'Celebrate Innovation' Grants Awarded

Here are the 2012 "Celebrate Innovation" Grants awarded by the :

Elementary Schools

15 awards for a total of $33,030.53 as follows:

· Math Matters Summer Program - Christine Lawson, Mary Jane Ward, and Brenda Baxter are awarded $1,500 for Math Matters at . The program is for students who have or would benefit from intervention and remediation services. The program will be offered to approximately 30 students for three weeks, two hours per day during the summer hours and therefore students will not lose math skills during summer.

· Elementary Counseling Program Consultant - Helma Rosenthal is being awarded $1,200 for an elementary counseling consultant that will work with all elementary counselors in the District to transition from a responsive model to one that aligns with the current focus of Response to Intervention and Instruction, School-wide Positive Behavior Support, Common Core Standards and global competencies in the American School Counselor Association’s National Model.

· 4th Grade District-wide Orchestra Composition - Mrs. Patti Bartolacci, music teacher at Cetronia, is being awarded $1,000 for a cross-curricular strings orchestra composition that will benefit all 8 Parkland Elementary Schools. A composer will be commissioned to create a new composition for the 4th grade string orchestras throughout the district. It will be played by more than 200 students.

· 4th Grade Cross-Curricular Band Composition – Dr. Scott Watson, music teacher at Kratzer, is being awarded $1,500 ffor a cross-curricular band composer to be commissioned to create a new composition for the 4th grade bands throughout the district. It will be played by over 300 students in band and remain in the school’s library of works to be played in the future.

· Elementary Vocal Music Library Augmentation – Lauren Kostovick, music teacher at Jaindl, is being awarded $1,500 to order new choral sheet music for the choral music program in all 8 elementary buildings that will allow for 15 new pieces to be added to the available concert repertoire choices.

· Scholastic News Magazine – The fourth grade team of Wendy Lesser, Nicole Mandry, and Maura Wilder are being awarded $369.75 to fund the Scholastic News Magazine at Schnecksville Elementary School. The subscription to this magazine will be given to students to take the magazine home and read with a parent. In doing so, the goal is to improve student reading fluency by introducing a parental involvement component.

· Microscopes - Cory Hausman, Ashley Andreoli, and Joanne Marshaleck are awarded $1,150 for microscopes at Schnecksville Elementary School. Students will be able to use the Omano 2-in-1 microscope and book in order to learn the historical and contemporary importance of the microscope as a tool in science research and discovery through a hands-on-approach.

· Boardmaker Studio - Diana Sounders is being awarded $515 for a Boardmaker Studio at Kernsville Elementary School. This is a software program containing Picture Communication Symbol (PCS) Language and Literacy tools which are designed to enhance comprehension and oral expression for students with language, speech, reading, and learning difficulties.

· ARtIC-Lab English Kit - Donna Wendling is being awarded $238.95 for an ARtIC-Lab English Kit at Ironton Elementary School. This kit will help treat mild articulation deficits for students who speak English or Spanish and have difficulty with certain sounds.

· Ecology Assembly - Cory Hausman is being awarded $800 for “The Day the School Went Wild Assembly” at Schnecksville Elementary School. This is a musical interactive assembly that focuses on ecological topics such as recycling, rainforests, anti-littering and endangered animals.

· Environmental Project - Debra Nagy is being awarded $550 for a Jaindl Environmental Club Project. The club of fifth graders will construct eight bluebird houses, bird feeders and seeds and planters with plants and soil.

· Rotating Art Project - Nancy Nahrgang and the entire K-5 art department is being awarded $1,500 for materials to continue the Parkland Administration Center Rotating Art Collection exhibit that was cut from the 2012-13 school budget.

· District-wide Elementary Achieve 3000 Software - Louise Fick is being awarded $8,800 to purchase Achieve 3000 software, a web-based program that can provide passages and activities that are matched to a student’s reading level. This program will also extend reading opportunities and engage students with advanced level activities and provide supplemental materials for the new LEAD 21 reading program.

· Veteran’s Day Project - Judy Kelly and Karen Brokate are being awarded $1,016.71 for a Veteran’s Day project at Fred J. Jaindl Elementary School. This project includes the opportunity for students to learn about community workers, famous Americans, letter writing, interviewing skills, and how to write reports. The culminating project allows Veterans across the community to be touched by being honored by k-5 students at Jaindl.

· Differentiated Readers for Lead 21 – Elementary Reading Specialists in all 8 elementary buildings are being awarded $11,390 for Lead 21: Differentiating Reading in the 21st Century supporting materials for a new program that incorporates literacy, equity, acceleration, and differentiation in order for students to be successful 21st century learners.

