curriculum Collaboration $2,000
Bridge Street and Jackson Street Schools: Mary Bates, Patty Dubiel, Alice Mahar, Beth Monopoli, Shirley Skorupski

This is the second year of an interschool collaboration between first grade teachers from the two schools. Last summer, they designed Word Study activities and materials to support the first sequence of lessons from the Phonics Lessons program. This summer they plan to develop the materials, picture and word cards, games, and other activities needed to support the next sequence of lessons. These materials will allow teachers to implement the program from the fall into the spring in upcoming year(s).

06S-8 R.K. Finn Ryan Road School Family Literacy Project: A Home-School Partnership
$1,200

Ryan Road School: Carlene Osborn, Beth Brady, Andrea Egitto, Patricia Erikson, Diana Ramsden, Barbara Dihlmann, Paula Drubek, Mary Lorenz, Susan Lucey, Portia Keating-Heller
The school has several large boxes of unleveled single-copy books in its Literacy Resource Center. Training on leveling will be provided to school staff so that they may organize the books by independent reading levels. A brochure will be developed for parents/caregivers, providing instruction on helping emergent readers. Staff and volunteers will assemble book bags for children and families to borrow, including level-consistent books, the brochure, and a response sheet.

06S-9 Building Our Community $1,202.40
Ryan Road School: Margaret Riddle, Susan Lucey

ESPs (educational support personnel) and teachers will read selected chapters from Creating a Safe and Friendly School, and use the ideas to develop further their implementation of Responsive Classroom philosophy, particularly as they affect recess and lunch. By providing time for them to meet, the project addresses the need for these two staff groups to coordinate the Responsive Classroom philosophy.

06S-10 Engineering is Elementary $2,000
Jackson Street School: Gwen Agna, Eidan Webster

JSS plans to build on their success in the spring of 2006 in introducing a new Boston Museum of Science engineering curriculum. They piloted the unit in the 3rd grade, made the materials available to the pre-school for activities, and the 5th grade is scheduled for activities in May, 2006. JSS now proposes to expand the units in an age-appropriate way for the remaining grades, and also to provide support to teachers in the 3rd and 5th grades who try to teach this on their own in the 2006-2007 school year. Finally, the project will continue to offer books, lesson plans and experience to interested elementary school teachers from the other NPS schools.

06S-11 The JFK Youth Radio Project $1,965
JFK Middle School: Dinah Mack

The project will offer students an opportunity to write, record, edit and produce radio programming to be aired on Valley Free Radio 103.3, and to form a Radio Club. In the 2005-2006 school year, students on the Big East Team (7th grade) worked to create 10-15 minute radio programs about child labor as part an integrated Social Studies and English unit on globalization and child labor in Southwest Asia. The unit will be repeated next year with the support of this project. Another unit, called Collecting Oral Histories, will explore ageism. Students will record the stories of the elderly within our community and share their own experiences of ageism against children. The project will teach radio skills and also lead students to be more involved in their community.

06S-12 Utilizing GPS in Education $2,000
JFK Middle School: Keri Camarigg, David Driscoll, Lee Mollison, Sharon Carlson

This grant allows the Physical Education Department to reinforce and enhance students’ math and science skills through the use of a hand-held GPS device while learning the skills involved in orienteering. After teaching basic compass navigation skills, students will practice using a GPS to locate designated targets. Project leaders will try to develop a “geo-caching course.”

06S-13 Down the Hall, Across the Divide $2,000
JFK Middle School: Julie Spencer-Robinson

JFK is home to the Pre-Vocational I program of the Hampshire Educational Collaborative, under which ten students with developmental disabilities, including cereral palsy and Asperger Syndrome, are educated by Kevin Mulvaney and his staff. A few doors down the hallway, Ms. Spencer-Robinson teaches her sixth grade regular and special education students. Both of these groups of students are visible to one another and curious about each other. This project will provide an opportunity for these two groups of students to study together, and to learn about and from one another. They will read and discuss books, create art projects, interview and write about each other, hold social events, and go on a field trip together.

06S-14 A Closer Look $1,695
All Elementary Schools: Trish Duffy, Camilla Munska

During the 2005-2006 school year, NPS implemented a new science curriculum. This project creates multimedia presentations and books for the grade 1 science topic “Living Organisms.” Using photographs and media clips from a digital microscope and/or a video camera, the project will create PowerPoint presentations for guppies, bess beetles, millipedes and snails. The presentations will be posted on the Internet and burned to CDs fro classroom teachers, with accompanying books for research and reference for each classroom. The project addresses the need for more science materials, technology, and age-appropriate reading materials at the lower elementary level.

06S-15 Multi-Cultural Celebrations and Diversity Week $2,000
Northampton High School: Carolyn Gardner, Beth Dichter

The project aims to support activities hosted by SOCA (Students of Color Association) during its multi-cultural celebration and diversity week. The week’s activities will promote dialogue among SOCA’s members and the NHS community through workshops and guest speakers who will address issues such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. In addition, the project will connect NHS SOCA members with SOCA members in other school districts, or with long-distance speakers, through the use of NHS’s video conferencing equipment.

