Gripp Grant Award Recipients

Tanzania Sister School Program (Central)

Central School classrooms will be receiving Tanzanian artifact boxes to complement their Sister School Program thanks to a Gripp Grant from the D39 Educational Foundation. These boxes will include hand-crafted artifacts, maps, flags, games and many other items that will enable Central students to make personal connections with the students in their sister school located in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. This program has expanded students’ perspective of our cultural similarities and differences and the foundation is pleased to be able to broaden students’ awareness of different cultures with these hands-on materials.

Solar Car (WJHS)

Debbie Clark, 8th grade science teacher at WJHS, has been awarded a grant to fund a Solar Car science initiative. This project will engage all of the 8th grade students in real world problem solving and allow them to experience inquiry-based learning as well as provide deeper understanding of an alternative energy source. They will build and race cars and then seek to improve their vehicles’ performance based on experimenting, learning, and adapting angles, mass, and other parameters.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference – Professional Development (WJHS)

Andrea Kowalchik, and 3 other WJHS math teachers will attend the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual conference in April 2011. This conference will allow our teachers to collaborate with colleagues, drawing on best practices from math teachers around the country. These teachers will learn about new math technologies and approaches to teaching math to 7th and 8th graders across the academic spectrum. They will then share their experiences and learning with their WJHS colleagues through collaboration at weekly meetings of their Professional Learning Community.

Lunchtime Ecology (Central)

As part of the Foundation’s ongoing support of the District’s garden-enabled curriculum, a grant has been awarded to Central School for the piloting of a lunchtime recess activity enabling a hands-on exploration of ecology and ecosystems through creation and nurturing of tropical and desert terrariums. Through exploration and discovery of soil, plants, and animals that thrive in these varying eco-systems, as well as problem-solving skills and creativity associated with building the terrariums, students will have the opportunity to experience many of the learning components called out in the District’s strategic plan. This initiative will be piloted this spring in conjunction with the Evanston Ecology Center.

African-American History Presentation (Harper)

Harper third grade teacher Laura Nerenberg has been awarded a grant to enhance the Social Studies curriculum as third grade students learn about Wilmette and Glenview history. This grant will bring Dino Robinson, founder of Shorefront Legacy Center, to Harper to speak to students about the important historical contributions and lives of African-American Northshore residents.

Bottled Water Phase-Out (WJHS)

In an effort to support an all-school green initiative, the District 39 Education Foundation will be supporting efforts to phase out water bottles in the WJHS cafeteria. This initiative focuses on an applied understanding of the environmental impact of bottled water consumption, with students viewing the documentaries “Tapped” and “The Story of Stuff”, complemented by a service learning component where students engage in the decidedly “low-tech” approach of pouring water for their classmates in the cafeteria line. This grant is part of a community-wide partnership with D39 Food Service, WJHS PTO Environment Committee, local business leader Dean Thanos of Ridgeview Grill and Wilmette’s Go Green Foundation.

Architecture in Education: Building in Community (Highcrest Middle School)

The Foundation is pleased to support a pilot grant for several Highcrest 5th grade classes to participate in the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust’s “Architecture in Education: Building in Community” program. Preservation Trust instructors will visit Highcrest to work with students on architecture and design. Students will learn how to use their measurement and math computation skills to lay out an architectural floor plan and design a building and community. Grant recipient Joe Taylor, a HMS 5th grade teacher, says “Doing this project will inspire students to learn math and build their confidence in their math problem-solving skills.”

This program complements the Foundation-sponsored “Math: Let’s Get Real!” program, where students learn how math is an important component of many careers. Last spring, a local architect, airline pilot, and basketball team statistician demonstrated to HMS 5th graders how math is vital to their everyday work. The 2010 HMS program, scheduled for mid-March, will feature composer, conductor, and music educator Gary Fry, who will speak on tempo and math in the music industry; and Liz Johnson, a Northern Trust portfolio manager, who will talk about math in the financial industry.