Middle Schools

12 awards for a total of $12,701.72:

· Jazz Education - Jude Sandt, Band teacher, is being awarded $1,480.61 that will allow participation in three jazz competitions and the purchase of a guitar amp and metronome. The Jazz Band is a 65 member extra-curricular auditioned ensemble open to 6-8 graders at OMS.

· Classroom Performance System - Stephen Ott, 6th grade teacher at OMS, is being awarded $1,500 for a Classroom Performance System (CPS). CPS reinforces curriculum taught in the classroom and will increase the use of technology on a daily basis. He plans to share this 3rd building technology set with fellow teachers.

· X-Box Gets Students Moving - Noel Mahmood, 7th grade science teacher at SMS, is being awarded $630 for Kinect for X-Box. The Kinect will be used for lessons in biology, chemistry, physics, zoology, physiology and more by allowing students to have hands on activities.

· Math Whiteboards - Elsa Benincasa, OMS 7th grade learning support, is being awarded $42.39 for 24 Math Whiteboards. The whiteboards are used daily for math lessons and will provide the teacher with immediate feedback and monitor comprehension of skills.

· Chinese Movement Arts - Suzanne Nelson, 6th grade teacher at , is being awarded $300 to pay the teaching fee of guest teacher who will give students a brief overview of how the movement arts of tai chi, kung fu, and chi kung were developed as well as the tie to Daoism. The 6th grade curriculum contains two large sections on Ancient China with emphasis on historical, social, religious and cultural aspects of this very important player in today’s world economy. .

· Enriching Earth’s Structure - Kathryn Best, Barry Kushner, and Karen Lauser, 6th grade science teachers at OMS, are awarded $663 for materials that allow the identification of the different classifications of rocks, its properties, and a hands-on experience to learn about rocks.

· Web-based Subscriptions - Angela Bachert, Donna Bazos, Karen Ceh, and Tammy Snyder, OMS Information Technology teachers, are awarded $247.80 for upgraded subscriptions to Voki.com, EnchantedLearning.com, and Screencast-O-Matic.com These web based applications have been used in the past curriculum however, they have had limitations due to the current use of “free” versions.

· Windows to Orefield’s Outdoor Discovery Site (W.O.O.D.S.) - Diane Haberstroh, 7th grade science teacher, is being awarded $1,467 to create a “SPARK” in the W.O.O.D.S. She will purchase a class set of SPARKS - hand held portable computers that enables science discovery. This program uses the latest technological advances in science in cooperation with the use of an outdoor, Parkland owned, educational site.

· Crossroads of Tomorrow - Paul Stewart, Kiel Eckhoff, & Bonnie Bortz of the OMS Physical Education Department are awarded $3,286 for “Crossroads of Tomorrow” 8th grade culmination day. This day, filled with activities and challenges, will provide an opportunity for students from OMS and SMS eighth grade to culminate their middle school experience and develop friendships as the incoming freshman class of PHS.

·  Multimedia Integration in World Language - Carlos Montes, 8th grade OMS World Language teacher, is being awarded $1,228.77 to purchase headsets that will allow students to read and record their voice in Spanish through the use of Audio-Microphone Headsets. Students will create a Flip e-book about their family, friends, pets, and favorite things using the vocabulary in Spanish I. They will also present their book interactively on a Smartboard.

· Mosaic Mural - Kristi Robbins, OMS art teacher, is being awarded $1,500 for materials the complete a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit of Hope Mural.       The after-school art mural program is open to any student in the middle school. The last five years, students have been working on a mural that is scheduled for installation on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

· Engineering our Future - Robert DiGiacomo and Darren Drawuschak are awarded $356.15 to purchase a new router which is essential to manufacturing a new project - Chinese Checkers. The second router station will also help students in completing their projects in a timely fashion and allow for more individualized lessons between the teachers and students.

16 awards for a total of $17,808.65:

· Spanish Dance Theatre - Julie Wood, 7-12th grade Spanish teacher, is being awarded $1,000 to bring the Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre to Parkland. This presentation will help students learn Spanish culture, history, and language and bring it to life in a visual manor. The assembly would be viewed by a possible 1,000 students (middle and high school).

· Foreign Language Conference - Kellie O’Donnell, PHS world language teacher, is being awarded $810 that will allow 3 teachers to attend the National American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages conference in Philadelphia next year to learn the newest research on language acquisition, teaching techniques, assessments, technology, etc.