06S-16 Forensics Field Trip $1,000
Northampton High School: Kate Dollard, Susan Lincoln

Students from NHS’s Forensics class will visit the Springfield College Cadaver Lab and the Forensics Labs at Travelers Insurance in Windsor, CT. Students will see and experience instrumentation and real forensic evidence at Insurance Company. At the Cadaver Lab, students will see how an autopsy is done. About 100 students will take part, and apply what they see and learn to case study work in class.

06S-17 Project Smart $2,000
Northampton High School: Beth Singer, Lisann Giordano, Heather Teed, Sam Intrator

SMART is a partnership program between NHS and Smith College that works to close the achievement gap and to help under-privileged students pursue more rigorous high school studies and to prepare for college. The program is designed to help these students be successful and comfortable in the higher level high school courses. Activities will include: arranging visits to college fairs and colleges, providing access to the Internet and to other educational tools, developing instructional materials for students and classrooms, and arranging tutorial support in high school classes by Smith students.

(Projects to be completed between 7/1/04 and 6/30/05)

04S-1: Exploring Northampton’s Water
Catherine Wanat; NHS, $1,540

This grant will allow students in the high school’s Environmental Science classes to develop an enhanced understanding of the water resources in their community. Students will explore rainfall, groundwater, runoff and surface water in relation to their own use of our water resources. A physical groundwater model will allow students to visualize and understand the complex movement of water in the subsurface. Students will choose water monitoring locations in Northampton and develop a water quality monitoring plan, which will be implemented in the fall and spring. Students will summarize their findings in a poster display for NHS and other community locations.

04S-2: Monoprints and Drawing: An Interdisciplinary Connection
Lisa Leary ; NHS, $1,525

This will introduce art students to the similarities between drawing and printmaking. Local artist Liz Chalfin will teach students and teacher alike about nontoxic printmaking techniques, which are relatively new to the field. Furthermore, students will become aware of printmaking’s place in art history and in the development of significant artists’ work. They will be exposed to contemporary printmaking through their exposure to a working print studio in their own community.

04S-3: Gamelan Music
Steven Hinks ; JFK, $400

Five of Steven Hinks’s 7th grade music classes will learn Javanese Gamelan music on classroom instruments and then go to Smith College to play authentic instruments under the direction of ethnomusicologist Margaret Sarkissian. This study will be integrated with the social studies curriculum on Asia. This is the second year NEF has funded this project.

04S-4: A Celebration of Ancient Greece
Tracy Dawson-Greene, Nancy Cheevers; JFK, $2,000

This project will engage 7th grade students on the Banana Split team in experiencing and learning about Greek history, mythology, drama, music and dance. Nick Kachulis will be artist/scholar in residence and will work with the teachers to deliver this instruction. There will be a series of 24 workshops, at the end of which students will create and present multi-genre projects, including original plays, presentations, expository and creative writing and artwork based on their understanding of ancient Greek culture and major gods or goddesses featured in Greek myths. Applicants have applied to the JFK PTO for $1,000 so that the full cost of the residency, $3,000, would be covered.

04S-5: From Plants to Pulp to Paper
Janice Battey, Laura Vachula, Mary Tighe, Janet Gary; Bridge St., $1,650

How paper is made, when it was first made and what it is made of are some of the questions 3rd grade students will have answered in this project with artist-in-residence Sheryl Jaffee. This five-day workshop will give children an opportunity to not only learn the history of making paper by hand from its origins in China to local paper mills in Massachusetts but to engage in the process of making their own paper. They will learn how books were made in Colonial America, and they will create their own books with their handmade paper, sewing the bindings by hand, and then fill the pages with drawings and writings.

04S-6: “Patchwork Stories” Literary Magazine Project
Johanna McKenna, Janet Gary, Kathleen Casale, Margaret Riddle; Bridge St., $1,999.37

The creation of Patchwork Stories magazine will provide students the opportunity to enrich their literacy education and feel part of the larger community of Bridge St. School. Every student will contribute a piece of poetry, fiction or nonfiction. Students will also provide illustrations. The goal is to promote student interest in and appreciation for written language, build student confidence in their writing skills and produce a durable product that is representative of the whole school community.

04S-7: Bridge St. School First Annual Science Fair
Karen Hurd, Johanna McKenna, Joan Tabachnik; Bridge St., $1,073.50

“Science and You,” Bridge St. School’s science fair, is designed to foster interest in the sciences among all students at all grade levels. Teachers and parents will work with students in grades 2-5 to develop science projects tied to their grade-level curriculum and suitable for exhibition (a detailed process will be provided to all participants). In addition to in-school time, a weeklong after-school clinic will be offered to all students who wish to receive additional assistance on their projects. All students will present their work to the school community during an in-school exhibit and to parents and a panel of experts in an evening reception and exhibit.

04S-8: Writing Poetry Workshop with Leslea Newman
Cynthia Berry, Barbara Kowalski; Ryan Rd., $2,000

Local author Leslea Newman will do a four-day residency at R.K.Finn Ryan Rd. School working with third through fifth graders. Poetry is an important feature of the third and fourth grade language arts curriculum and a natural form of expression for the themes explored in the fifth grade curriculum, including family, differences in cultures and friendship. Using specific writing exercises and lots of visual cues, Ms. Newman will teach students how to draw on their observation skills (using the senses), their own life experiences (using memory) and their own imagination (the sky’s the limit!) to create poetry. Teachers will learn techniques that they will be able to integrate into their classrooms.

