Mamaroneck Schools Foundation Awards $288K
29 Grants Fund New Programs and Equipment in Every School
by Jill Simpson, Mamaroneck Schools Foundation
(March 16, 2006) It may not have had quite the cache of the Academy Awards, but in many ways the $288,000 in awards given out by the Mamaroneck Schools Foundation were just as meaningful to the teachers, administrators, students and parents assembled in the Mamaroneck High School student café on March 7th for the foundation’s annual award ceremony.
Superintendent Dr. Paul Fried is flanked by the Mamaroneck Schools Foundation's president, Barbara Henkind (at right) and the Grants Committee head, Susan Leon (at left).
There were 29 grants awarded in the areas of professional development; technology, science and math; literacy, music and cultural enrichment; athletics; and special education. Every school in the district was a recipient. Since it was founded ten years ago, the group has awarded more than $1.5 million to programs in the schools. (See the list for details on each grant.)
The grants include the kind of cutting-edge technology that the foundation has helped pioneer in recent years, including SMART boards (which connect white boards to classroom computers) and document cameras; the computerization of the Youth Employment Service; and the expansion of the forensics program at the high school.
They also include some low-tech enrichment programs, including an orchestra partnership with the New York Philharmonic, and a program to provide musical instruments for rent to minority and low-income families at the Hommocks, funded in part by the Barbara Bennett-Rones Memorial Endowment. A new girls’ softball complex will be created at Central School fields for the benefit of high school and Hommocks teams as well as the Little League and is also being supported by the school district.
High School juniors will be learning from prominent historians through a year-long lecture series, while Central and Mamaroneck Avenue teachers continue to create hands-on learning experiences for children through the use of artifact-filled trunks and crates. Middle and high school students will learn how to produce a video while exploring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chatsworth teachers and students will benefit from the creation of a new science reference and research center, and Murray families will expand their musical horizons through a dinner music club.
An asthma and allergy education program will provide a vital signs monitor to every elementary school, as well as books and activities to increase awareness and empathy. Thanks to an anonymous donation last year that was earmarked for professional development, teachers and administrators will attend conferences and workshops related to the district’s goal of improving instruction in writing, and teachers will have access to a new professional video library.
“It was incredibly difficult to narrow down the grants this year,” said Susan Leon, head of the Mamaroneck Schools Foundation’s grants committee, which worked for months with teachers and administrators to design as many grants as the budget would allow. “We received a record number of requests, and the quality of the grant proposals and potential programs seems to improve every year.” MSF president Barbara Henkind added, “We are thrilled with the range of innovative and thoughtful programs our faculty has taken the time and effort to create for our students.”
Several of this year’s grants were showcased during the awards presentation. The evening started off on a high note with a performance by students from “Raising Voices,” an after-school program at Mamaroneck Avenue School that offers mentoring in voice and percussion. Vinith Panincker and Nick Eng, two representatives from the Hommocks Science Olympiad team, which made it to the statewide competition for the first time this year, delighted the audience with a live demonstration of a vehicle they created themselves. The evening also marked the debut of new technology for the café, including large projection and plasma-TV screens with scrolling text. The new technology performed flawlessly transforming the café into a very fitting venue for this year’s grant awards ceremony.
MAMARONECK SCHOOLS FOUNDATION GRANTS FOR 2006-07
TECHNOLOGY
SMART Enhanced Curriculum for Fifth-Grade Students
This grant will provide a SMART Board for the fifth-grade classrooms at Central School, as well as teacher training in the technology. SMART boards connect a “blackboard” to the classroom computer to allow work viewed on the board to be saved, manipulated and shared through the classroom computer, and will be used across a variety of curriculum areas.
Maximizing the Use of Video and Student Writing for Math Instruction
The Hommocks math department will purchase three document cameras and three LCD digital projectors, one for each grade. This equipment will allow teachers to move seamlessly from classroom instruction to utilizing technology (such as video streaming and interactive websites) to sharing student work to give clarity to abstract math concepts and use class time efficiently.
Creating SMART Connected Self-Contained Classrooms
Two SMART Boards will be purchased for use in the self-contained, study skills and resource room classes in the high school. These interactive white boards are well suited for teaching special-needs students because the technology can be used to address a variety of learning styles, including visual, auditory and kinesthetic.