Lunchtime Mileage Club (Central School)

The Foundation will pilot PE teacher Carol Fritz’s lunchtime fitness program. Based on the The Feelin’ Good Mileage Club model, which has been successful at many schools nationwide, this program encourages students to walk, jog, or run on a designated course several times a week during recess. More than 2.5 million children in participating schools logged almost 30 million miles last year. Central students will earn tokens and other rewards for the miles they log. The goal is to broaden student physical fitness, as well as encourage goal-setting and enhanced student focus in the classroom after lunchtime. Carol Fritz notes that “It’s fun, it channels kids’ energy, it gets kids ready to learn, it aids in a child’s educational development, and it’s getting the child physically fit.” Central staff will also be able to participate.

Kindergarten Finger Fun

In an effort to support our students’ development from the outset, the Foundation is awarding a grant to Barbara Bruno, Patricia Patrick and Paula Lundell that will impact kindergartners across D39. This grant will provide sets of manipulatives for teachers to use to improve our youngest students’ fine motor skills.

4th Grade Orienteering

The Foundation is pleased to support efforts that enable practical and real-world application of concepts taught in the classroom. This grant, awarded to Central School fourth grade teachers Marc Elman and Jim Tingey, will provide compasses, hand-held GPS units and orienteering handbooks, allowing students to learn how to use these devices and extend beyond the map-reading skills learned in the classroom.

Green Initiatives

As part of the 6th grade ecology unit, and in conjunction with the District health & wellness initiative, students at Highcrest Middle School will now be able to grow food-producing plants from the seedling stage to promote sustainable life practices. This grant, awarded to Brenda Day and Penny Straub, will allow for purchase of Indoor Grow Light Sets. Additionally, a grant has been awarded to Kirsten Stadheim at McKenzie School to support integration of the two outdoor learning spaces to create one cohesive Outdoor Classroom, allowing for expanded usage of these spaces to meet broad curricular, ecological and social-emotional goals.

Diverse Learning Styles

In supporting the District’s effort to teach across various learning styles, the Foundation is awarding two grants in this area. A grant has been awarded to a former D39 student (and current New Trier High School student), Colin Morris, to provide materials to construct six podium desks. These desks will be available for “kinetic learners” across the District as a place to work while standing up. Additionally, a grant has been awarded to Sally Schoenberg at McKenzie, to purchase a document camera, a technology used to promote visual literacy as text and imagery can be enlarged and projected and thereby engage more students.

Eval-U-Write Software Pilot

The Foundation has awarded a grant to Eric Senne and Stephanie Raue at WJHS to fund a pilot of writing evaluation software. This is an innovative tool to guide emerging writers and will enable real-time feedback on editing, organization, sentence structure, and word choice as essays are compared to a bank of 5,000 other grade-level essays.

Youth Connection Drop-In Center at WJHS

As part of on-going efforts to support the emotional health and growth of our adolescent students, this grant will be used to create an inviting and compelling space at WJHS that kids will want to go to after school. District Administration has committed to providing the space, the YC will staff the center and the Foundation grant will be used to create the environment that will encourage students to drop by, and create a sense of comfort while they are there.

Classroom Performance System Pilot

The Foundation is pleased to help fund a pilot program at Harper School to test the Classroom Performance System, which makes use of personal interactive pads in conjunction with LCD projectors. This project will link the technology used by third and fourth graders closer to the level of technology applications at HMS and WJHS, where smart boards and document cameras are in use.

Connecting Kids Playground Project

The Foundation teamed up with Wilmette School District 39 to help fund this two-phase project located at District 39’s Early Childhood pre-school program, which is housed at Romona School. This integrated program serves both typically developing children and children with special needs. The project will provide a developmentally appropriate playground that encourages collaborative play among children, regardless of their varied abilities.