04S-9: Jackson St. School/Coleham Primary School Exchange Program
Gwen Agna, Barbara Black; Jackson St., $2,000

The principal and teachers at Jackson St. School are in the process of creating an ongoing exchange with a primary school in Shrewsbury, England. The first phase of this project was a group teacher visitation from Jackson St. to Coleham in March 2004. This grant will fund teacher time to reflect upon, analyze and document the first stage of the exchange. Teachers will be involved in inquiry-based, data-driven research. They will look at all the materials and knowledge gained at Coleham and do a comparison study. The hope is to eventually turn this work into a journal article and, more importantly, develop ideas and plans for enhancing their work at Jackson St..

04S-10: Bridging the Gap – Native Collaborations & Perspectives in Celebration of 350 Years of Northampton
Jackie Coe, Kim O’Connell; Jackson St., $2,000

Native American specialists Jennifer Lee and Marge Bruchac will present professional development workshops for the entire faculty in anticipation of a strong focus in the school during fall 2004 on Northampton’s heritage in conjunction with the 350-year founding celebration. All activities connected with the residency will seek to expand and bridge the areas of European-based/settler area history and present life with that of pre-existing Native peoples, through storytelling, re-enactment, explorations of Native daily life and technology, and field trips to surrounding sites of local historical interest. Activities will culminate in a Harvest Festival, composed of Native and settler food prepared by students and performances of Native music and dance, all serving as a celebration of community and partnership both past and present. Funding is being sought from other sources to cover the entire project cost of $5,400.

04S-11: The Journey of the Monarchs
Jan Spearance, Trish Duffy; Leeds, $1,800

This project involves kindergarten and grade one. To enhance the study of monarch butterflies, funding will be used to: 1) consolidate video and digital images of the monarch nesting area in El Rosario, Michoacan, Mexico and combine these with images of the beginning stages of monarch migration from Leeds School into a multimedia format; 2) transfer digital photography onto cd’s for classroom use; 3) purchase thematic picture books and video to supplement the unit; 4) buy tagging kits to be used to observe and record data about monarchs on site; and 5) bring local author/illustrator Bob Marstall into the school to give a presentation about illustrating and writing An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly.

(Projects to be completed between 1/1/05 and 6/30/05)

04F-1: Literacy Collaboration: Jackson St. Writers, JFK Techies
Katherine Fleming, Mary Bates, Mary Cowhey, Kim Gerould; JFK/Jackson St, $750

This is the third year of a literacy collaboration between eighth-grade students from JFK Middle School and elementary students from Jackson St. School. JFK students will design and publish Web pages that illustrate original written work by the younger students. This work will include: writings based on books and poems; interviews the children conduct in school; original poems, stories, and other compositions; highlights from the Jackson Street Language Sharing Program; and scientific observations. The middle school students will o utilize scanners, digital cameras, and Web-authoring software to create a finished product. Note that NEF program guidelines limit the amount of funding in the third year to one-half of the amount granted in the previous year (in this case $1,495.00)

04F-2: A Festival of Stories Residency with John Porcino
Beth Warren, Barbara Dihlmann, Paula Drabek; RK Finn Ryan Rd., $2,000

Local storyteller John Porcino will conduct a four-day residency in Spring 2005 with the school’s 55 second graders. This residency, “A Festival of Stories,” will expand upon the school-wide performance and hour-long workshops that Mr. Porcino conducted last year for the same students who were then in first grade. That effort was funded by the RK Finn Ryan Road Cultural Arts Committee. This residency is designed to enhance the oral language competencies of second-grade students. The work will include selecting and mapping stories, creating oral presentations and performing for K-1 classes and parents.

04F-3: The Study of World War II
Pam Gauthier-Lynes, Virginia Wooster; JFK, $1,300

This project is designed for seventh- and eighth-grade reading students. They will complete an in-depth study of WWII through reading, writing, scrap booking and attending a live performance of “Lily’s Crossing”. In this study, they will use various multidisciplinary approaches to get involved and excited about the study of the World War II time period. Through their reading of Lily’s Crossing and Boy at War, the students will develop reading, writing and thinking skill while learning about an important historical event.

04F-4: “Over the Rainbow”
Seroe Michaud and Heidi Haas; Leeds, $2,000

The project is a fifth-grade musical production of the Wizard of Oz. It will provide 65 fifth-graders an opportunity to participate in a project that will unify their class in a project that combines music, art and theater. Ms. Michaud, Department Chair for Music, Theater and Dance in Northampton Public Schools, wrote the script in 1987 and will direct the music. Ms. Haas, a local community theater educator, will direct the production. There are also plan to include the participation of kindergarten “buddies.” Daytime and evening performances are planned for the entire school and the community.