· Campus Beautification - Vince Fugazzotto, biology teacher, is being awarded $550 for a Campus Beautification Project. This project allows students to plant flower baskets that hang on the outside of PHS while learning about plants.

· Rotating Art Project – Richard Shemonsky and the entire 6-12 art department is being awarded $1,500 for materials to continue the Parkland Administration Center Rotating Art Collection exhibit that was cut from the 2012-13 school budget.

· Kindling the Math Spirit - Terri M. Plattner, 9th grade math teacher, is being awarded $1,393 to purchase 7 Kindle Fires that will allow her to differentiate instruction with her students and pilot a Bring Your Own Device program in her classroom and move towards a paperless classroom initiative.

· Kindling the Math Spirit – Christy Keating, 9th and 10th grade math teacher, is being awarded $1,393 to purchase 7 Kindle Fires that will allow her to differentiate instruction with her students and pilot a Bring Your Own Device program in her classroom and move towards a paperless classroom initiative.

· Indoor Percussion - Dr. Christopher Johnson is being awarded $1,000 to pay for supplies for the PHS Indoor Percussion Ensemble including drum sticks, mallets, drum heads, and repair costs for the instruments.

· Scientific Calculators - Kristin Meeker and the PHS math department is being awarded $1080 to purchase a replenishment stock of scientific calculators that help ensure consistency of equipment across the math curriculum.

· 21st Century Genetic Technology - Michelle Gannon and Laura Kowalski, AP Biology teachers, are awarded $1,450 to purchase laboratory equipment and materials necessary to continue to implement gel electrophoresis and plasmid transformation labs in AP biology classes.

· Investigating DNA - Laura Bednar, Gary Laub, Michelle Gannon and Laura Kowalski, Honors Biology teachers, will be awarded $1,500 for genetic technology materials that are necessary to continue to implement the gel electrophoresis lab in the honors biology curriculum.

· News2You Curriculum - Margaret Clark and all Speech/Language Pathologists (10) in PSD are awarded $1,400 for the News2You curriculum. This is an online weekly newspaper for children with special needs and beginning readers. This program curriculum builds language, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, critical thinking, problem solving, oral expression, and turn-taking and listening skills.

· Robotics Kit - Robert Yocum, technology education teacher, is being awarded $1,476.75 for the engineering club to add one robot kit and a variety of sensors and mechanical components that will allow students to compete in the the “VEX Robotics” competition.

· Literary Magazine - Lori Peters, English teacher, is being awarded $1,050 to help publish a literary magazine, maintain the assembly equipment necessary to publish the magazine, and bring in local speakers. This grant will help the club extend its reach into coffee shops in the Lehigh Valley.

· GPS Math - Melissa Goldstein is being awarded $1049 for GPS Math. Students will use the GPS to locate several markers around the school. The project will teach the process of using longitude and latitude to locate something, the degrees and measurements used to map an area, or find a spot on a map.

· Livescribe Lessons - Margaret Buell, PHS math teacher, is being awarded $189.97 for the purchase of a Livescribe Echo 4GB Smart Pen and accompanying notebooks. This device will allow her notes to be posted online in video format so that students can better understand the process of solving mathematics problems.

· Mobile Apps - Brian Ding, math teacher, is being awarded $966 to purchase 3 iPod Touches, and licenses that will complement his new mobile application development course at PHS which focuses on the development of education apps for iOS and Android mobile devices. Apps will cater to the needs of elementary students at Parkland schools.

District-wide Grants

4 awards total $5,275:

· K-12 Autistic Support - Diane Mucellin is being awarded $1,500 for 3 iPads. The iPads will expand opportunities for students with autistic spectrum disorders to access the assistive technology lending library from the Student Services department. The devices will allow students to practice speech, handwriting, and watch video models of social situations that help them learn the appropriate way to interact with others.

· Bus Video Camera System - Val Strock is being awarded $1,150 for a bus video camera system. The last digital system which was replaced, 12 of them have become non-operational. This will create a safer environment for the driver and students being transported.

· Student Support Team (SST) Training - Robert Thornburg is being awarded $1,500 for Student Support Team (SST) training that deals with at-risk behaviors and drug and alcohol issues. This training used to be funded by the Safe & Drug Free School grant, but funding for this program was recently eliminated by the state.

· Transportation Driver Training Videos & Workbooks - Mark Lapos is being awarded $1,125 in order to update training materials that help train drivers.

TOTAL FUNDING: $68,815.90

(Source: Parkland Education Association)