World Environments Learning Lab

This is a continued grant for Romona School’s garden and outdoor classroom. The garden features plants from many different biospheres, and a set of raised, continent-shaped gardens that will encourage geography, biomes study, cultural awareness and provides access to people of all abilities. See how this project turned out >

Disability Awareness

A full-year program at Central School teaches students about people with different abilities. Through hands-on activities, speakers, and classroom discussions, students get a better understanding of what life is like for people with disabilities. Navigating in wheelchairs, and getting around without the sense of hearing or sight are just some of the challenges that students experience first-hand.

Central School Boys’ Fort

This is the Foundation’s first student-presented and student-directed grant! As part of a math-extension program, 12 fourth-grade boys were given the assignment to design a play structure for the playground. With the help of teachers Suzanne Goff and Jim Tingey, the students used their math skills to design and plan their ideal play fort. Thanks to funding from the District 39 Educational Foundation, the boys were able to see their fort constructed on the Central School playground.

Professional Development Workshop

In keeping with long-term goals of the District, Foundation has granted a Gripp Grant for professional development to Ms. Meghan Flanigan (Highcrest) to attend a creativity workshop focusing on the role of imagination and creativity in classroom instruction.

Say ‘Yes’ to Improv (WJHS)

Say Yes to Improv! brought 8th grade drama students at WJHS an in-depth study of the art of improvisation. Two guest artists from the Actors Training Center in Wilmette joined drama teacher Dinah Barthelmess in the classroom two times a week for four weeks culminating in a performance given for students and parents. The drama students learned the art of on-the-spot storytelling and relied on teamwork and collaboration to create their informal Improv performances.

Garden Habitats (Romona)

At Romona, a Gripp Grant helped support and enrich the school’s Garden Habitats. Funds were used to improve the bird, butterfly, native bee, worm and “rolly polly” habitats at the school. These improvements will provide a richer experience when classroom teachers use the gardens with their students. Students will also create nature-focused art to be showcased in the Spring Open House.

Chinese New Year – Cultural Perspetives (HMS)

A third grant brought a Chinese New Year celebration to HMS. Students explored Chinese culture as they performed a lion dance parade through the school, wrote spring couplets with calligraphy pens and did paper cuttings. These hands-on experiences helped students gain cultural perspective and understanding.

Mission to Mars (Highcrest)

Joanna Flintz and Amanda Utynek, 6th grade math teachers at Highcrest, have been awarded a grant to fund a Mission to Mars program at Highcrest Middle School. This project will complement the math curriculum, requiring data collection and graphing, and will incorporate 21st century skills such as design technology and computer programming, as students design and operate their own Rovers. Students will work collaboratively and draw on problem solving skills as they simulate what NASA does with the real Mars Rovers.

SmartMusic (Highcrest)

Band and orchestra teachers Michael Holden, Ann Dufek and Laura Guili have been awarded a grant to incorporate SmartMusic software into the current band and orchestra program at Highcrest Middle School. This software aids in instruction differentiation and at‐home practice as students submit practice submissions online for teacher comments, guidance and grades. Teachers can customize lessons and students can customize how they practice and explore music.

iPads for Connected Learning (Central)

The D39 Educational Foundation has long supported innovative technology initiatives and this fall will fund a pilot grant to Central School principal, Melanie Horowitz, and District Technology Director, Adam Denenberg, to enable special education students to access the curriculum through interactive tools. The iPad offers a single vehicle for a broad range of assistive technologies to boost writing, reading, math, science, and social studies skills as well as overall communication and organizational skills.

Prairie Mural (Romona)

As part of the Educational Foundation’s ongoing support of the District’s garden‐enabled curriculum, a grant has been awarded to Romona art teacher, Katelynn McAllister, to create a mixed media mural depicting a prairie eco‐system. This mural crosses several disciplines including Art, Science, Social Studies and Library Media Center Studies. All of Romona’s 3rd grade students will collaboratively develop this mural, in support of the fall focus on the prairie eco‐system and will also reinforce the many art techniques and skills students have learned.