SPRING 2004 AWARDS – (Projects to be completed between 7/1/04 and 6/30/05)

04S-1: Exploring Northampton’s Water
Catherine Wanat; NHS, $1,540

This grant will allow students in the high school’s Environmental Science classes to develop an enhanced understanding of the water resources in their community. Students will explore rainfall, groundwater, runoff and surface water in relation to their own use of our water resources. A physical groundwater model will allow students to visualize and understand the complex movement of water in the subsurface. Students will choose water monitoring locations in Northampton and develop a water quality monitoring plan, which will be implemented in the fall and spring. Students will summarize their findings in a poster display for NHS and other community locations.

04S-2: Monoprints and Drawing: An Interdisciplinary Connection
Lisa Leary ; NHS, $1,525

This will introduce art students to the similarities between drawing and printmaking. Local artist Liz Chalfin will teach students and teacher alike about nontoxic printmaking techniques, which are relatively new to the field. Furthermore, students will become aware of printmaking’s place in art history and in the development of significant artists’ work. They will be exposed to contemporary printmaking through their exposure to a working print studio in their own community.

04S-3: Gamelan Music
Steven Hinks ; JFK, $400

Five of Steven Hinks’s 7th grade music classes will learn Javanese Gamelan music on classroom instruments and then go to Smith College to play authentic instruments under the direction of ethnomusicologist Margaret Sarkissian. This study will be integrated with the social studies curriculum on Asia. This is the second year NEF has funded this project.

04S-4: A Celebration of Ancient Greece
Tracy Dawson-Greene, Nancy Cheevers; JFK, $2,000

This project will engage 7th grade students on the Banana Split team in experiencing and learning about Greek history, mythology, drama, music and dance. Nick Kachulis will be artist/scholar in residence and will work with the teachers to deliver this instruction. There will be a series of 24 workshops, at the end of which students will create and present multi-genre projects, including original plays, presentations, expository and creative writing and artwork based on their understanding of ancient Greek culture and major gods or goddesses featured in Greek myths. Applicants have applied to the JFK PTO for $1,000 so that the full cost of the residency, $3,000, would be covered.

04S-5: From Plants to Pulp to Paper
Janice Battey, Laura Vachula, Mary Tighe, Janet Gary; Bridge St., $1,650

How paper is made, when it was first made and what it is made of are some of the questions 3rd grade students will have answered in this project with artist-in-residence Sheryl Jaffee. This five-day workshop will give children an opportunity to not only learn the history of making paper by hand from its origins in China to local paper mills in Massachusetts but to engage in the process of making their own paper. They will learn how books were made in Colonial America, and they will create their own books with their handmade paper, sewing the bindings by hand, and then fill the pages with drawings and writings.

04S-6: “Patchwork Stories” Literary Magazine Project
Johanna McKenna, Janet Gary, Kathleen Casale, Margaret Riddle; Bridge St., $1,999.37

The creation of Patchwork Stories magazine will provide students the opportunity to enrich their literacy education and feel part of the larger community of Bridge St. School. Every student will contribute a piece of poetry, fiction or nonfiction. Students will also provide illustrations. The goal is to promote student interest in and appreciation for written language, build student confidence in their writing skills and produce a durable product that is representative of the whole school community.

04S-7: Bridge St. School First Annual Science Fair
Karen Hurd, Johanna McKenna, Joan Tabachnik; Bridge St., $1,073.50

“Science and You,” Bridge St. School’s science fair, is designed to foster interest in the sciences among all students at all grade levels. Teachers and parents will work with students in grades 2-5 to develop science projects tied to their grade-level curriculum and suitable for exhibition (a detailed process will be provided to all participants). In addition to in-school time, a weeklong after-school clinic will be offered to all students who wish to receive additional assistance on their projects. All students will present their work to the school community during an in-school exhibit and to parents and a panel of experts in an evening reception and exhibit.

04S-8: Writing Poetry Workshop with Leslea Newman
Cynthia Berry, Barbara Kowalski; Ryan Rd., $2,000

Local author Leslea Newman will do a four-day residency at R.K.Finn Ryan Rd. School working with third through fifth graders. Poetry is an important feature of the third and fourth grade language arts curriculum and a natural form of expression for the themes explored in the fifth grade curriculum, including family, differences in cultures and friendship. Using specific writing exercises and lots of visual cues, Ms. Newman will teach students how to draw on their observation skills (using the senses), their own life experiences (using memory) and their own imagination (the sky’s the limit!) to create poetry. Teachers will learn techniques that they will be able to integrate into their classrooms.

04S-9: Jackson St. School/Coleham Primary School Exchange Program
Gwen Agna, Barbara Black; Jackson St., $2,000

The principal and teachers at Jackson St. School are in the process of creating an ongoing exchange with a primary school in Shrewsbury, England. The first phase of this project was a group teacher visitation from Jackson St. to Coleham in March 2004. This grant will fund teacher time to reflect upon, analyze and document the first stage of the exchange. Teachers will be involved in inquiry-based, data-driven research. They will look at all the materials and knowledge gained at Coleham and do a comparison study. The hope is to eventually turn this work into a journal article and, more importantly, develop ideas and plans for enhancing their work at Jackson St..

