SHREWSBURY, Massachusetts – Since its formation in 1992, each year the Shrewsbury Education Foundation (SEF) awards grants to public schools in Shrewsbury for innovative programs which reach students at every level, from preschool to high school.  In the fall of 2009, SEF granted a total of $15,000 for ten new enrichment programs.  Those funds have enabled dedicated educators to create new learning vehicles that cannot be supported by the school district’s shrinking budget.  The programs were implemented in January of 2010 and continue to make a positive impact on students today.

These grants would not be possible without the generous support of donations from parents, local business owners and corporations.  Like many nonprofit organizations, the Shrewsbury Education Foundation is finding that it is spending more time chasing few donation dollars.  SEF has tried to come up with some new fundraising ideas which are unique to Shrewsbury.  They have had an exclusive Pandora type bracelet bead created by Earth’s Elements. “The Entering Shrewsbury” bead can only be purchased from SEF and makes a great gift for special occasions like graduations.  SEF also has an end of the year donation program in which parents make donations in a teacher’s name to SEF.  This, In Your Honor donation is acknowledged with a letter to the teacher or special school employee thanking them for their dedication.  The amount of the donation is not indicated; however the student or family name is mentioned.  The name of the special school employee is listed on the SEF website along with the family name.  This program is a gift that keeps on giving for years!

Pamela Poitras, science curriculum coordinator at Oak Middle School, received a grant to purchase a Swift Digital Microscope.  This model allows for the projection of living microscopic organisms onto a large screen for whole classroom viewing and  was  used by all seventh grade life science teachers during  a unit on microscopic pond life.  ”The students I observed in these classes were very excited about what they could see,” said Ms. Poitras, “The success of the video microscopes prompted the purchase of additional digital microscopes with funding from outside donations.”   Teachers have now expanded the use of the digital microscope to enhance a unit on cellular biology.  Last fall a Swift representative met with science teachers to provide additional training about the capabilities of this equipment, such as how still images can be captured for use in lab reports. Students at Oak Middle School will benefit from this new technology for years to come.

Around the World in 180 Days by Tracy DeBlois, music teacher at Floral Street Elementary School, brought  multicultural musical experiences to all students throughout the year.  A portion of the grant money supported the performance of world percussionist Tony Vacca, who  used spoken word,  rap and traditional drumming to teach students about the music of different countries.  According to Ms. DeBlois, “He spoke to our multicultural community using music and movement as his medium.  He helped foster respect and self-confidence in our students and teachers by including them in his performance.  They are still asking when he will be back to perform for and with them again.”  Other materials received through the grant are still being used by specialists and classroom teachers alike.  Ms. DeBlois said that her current students “are so inspired that they will be using the materials to create their own multicultural program for this year’s 4th grade spring concerts!”

SEF awarded  the Networks to Knowledge  grant to a  group of Shrewsbury High School teachers  who collaborated with media specialist Claire Donovan to create a variety of learning experiences using  an application called Ning.  Ning is a social networking website that uses elements similar to those of Facebook to facilitate collaboration among members and allows the teacher to mediate communication.  The group is restricted to those invited by the teacher and therefore it is a safe educational zone in which students can express their views and interact.  According to Ms. Donovan, “SEF helped  provide resources to be used with this network to encourage higher level thinking skills.  We purchased high quality primary source materials, databases and other resources that students were encouraged to use as they communicated on a variety of topics.”   Students explored  The Great Depression, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird and its relationship to the Jim Crow Era, topics in bioethics, Colonialism and Imperialism, and anatomy and physiology.  ”Without the help and support of the SEF, we would not have had the resources to provide these high quality learning opportunities,” said Ms. Donovan.

Lap Time Reading by first grade teachers Camille Viscomi and Mary Cipro has been a huge success at Beal Early Childhood Center.   SEF funded the purchase of compact disc players and books on CD for personal listening centers that the children can use on their own for several types of reading activities.  The program supports the students as they listen to authentic literature and respond to the stories by making connections and using other reading strategies which improve vocabulary and increase oral reading fluency.    ”The children in my class look forward to the independence and listening to a story in a relaxed atmosphere anywhere in the class instead of being plugged into a stationery center,” said Mrs. Viscomi, “This is an ongoing project that should last for years especially since we selected an assortment of books and teachers can exchange books with other teachers.”

Melissa Sommer and Helen Lipkin of Sherwood Middle School were awarded a grant for InterActing with Technology: Using 21st Century Skills and purchased two sets of remote clickers, wiimotes, tripods and infrared pens.  They both used the materials to create interactive white board kits for each team in the building, plus they trained teachers on how to set up and use them.  Teachers have used this technology to review explorers for 5th grade and to review types of poetry for 6th grade.  Kids in both grades use the wiimote kits for classroom presentations.  Mrs. Sommer said that, “The clickers allow us to quiz kids by presenting a question and polling the audience.  We can then see if our instructional objectives have been accomplished and we can now fairly assess students.  It has proven to be a great review for students, and provides immediate feedback to the class in the form of a bar graph.  The teachers can more discreetly assess individual student participation and performance via data reported to the teacher laptop.”  Students can write in answers on teacher made and projected pdf worksheets, take turns responding to online interactive quizzes, or present from the board instead of from clicking at the computer.  ”The kids love the chance to virtually write or manipulate websites with the infrared pen,” said Mrs. Sommer ,”It is  great practice for the teachers and gets the kids out of their seats.”

The majority of grant applicants from the last two years requested funding for technology.  The school district’s ever shrinking budget often lacks resources to purchase expensive technology. The Shrewsbury Education Foundation helps to fill that financial gap and to provide students with access to resources and experiences that would otherwise be unattainable.  Most of these programs benefit a large number of students for several years.

For a complete list of the recently awarded 2010 – 2011 grants, plus other news and information about how to support SEF, go to http://www.shrewsbury-edfoundation.org/