On Saturday, February 7th, 2015 over 200 friends, neighbors, and trivia buffs formed teams and came to the Woman’s Club of Wilmette dressed according to their own creative theme.
[Read more…] about 3rd Annual Trivia Night has a winner!
Fall 2014 Gripp Grants Awarded
The Foundation awarded 5 Gripp Grants this fall, totaling over $4,100. The 4th grade teachers at Romona will purchase automobile artifacts for students to examine during their inventions study using the 5 lenses of the new social studies curriculum. Romona’s Early Childhood Evaluation Team received a grant to create 3 new play scheme boxes to improve their assessment process.
WJHS Drama teacher, Dinah Barthelmess at WJHS will use her grant to conduct a Process Drama unit in her Improv Classes on “Us and Them” focusing on diversity and tolerance through a collaboration with Canadian teaching artist, Margaret Boersma. Also at WJHS, Yiyi Xu, the Mandarin teacher, will purchase an application to help students with reading proficiency and advanced vocabulary.
Lastly, Central’s 2nd grade teacher Susan Morris will use funds for technology to help with “fliperentiation” and cloned teacher mini lessons to reinforce concepts to accommodate the differentiation among students’ capabilities and learning styles. We look forward to seeing these grants in action and how our students will benefit from the innovative ideas of our talented D39 teachers!
Rack*It Public Art Project
The Foundation is excited to announce its plans for a Community Fine Arts Project funded through the Sam Mikaelian Fine Arts Fund during the 2014-2015 school year. With the help of District 39 students, the Foundation will facilitate the fabrication and installation of three artistic bike racks in the Village of Wilmette.
The Rack*It Project will begin in the art classes at all six District 39 Schools this Fall when the children are invited to design a bike rack that represents the community of Wilmette. For Highcrest and WJHS students, if your child does not have Art scheduled during the First Quarter, but wishes to participate in the Rack*It Project, he/she should contact your school’s Art Teachers.
All designs must be submitted by October 31st. Each school will review the designs submitted by the children and select five designs to submit for consideration. A Design Committee, comprised of teachers from the District 39 Art Department, Foundation members, cycling advocates and community stakeholders will choose three designs from those submitted by all six schools. After the bike racks are fabricated, we will host an “unveiling” presentation for the community in May.
Thank You for Your Donation
Thank you for your donation to the D39 Educational Foundation! Your gift is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. You will receive an email confirmation of your donation and a letter from the foundation acknowledging your donation.
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Spring 2014 Gripp Grants Awarded
For the 2013-2014 school year the Foundation has awarded over $30,000 in Gripp Grants! And, this year all six D39 schools received at least one grant to expand, enrich and complement the curriculum. Four grants were approved for the spring grant cycle.
Parlez vous francais? Highcrest’s French teacher, Katie Fox’s students will be able to develop vocabulary, grasp story meaning and flow with new French fairy tale books purchased with her Gripp Grant. Using familiar tales will give students confidence, a frame of reference and enhance the foreign language reading experience.
“Recess is a time for fun, but it isn’t much fun for kids who feel left out or lonely”. Ms. Belconis’ 5th grade class at Highcrest read that quote in a Scholastic News magazine article from a boy who came up with the idea for a “Buddy Bench”. The class submitted a grant and now HMS will have two Buddy Benches on their playground where kids can sit if they aren’t feeling included and others will know they want to talk or play. The benches can be for someone who needs a friend and for someone who can become a friend. They are a great tool for teaching empathy towards peers.
Romona’s playground will have a new Gaga Ball arena next fall thanks to a Foundation grant. This game is a form of dodge ball, played in a wooden, octagonal-shaped arena, that everyone can play. Gaga Ball will give the students another organized game to play at recess and in PE class.
Multimedia books offer additional benefits that print books can not including note-taking and highlighting abilities, a dictionary, read-aloud features, follow-along text highlighting and year-round 24/7 accessibility from home of school. Romona library will have a new multimedia book collection using funds from our fourth Gripp Grant this spring. The collection will include eBooks, interactive eBooks and digital audiobooks.