04S-10: Bridging the Gap – Native Collaborations & Perspectives in Celebration of 350 Years of Northampton
Jackie Coe, Kim O’Connell; Jackson St., $2,000

Native American specialists Jennifer Lee and Marge Bruchac will present professional development workshops for the entire faculty in anticipation of a strong focus in the school during fall 2004 on Northampton’s heritage in conjunction with the 350-year founding celebration. All activities connected with the residency will seek to expand and bridge the areas of European-based/settler area history and present life with that of pre-existing Native peoples, through storytelling, re-enactment, explorations of Native daily life and technology, and field trips to surrounding sites of local historical interest. Activities will culminate in a Harvest Festival, composed of Native and settler food prepared by students and performances of Native music and dance, all serving as a celebration of community and partnership both past and present. Funding is being sought from other sources to cover the entire project cost of $5,400.

04S-11: The Journey of the Monarchs
Jan Spearance, Trish Duffy; Leeds, $1,800

This project involves kindergarten and grade one. To enhance the study of monarch butterflies, funding will be used to: 1) consolidate video and digital images of the monarch nesting area in El Rosario, Michoacan, Mexico and combine these with images of the beginning stages of monarch migration from Leeds School into a multimedia format; 2) transfer digital photography onto cd’s for classroom use; 3) purchase thematic picture books and video to supplement the unit; 4) buy tagging kits to be used to observe and record data about monarchs on site; and 5) bring local author/illustrator Bob Marstall into the school to give a presentation about illustrating and writing An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly.

(Projects completed between 1/1/03 and 6/30/03)

02F-1: Northampton High School A Capella Group
Beau Flahive; NHS, $1,500

This grant supports the ongoing work of the Northampton High School A Capella Group. The group consists of 16 students who rehearse once or twice a week and perform at various functions in and out of school throughout the year.

02F-2: Northampton High School Art Gallery
Martha McCormick; NHS, $1,500

In creating a space for the display of student artwork in the school library, students will learn to select, prepare, and hang the work to be displayed.

02F-3: Blood Pressure Clinic for Elders
Donna Canuel-Brown; NHS, $450

This project is designed to allow students to apply classroom knowledge in a community service setting. Students will study the anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system and research and write blood pressure brochures, culminating in implementation of blood pressure clinics for senior citizens.

02F-4: Book Collection for Comprehension Strategies
Nancy Allen and Jan Battey; Bridge St.; $250

Granted to teachers at Bridge Street School to continue and enhance their exploration of teaching methods that focus on new reading comprehension strategies.

02F-5: Grade Five Musical at Leeds School
Michelle Subocz, Seroe Michaud, Cynthia Larareo, Ms. Gordon and Ms. Pearson; Leeds, $1,500

This funding will help fifth graders produce, rehearse, design scenery and present a musical for family, friends and community.

02F-6: Economic, Social, and Technological Change in the Industrial Revolution
Michael Sullivan for The Blue Dolphins team; JFK; $1,500

This is the second year of funding for a trip to the Tsongas Industrial History Center at Lowell National Historic Park. This is an integral part of the interdisciplinary (English, history, social studies, science and math) unit studying the Industrial Revolution at JFK Middle School.

02F-7: Wonder of Nature Project: A Tissue Collage
Denise Wood; Leeds, $1,335

This project will use the literacy activities of reading and writing, interpreting different art forms depicted in the storybooks of Eric Carle. Students in grades two through four will design and create a collage representation of seasonal changes to be installed in a hallway at Leeds. The students will add to the collage as they study plant life, animal habitats and local insects in science units throughout the year. The project is interdisciplinary and will provide a visual presentation of the curriculum at these grade levels.

02F-8: A Celebration of Ancient Greece
Ruth Mackenzie and Linda Wayne; Leeds, $2,000

This program is an interdisciplinary exploration of Ancient Greek culture, history and mythology for the 4^th grade students. Resident artist Nick Kachoulis will work with the teachers and students on values common to the Greek experience through story telling, drama, music, art and dance. The legacy of Greece to American culture is stressed. Upon completion, the school will host a Festival Celebration of Ancient Greece open to all members of the Leeds School community.

02F-9: Literacy Collaboration: First Grade Writers -Middle School Techies
Katherine Fleming and Mary Bates; JFK and Jackson, $438

Eighth grade computer students will design and publish Web pages that illustrate original written work by first grade students.

02F-10: The Fish Project
Ellen Coss for The Big East team; JFK, $1,560

This is an interdisciplinary unit using fish as a common theme across the curriculum. The fish become a tool to learn about art and economy in fishing dependent cultures. Fish are used as a theme in science, literature, art, and the study of cultures.

02F-11: From Puppet to Performance – Character and Story Building with Inez Zeller-Bass
Kathy Kozaczek and Stephen Eldredge; Jackson, $2,000

Irene Zeller-Bass of the Sandglass Theater will conduct a series of workshops, rehearsals and performances, including her play, “Isidor’s Cheek”, to educate teachers and students in grades K – 2 in the creation of their own puppets and scenery and to inspire them to develop public performances of their own original stories from their lives, their imaginations and their curriculum.

02F-12: Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art Residency at Jackson Street School
Charlene Zgrodnik, Patti Emerson, Megan Lambert, Linda Tiley; Jackson St., $2,000

In this project, Megan Lambert, Educational Outreach Coordinator with the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, will be in residency at JSS for two months. She will be working with teachers and students to build literacy skills using picture book art and focusing on the interdependence of art and text. Students will then use their new insight to explore the art of the picture book and publish some of their own picture books.

