Tuesday, November 20, 2007
North Kitsap Education Foundation Awards $5,885 in Grants
North Kitsap Education Foundation (NKEF) announced this week the award of 16 grants to North Kitsap teachers and staff. Grant amounts ranged from $250 to $610. A grant evaluation committee of NKEF Board and community members evaluated the grant applications and selected 16 from 34 applications.
Due to the generosity of donors we were able to increase the number of grants by 45% over last year and total value of the grants by 55%. Grant recipients represent five of the seven elementary schools in the North Kitsap School District, and four of five secondary schools.
The intent of the NKEF Mini-Grant Program is to provide funding for innovative and creative learning and administrative projects unfunded by other means. These are the types of projects that teachers often fund partially or entirely out of their own pockets.
North Kitsap Education Foundation is a non-profit organization established to promote and help fund the best possible learning opportunity for all students of the North Kitsap School District. As a community-based organization, the Foundation is independent of the North Kitsap School District. However, programs supported will have the approval of the District, and will be consistent with the curriculum objectives and mission of the North Kitsap School District.
NKEF welcomes volunteers and donations. You can find more information at www.nkef.org.
The following projects were funded this year:
Build a Marimba – Cynthia Gilman – Breidablik Elementary
Ms Gilman will lead a collaboration of parents, students, and a local business to build marimbas for the use of Breidablik student musical groups.
Lights and Shadows - Beverly Godfrey - Vinland Elementary
The grant will allow Ms Godfrey to enhance the first grade unit on lights and shadows with three experiments which require flashlights, batteries, and colored flood lights.
First Grade Art Curriculum – Tracy Zeringer – Poulsbo Elementary
Ms Zeringer is a first year teacher and will purchase art materials to be used in an art curriculum that is integrated with science, math, and language arts units. The material will be shared with all first grade teachers at Poulsbo.
Traditional Arts of Japan Outside the Classroom – Kari Denton – Kingston High
The grant will help fund activities where the students will experience a tea ceremony, a bonsai activity, and building a Japanese style gate at Kingston High.
Aeronautics for Everyone – Mark Stebbing – Kingston Middle School
Mr. Stebbing will purchase “White Wings” paper airplane kits to provide “hands on” design, construction, and flight test experience for the 7th grade science unit on aeronautics.
Anatomy Field Trips– Patricia Webster – North Kitsap High School
The grant will help pay for field trips to Harborview Hospital, where a doctor will give a tour of the emergency room and a slide presentation related to physiology and anatomy, and to Pacific Lutheran University where a professor will instruct the students using cadavers.
Five for Life Program – Robert Webb – Breidablik Elementary
Funds will pay for a physical education curriculum that builds the habit of, and an appreciation for, living a fit and healthy life.
Growing Gardens with Wolfle – Maria Steinbeisser – Wolfle Elementary
The grant will help pay for the construction of a wheel chair and walker accessible path through the new garden of native plants, vegetables, and herbs adjacent to the Wolfle playground.
Suquamish Elementary Rhythm and Power Ensemble (SERAPE) – Tamera Rabura – Suquamish Elementary
The school will purchase additional drums for the growing musical group.
Sustainability Curriculum and Pea Patch – Bob Geballe – Spectrum Community School
Mr Geballe is developing a “Sustainability” curriculum for high school students, part of which is creating a vegetable garden at the school. Grant funds will be used to buy supplies for students to use to build the garden enclosure, provide irrigation, and purchase seeds and plants.
Discrepant Events – Jerrine Gabrio – Breidablik Elementary
Funds will be used to buy materials for an original integrated science and writing curriculum which uses “discrepant events” (unexpected results) as its theme.
Guided Language Acquisition Design (GLAD) Application– Laurie Harney – Poulsbo Elementary
Ms Harney will purchase visual aids to use with her fourth grade students in applying what she learned in the GLAD training that she recently completed.
Greeting Card Making – Carolyn Mosiman – Vinland Elementary
This project uses “card making” as a vehicle for teaching interpersonal skills, and specifically will be used by the counseling staff at Vinland as they work with counseling support groups and individual students. The grant provides funds to purchase materials.
Promoting Bilingual Literacy – Laura Lopez – North Kitsap High
Ms Lopez will purchase children’s books written in Spanish for a Spanish class library which will be used to develop vocabulary, grammatical skills, and literacy in students studying Spanish.
Accommodations to Enhance Learning – Susan Longan – Poulsbo Elementary
The first grade teaching team will purchase items such as filters for fluorescent lights, bean bag chairs, exercise music, and others for assessing ways to improve the classroom learning environment.
Wildlife Habitat Project - Lisa Hawkins - Poulsbo Elementary
This project will transform the school courtyard into a certified wildlife habitat by adding specific plants, providing bird seed, and a water source.