Doll Family (District‐wide)

To support students throughout the district with developmental disabilities, the Educational Foundation has awarded a grant to social worker Alene Frost to fund the purchase of a set of anatomically correct dolls, which will be used as part of an adapted curriculum in many areas of health education. These dolls will enable developmentally disabled D39 students to achieve more independence in personal hygiene while enabling deeper comprehension of puberty and associated bodily changes. Importantly, students will develop an increased awareness of, and learn strategies to protect, their privacy and their body.

Equipment for Mini‐Farm (Highcrest)

Sixth grade teachers Brenda Raccuglia and Penny Straub have been awarded a grant for a shed and equipment for the new mini‐farm located in a previously unused courtyard by the school’s cafeteria. The mini‐farm has been instrumental in providing students with the seed‐to‐table experience of an edible garden.

Professional Development‐ Reading/Writing Workshop (McKenzie)

In an on‐going commitment to D39 teachers’ professionaldevelopment, the Educational Foundation will provide funds to enable McKenzie teachers Jane Dolkart and Jennifer Weil to attend Columbia University’s Reading/Writing workshops. This nationally recognized educational gathering will feature cutting‐edge reading and writing approaches. These teachers are leaders in the District’s Academy 39, so they will be able to share their learnings with their colleagues.

Electronic Dictionaries

In supporting the District’s effort to teach across various learning styles, this technology pilot at WJHS will provide 15 electronic dictionaries to enable vocabulary improvement. “Hand-held dictionaries kept at one’s desk will go a long way to increasing the likelihood that students look up words they do not know and will actively increase their vocabulary and improve their spelling skills,” notes 8th grade reading teacher Kelsey Leonard.

Upper/Lower Body Workout Bicycles

In an effort to put the community’s students on a path towards healthy living, with a focus on fitness habits that will extend into adult life, the Foundation is awarding WJHS PE teacher Lynn Bocinsky a Gripp Grant for four workout bikes. Fitness involves the performance of the heart, lungs, and muscles of the body and also affects our minds, which has been a focus of brain research. “Our goal is to get students hooked on fitness,” commented Bocinsky.

Black & White Photography Equipment

The Foundation is pleased to support efforts at WJHS to keep the photography darkrooms operating at optimal levels. All of the District’s 7th graders are exposed to photography as part of the 7th grade curriculum. This course is the most popular elective chosen by 8th graders. Additionally, the PTO-sponsored Photo Club uses the darkroom. “With this exciting update to our photography equipment our students are able to experience science and art coming together in a way that is engaging and memorable for them,” commented Monica Polley, grant applicant and WJHS teacher.

Wilmette Historical Society Native American Mural Restoration

The Wilmette Historical Society is home to the signed and dated 14’ long oil painting, created in 1909 by Wilmette artist Mattie Akeley. “This mural has become a key element in school and scout programs. Its evocative nature and presence provides the opportunity to talk with students about Native American ways of life before the advent of European settlers and about how artists depict those ways of life,” said Kathy Hussey-Arntson, director. “Restoration of this painting will ensure that students and all community members will be able to enjoy this painting for the next 100 years.”

New Trier Township Alliance for Youth (TAFY)

The Foundation is pleased to support TAFY’s efforts in disseminating the findings of a community-wide youth and family needs assessment, to engage key stakeholders in discussing the emotional and mental health of 6th-8th graders in the township, and to stimulate identification of school-based opportunities for action. “This study will complement all the great efforts already underway in D39 supporting students’ emotional health and will work to address a key plank in the District’s long range plan,” said Superintendent Ray Lechner.

Rebels Without Applause

Tools and materials were funded for WJHS theater classes, allowing technical theater students to design and build safe, effective, and efficient sets for school performances.

Curriculum Differentiation Studies

This grant supported travel costs for several District 39 curriculum differentiation teachers to attend the National Conference for Gifted Children.

Romona School

The Foundation was pleased to fund the opening phases of Romona’s World Environments Learning Laboratory, which will create an outdoor classroom and working garden area in the school’s central courtyard space. Students in grades 1-4 have opportunities to study science, nature, art, and other subjects in the outdoor spaces, while also maintaining the gardens and preparing the beds for planting.