(Projects completed between 7/1/02 and 6/30/03)

02S-1: African Drumming
Scott Harrington, Suzanne Strauss; NHS, $1,940

An after-school program, meeting once a week, geared for students and faculty who are interested in world percussion. A typical meeting would entail: overview of the day’s lesson, warm-up activities/stretching, listening to recorded percussionists as examples, group lesson, equipment repair/maintenance and a group performance. The focus of the project is to provide a comfortable and inspiring environment where students can come together and learn about African music, culture, and heritage through the use of various percussion instruments.

02S-2: Art From Hot Glass
Lynn Goldman, Sally Prasch; NHS, $2,000

This grant will allow Lynn Goldman to incorporate handmade glass into her jewelry class at the high school. Students will gain an understanding of glass and glassmaking through exploration of the history, background and properties of glass.  Students will make their own moretti (glass rods), creating and annealing their glasswork. They will be assessing the coefficient of the glasses to assure compatibility. They will develop a deeper understanding of how the materials work and why it will break if the wrong glasses are joined.

02S-3: NHS Web Site/Community Service Grant
William Brown, Fran O’Donnell, Ellen Nigrosh; NHS, $2,000

The NHS Web site has enormous potential to enhance the educational resources of NHS, and to improve communication and build community among its students, teachers, parents and the wider Northampton community. A local web development company, eclecTechs, is hosting the new Web site, donating the use of the maintenance software. The Web site will include: daily announcements, general information, calendar, faculty and department pages, athletics, clubs and activities, library information, parent and community links, alumni links, and online publications.

02S-4: Enchanted Circle Theater/Student Performance Residency
Susan Fink, Linda Tiley, Priscilla Hellweg; Jackson St., $1,000

Enchanted Circle Theater will work with all students and teachers at the Jackson St. School in the third year of a theater arts residency program. Teachers will learn how to use theater as an educational tool to advance a chosen area of the curriculum. K-5 students will be included in the project, with the fifth graders developing and presenting their work in a public performance. Teachers will learn how to implement theater in their classrooms with ECT staff acting as coaches and mentors.

02S-5: Adapted Early Childhood Books
Louise Homstead, Marion VanArsdell, MaryEllen Reed, Richard Caiander;
Early Childhood Center at Jackson St. School, $2,000

The purpose of this grant is to increase the accessibility of books and concurrent activities to the diverse group of children enrolled in the Early Childhood Center through the creation of adapted books, a selection of related activities, and props contained in a large resealable bag.  In addition, classroom activities will be added to assist in expanding the meaning and enjoyment of each book, including the use of technology tools such as Intellitools, an enhanced keyboard overlay that can be custom-made using pictures and symbols related to specific books.

02S-6: Dual Language Study Group
Kim Gerould, Gwen Agna; Jackson St., $2,000

The Dual Language Study Group will engage Jackson St. staff and parents in reading and discussing current research and best practices in dual language, or “two-way” bilingual, programs in the U.S. and Canada, with the purpose of examining the elements of such programs that could be implemented at Jackson St. School. The Dual Language Study Group will meet for 10 sessions between Sept. 2002 and March 2003, and will present their findings to other staff and the wider community in the spring of 2003.

02S-7: Travelogue Back in Time
Anne Cernak, Barbara Thompson, Judy Gerlip; R.K.Finn/Ryan Rd., $2,000

Enchanted Circle Theater will offer an all-school artist-in-residence program at Ryan Rd. School focusing on the study of ancient cultures and language arts through creative drama. The residency will include a professional development workshop for teachers, an all-school performance by ECT, and a series of classroom workshops for students in grades K-5. The culminating event will be a performance by the fourth grade students for the school and community. The NEF will contribute $2000 towards the total cost of $12,615.

(Projects completed between 1/1/01 and 6/30/01)

Poetry Slam
Heather Drucker, Suzanne Strauss; Northampton High School, $2,000

This project repeats and expands upon the highly successful program funded by NEF last year and features a one-day poetry slam event in which students perform their poems in front of an audience. The Poetry Slam will be preceded by two days of instructional workshops for student poets where they will work with professional poets. The event will be publicized for the community and student poems published in an anthology.

Songs of Africa
Candy Carlisle, Eveline MacDougall, Beau Flahive; JFK Middle School, $600

This is a joint project between the JFK 6th Grade Chorus, NHS Chorus and the community-based Amandla Chorus designed to incorporate music into a major 6th grade social studies unit on Africa. Students in their respective choruses will explore African culture through learning, studying and discussing selected songs from Amandla’s African repertoire. In the spring, the JFK and NHS choruses will perform with the Amandla Chorus in two concerts at JFK for 6th graders. The concerts will be videotaped for assessment and possible public viewing.

Kid Pix
Trish Duffy; Leeds, $766

Students and their teachers will learn the multimedia software program “Kid Pix” together. This creative response to the need for technology teachers at the elementary level has the dual goals of showing teachers how to integrate technology into the curriculum while teaching children how to produce a curriculum-related presentation.

