September and October 2006 Grant Awards
In these two rounds of grants, $13,607 was awarded.
September Grant Cycle
Linda Dawson, Tina Swearengin, and Kristen Watson at Granby Elementary School were awarded $500 to support the Junior Achievement Exchange City Experience by enabling participation of all sixth grade students. Students will learn and apply basic economic concepts through an integrated classroom curriculum by experiencing participation in a 10,000 square foot hands-on learning lab site. After six weeks of preparation work, students will actually set up and run their own city for a day.
This grant was funded by the Chamber J.A. Fund held in the WEF.
Susan Kucharek at Worthington Kilbourne High School was awarded $440 to purchase a server and necessary cables that will provide students the opportunity to experience and practice uploading their web sites to an internal server. This server will allow students to upload web pages and/or sites and see how they look and function.
Jon Baird and John Hermiller at Worthington Kilbourne High School and Thomas Worthington High School were awarded $870 to provide funds for StudyIsland.com, an online test preparation program for the Math Ohio Graduation Test that students can access and practice mathematical concepts learned in class.
Krista Taracuk, Jaci Searle, and Kathy Scott at Thomas Worthington High School received $294 to purchase Pimsleur Language Programs in nine languages. These CDs will provide English language resources to new students with limited or no English language skills to help them acclimate to life at the high school and their new country.
Vicky Watkins, Laura Swabb, and Kim Hayhurst at Wilson Hill Elementary School received $1,110 to support the Junior Achievement Exchange City Experience by enabling participation of all sixth grade students.
This grant was funded by the Chamber/J.A. Fund held in the WEF.
Timothy Dove at Perry Middle School was awarded $480 to purchase Intermediate Dictionaries that will be used in individual and small group writing exercises to work on extended response writing in social studies. This tool will encourage the importance of good writing not only in language arts classrooms but also across the curriculum.
Alan Spencer at Thomas Worthington High School received $220 to purchase clay and glazes that will be used to create bowls on a ceramics wheel. The bowls will be donated to support the Empty Bowl event that raises funds for Children’s Hunger Relief.
Carolyn Hall at Sutter Park Preschool was awarded $496 from the Nichols/Hopper Fund to purchase seating equipment to help preschoolers with sensory processing delays calm and organize their sensory system so that they can attend to circle time activities and learn.
Leah Gerard at Sutter Park Preschool was awarded $488 from the Nichols/Hopper Fund to purchase art manipulatives, outdoor easels, and mat boards that will enable the creation and display of Preschool Students’ artwork at the Worthington Education Center.
October Grant Cycle
Erik Thompson and Tom DeVore at Thomas Worthington High School were awarded $454 to purchase the Pasco freefall adaptor, Projectile launcher and USB mouse that will enhance the Pasco Xplorer GLX data logging equipment which is used to study various aspects of physics.
Petra Putnam and Sue Bair at Brookside Elementary School were awarded $750 to support the Junior Achievement Exchange City Experience by enabling participation of all fifth grade students.
This grant was funded by the Chamber J.A. Exchange City Fund held in the WEF.
Mary Lou Himmel and Ellen Clark at Worthington Kilbourne High School
received $930 to purchase a computer for the special education department to run Envision IT assistive technology software. OSU Nisonger Center will donate a computer as a match to this grant.
Ron Pilatowski at the Linworth Alternative Program was awarded $595 to purchase a weather station with a modern wireless system that will increase the range of data that is currently accessible to include precipitation collection and humidity sensors. This system is expandable and allows for the inclusion of additional sensors.
Thomas DeVore and Erik Thompson at Thomas Worthington High School were awarded $389 to purchase materials that will be used by high school physics students using their knowledge to design, build, and present physics demonstrations and interactive physics demonstrations to elementary classes.
Peter Scully at Thomas Worthington High School was awarded $550 to provide six months of dedicated server space that will provide an expanded online learning environment. This web site will be used to help more students keep informed on class happenings, to keep track of assignments and to communicate with the teachers.
Cindy Fox, Gina Lanza, and Jen Freygang at Bluffsview Elementary School were awarded $558 to purchase poetry and both fiction and non-fiction texts to enhance student literacy learning. The books will be part of the math, social studies, and science curriculum and will allow each child to read at his/her proper level and to learn through numerous genres of literature.
Dr. Brenda Toler at the Worthington Education Center was awarded $483 to purchase resource materials that support the Destination Imagination district teams. These updated materials will enable DI teams to complete the problem solving strategies that are presented as team challenges.
Scott Miller at Kilbourne Middle School received $103 to purchase materials that will enable the students to create literary journals. This will enable students to follow the writing process through to publication.
Patricia Bernath at Sutter Park Preschool was awarded $398 from the Nichols/Hopper Fund to purchase the Boardmaker picture communication software program that will be used with Preschool students to assist with their communication difficulties.
Emily Lazar and Julie Payne at Slate Hill Elementary School were awarded $603 to provide a sensory swing and frame in the special needs classroom that has been proven to provide a calming/organizing affect on special needs children.
Kristen Watson at Granby Elementary School was awarded $477 from the Nichols/Hopper Fund to purchase books that will help sixth grade students understand the consequences of and how to combat bullying. These high-interest reading materials will match students’ reading levels and will be used to discuss the application to their lives.
On behalf of all of the Elementary Schools, Kathy Mikkelson was awarded $1,700 from the Nichols/Hopper Fund to purchase picture books for all elementary schools that will be used with special needs and at-risk students, giving them an opportunity to learn through modeling, guided practice and improved independent writing.
Ben Wilson at Bluffsview Elementary School was awarded $719 from the Nichols/Hopper Fund to purchase 12 heart-rate monitors and one resource book containing interdisciplinary lesson plans. The monitors will allow students in grades three through six to measure and monitor their own heat-rate in a variety of activities, especially those that are fitness related.