Multiplying Intelligent Learning
Gail Furman; Leeds, $791

The study of “multiple intelligences” recognizes that children have distinct styles of learning arising from a variety of intelligences and that successful teaching must adapt to a child’s particular style. Principal Gail Furman, Ph.D. will put her work on this subject into action by developing workshops and trainings for staff at Leeds School and providing materials for classroom teachers that can be used to apply the information they will have gained about multiple intelligences. Other interested Northampton Public Schools staff will benefit from similar workshops at system-wide Professional Development Days.

Sixth Grade Transition Book for Incoming Sixth Graders and Their Families
John Crescitelli; JFK, $668.71

Sixth graders at JFK will rewrite and publish an updated “Through the Eyes of Sixth Graders – Life at J.F.K.” book and distribute 25 copies throughout the Northampton public elementary school system and the onto the JFK web page. This project features both a writing and technology component, with students first completing an extensive writing and editing process and then mastering the computer software and other peripheral technologies (e.g. digital cameras, scanners, etc.) needed to actually publish the finished product.

Reading Together/Leyendos Juntos
Marta Mangan Lev, Maria Garcia, Linda Barca, Kim Gerould, Elba Colon, Iraida Pastor; Jackson St., $2,000

This project will bring Spanish-speaking parents and children together at Jackson Street School over four sessions to explore Spanish language children’s literature. Following an opening of snacks, songs and games, parents will meet to discuss ways to enjoy children’s literature with their children and to identify ways to support and advance their education.  Children will gather separately to read the same books and participate in drama, crafts and other activities. Teachers will develop children’s literature curriculum for use both in the classroom and by parents and children at home. This project offers an innovative approach to supporting Hispanic students to finish school by strengthening the role of parents.

Beginning Marching Band
Kerstin Becker, Kim O’Connell-Ryan; Jackson St., $1,000

This project involves the formation of an after-school beginning marching band for all Northampton 4th-8th grade students, a musical experience that currently isn’t available until high school. The “Northampton Junior Marching Band” will be co-instructed by the NHS Marching Band director and the K-5 district elementary music teacher, meeting once a week for 12 weeks of instruction and rehearsal at Jackson St. School. The project will culminate with a joint concert by the NHS Marching Band and the Northampton Junior Marching Band.

Audio Library
Camilla Munska, Jan Spearance, Trish Duffy, Kathleen Lajoie, Denise Wood; Leeds, $617

This project builds upon the existing NEF-funded Primary Literacy Center through the creation of an Audio Library Center, where taped books in a follow-along format would be available to support the English Language Arts Curriculum. The project leaders will identify and purchase books written for 5-7 year olds, record those books onto cassette tapes and make the books-on-tape accessible to children via portable tape players.  Individual tape players help prevent overcrowding at classroom centers by allowing children, particularly those easily distracted, to locate themselves in any area of the classroom.  The project is designed to promote independent listening and reading by children and will be assessed through teacher observation and photographs.

Quilts ‘R’ Math
Denise Wood; Leeds, $425

This project will supplement and support the “Quilt Squares and Block Towns” module of the First Grade Investigations Math Program in Northampton elementary schools through the photographing and distribution in transparency slide form of ten quilts.  The project leader, an avid quilter, has used her large collection of quilts with this unit of study for six years and has shared her quilts with other classrooms and grade levels to further students’ understanding of 2-D geometry and 3-D design.

Enchanted Circle Theatre/Student Performance Residency
Mark Dean, Holly Ghazey, Priscilla Hellweg; Jackson St., $1,950

This project will consist of an extended residency in the spring of 2001 with the Pioneer Valley’s nationally renowned educational theatre company Enchanted Circle Theatre at the Jackson Street School. The project will be divided into three sections: student involvement (K-5) in creating and performing their own theatre projects; an in-service teacher training in how to integrate theatre as a learning tool into curriculum; and performances for the school of Enchanted Circle Theatre’s own production, “Latino Voices/Voces Latinas.” NEF funding represents a portion of an overall budget of $12,080 matched by grants from the Mass Cultural Council, Northampton Arts Council and the Jackson Street PTO.

NHS Drama Club – Artists-in-Residence
Ellen Augarten, Robert Bonneau, Virginia Mayer, Mark Gaudet; Northampton High School, $1,000

The NHS Drama Club intends to expand performance opportunities for students, as well as strengthen the theatrical production skill of students, by retaining two theatre professionals as artists-in-residence for the 2000-01 academic year. The artists-in-residence will provide students training in acting, production, ensemble building and all other aspects of theatre. The NHS Drama Club’s schedule will include an evening of student-directed short plays in conjunction with First Night, a series of evening Interarts Coffehouses, a one-act submission to the Yankee Regional Thespian Festival, a full-length spring production and the hosting of the Third Annual One-Act Festival of area high schools.

FIRST Robotics Competition
Bonnie Schuman; Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, $2000

Smith Vocational High School will use NEF funding, together with a $5,000 N.A.S.A. Scholarship grant, to field a team entry in a national robotics competition. Students and instructors in the technology and engineering departments will collaborate with local engineers and companies to build a robot that will compete in regional and national robotics competitions.

After School Comic Book Art Class
Lahri Bond; Northampton High School, $600

Funded by the generosity of an anonymous donor, the “Art Angels”, NEF is the conduit for this funding of this continuation of a three-year-old after-school art club. Student artists meet once a week during the school year to learn, draw and collaborate in the sequential art form, commonly known as comic books. Students are taught character and anatomy drawing, pencil drawing skill and the pen, ink and coloring techniques used to finish their art. The project culminates with a public show of the students artwork – last spring’s show was exhibited at the Hampshire Mall.

(Projects completed between 7/1/00 and 6/30/01)

Bookmaking with Handmade Paper: A Pilot Program
Lisa Leary, Martha McCormick, Lynn Goldman; Northampton High School, $2,000

NHS art teachers will develop a new course, drawing on the expertise of professional artist Sheryl Jaffe. They plan to introduce students to a variety of printmaking experiences, as well as several different methods of bookmaking. The goal is to instill a lifelong love of books through the process of making them and to have students create books that contain their artwork and examples of their own writing. Ms. Jaffe’s 11-day residency with the three teachers and approximately 60 students will include: one day of introduction and planning; three days of paper making; five days to construct an elaborate book; and two days to make a simpler book. The teachers are working towards the acceptance of “Bookmaking with Handmade Paper” as a course offering beginning in Fall, 2001. They are seeking the remaining funding necessary to complete this project from the Northampton Arts Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Music, Movement, Technology and Art: Exploring a Common Ground
Nick Kachulis, Kathy Itterly, Marsha Ciaschini, Jean Hoffman, Jane Punska, Seroe Michaud, Jacklyn Coe; Leeds School, $1,000

This proposal repeats and expands upon a program funded by the NEF for the past two years. The program for second graders utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to integrate music, art and movement into the elementary curriculum.  It is designed to expand basic initiatives of literacy, mathematical thinking, problem solving and creative thinking, and to encompass different learning styles.

Fifth Grade Power Point Presentation
Holly Ghazey, Fran Cooper, Carol Carson, Arlene Carmichael;  Jackson St. School, $2,000

Fifth grade students will learn how to design Power Point presentations, which will integrate Internet and text research, scanned photographs, imported sound effects and graphics into student research reports on fifth grade curriculum topics, including birds of prey, oceans and explorers.  The grant will pay for training the teachers this summer in the use of Power Point, zip drives and the scanner. Monies will also be used to purchase computer work stations on wheels and software relevant to student research areas. The School Department has pledged in-kind contributions of relevant hardware, an instructor for the summer training and support to publish these activities for dissemination in the district and beyond.

Strings in the Schools
Johanna McKenna, Karen Hurd, Northampton Community Music Center (NCMC); Bridge St, $2,000

This is the second year of funding for this program that offers violin and cello instruction to Karen Hurd’s second grade class (and to the teacher too). While offering this program at Bridge St., NCMC is engaged in ongoing efforts to build public support for incorporating string instruction into the regular public school music curriculum, boosted by the success of this program. If the School Department provides funding for another music teacher, students who participated in the program during the 1999-2000 school year will be able to continue next year.

Bookmaking: Preserving an Ancient Tradition
Ruth Mackenzie, Linda Wayne, Lorraine Carlson; Leeds, $955

This grant will provide a daylong workshop to fourth and fifth grade students and their teachers. Consultant Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord will help participants explore ways that cultures preserved their knowledge as they make books based on traditional forms from Egypt, Greece, Rome and China. There will also be a professional development opportunity for the district’s fourth grade teachers, art teachers and librarians in an after-school workshop conducted by Ms. Gaylord. This project provides an interdisciplinary approach to teaching fourth grade social studies skills mandated in the Social Studies Frameworks.

Helping Children and Teachers Deal with Loss in the School Setting
Karen Bryant, Diane Keating, Anna Richi; RKFinn/Ryan Road School, $1,740

The intent of this project is to better prepare the school community to deal with issues of loss and grief in students. Teachers will learn about the process of grieving and the importance of developmental considerations when helping children and, as a result, children will learn to develop healthy coping skills when faced with all kinds of loss. The grantees will develop a resource kit (one to stay at RR and one that may be borrowed by other schools) that will include a range of developmentally appropriate literature for children and resources (books, videos, research articles) to guide adults. There will also be two workshops offered to teachers and one for parents; all will be facilitated by Barbara Weiner from The Garden, A Center for Grieving Children and Teens, in Northampton.

Writing Across the Curriculum Manual, Poster and Library
Nancy Cheevers, Irene Sylvain, Patty McGrath, Denise Johnson, Chris Nolan, Kimberly Schlichting; JFK Middle School, $2,000

This project grows out of the work being done by JFK’s Communicating Across the Curriculum Committee (CAC). It addresses the need to help teachers in all subject areas teach writing in a way that is consistent across grade levels and content areas. Major goals are to: define writing terms that can be applied across the curriculum; create teacher handouts that can support student writing efforts; create a school-wide writing vocabulary; promote sharing and teaching about writing throughout the school; and improve student’s MCAS performance on writing objectives. A booklet and poster about writing process methods and terms will be produced for all teachers/classrooms. These will be the focus of several faculty presentations during the school year.