Technology for the Hommocks Science Department
Following on the success of last year’s grants to the science department, we will be funding additional equipment including two ELMO Digital Visual Presenters, two desktop computers, two GYRO remote wireless presenters and two media carts. TheELMO Presenters allow teachers to place and enlarge objects on them, letting students observe objects in motion; their digital feature allows the transfer of information to computers and PowerPoint presentations. The GYRO remotes allow teachers to move away from the computer, to enhance the presentation and ensure students are focused.
Automating the Youth Employment Service
The Youth Employment Service (Y.E.S.) is a non-profit organization with an office in Mamaroneck High School that helps students find part-time and summer employment. It has been awarded funds to automate its operations with two computers, a printer, software and funds to develop a website. Prospective employers and students will be able to access the website to connect directly with one another.
SMART Board for Math Labs
A portable SMART Board will enhance the teaching of math in the Hommocks 7X and 8X math classes.
Writing as Writing
Four multimedia carts at Murray Avenue School, each with a document camera, wireless mouse, keyboard, and accessories, will be used as a pilot program to support the writing curriculum in fourth and fifth grade. The document cameras will be used throughout every phase of a student’s writing cycle: draft, revision, and final work, to share work with the classroom. The flexibility of this equipment allows it to be used as part of a planned lesson or to capture spontaneous moments within the teaching day.
Asthma and Allergy Education Program
This grant will fund equipment and books needed to help students, parents, teachers and administrators better understand how asthma and food allergies affect the day-to-day lives of students in our schools. Each elementary school will receive a vital signs monitor that will enable school nurses to determine the severity of an asthma attack or allergic reaction and proceed with the most appropriate treatment. Asthma- and allergy- related classroom activities will be incorporated into health curricula to help support students with asthma and allergies in the school community. Books will be used to promote understanding, empathy and support.
SCIENCE
The Da Vinci Trunks
Central School hopes to train their children to become astute observers like Leonardo da Vinci, who had one of the best scientific minds of his time. These trunks will be filled with specimens connected to the science curriculum in the areas of geology, physics and biology. Students in all grades will work with both the art teacher and classroom teachers to develop their ability to both observe and record, helping them acquire a richer vocabulary, facilitate more precise use of language, and inspire inquiry. This grant also includes a document camera and funds for a consultant to provide professional development to teachers in the area of non-fiction writing.
Forensics
In continued support of the high school's growing Forensics program, the Foundation has awarded a grant for technical equipment, including video cameras, a new classroom computer and an LCD projector. This equipment will allow all students to produce their own “Crime Scene Story,” a movie using forensic techniques that will be filmed by students and shown in class.
Science Reference and Research Center
This grant will fund the transformation of three storage rooms at Chatsworth into a Science Reference and Research Center. The center will have three main areas: an experiment lab, a research room and a display/presentation center with state-of-the-art equipment including a desktop computer, a laptop computer, PDAs, microscopes, gardening tools, terrariums, aquariums, animal cages and a variety of other tools for the hands-on learning of science. All Chatsworth teachers will be invited to make use of this facility.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Feeding a Running Stream
The grant will fund the second year of a program intended to support professional development, funded through a private donation. Annie Zimmer, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, has selected a series of conferences, workshops and speakers for a Superintendent’s Conference Day and also selected a library of professional literature. All of these will support the district’s goal for the 2006-2007 school year of improving instruction in writing.
Building a Professional Video Library
This grant, also funded by the same directed donation for staff development, will establish an elementary-school-level professional video library. Materials will explore state-of-the-art, research-based practices in education for staff development purposes. A database will be established to create a lending library for all district elementary school staff.
Supervisory Technology
This grant will fund the acquisition of video equipment for use by Hommocks administrators for teacher observation and evaluation.
Sounds and Pictures Worth a Million Words
Teachers and administrators at Mamaroneck Avenue School will receive an industrial-grade video camcorder and a “sound-kit” set of microphones to produce more effective, high quality video for use in the classroom. This will facilitate the ability to capture the speaking voices of children and adults in an active classroom environment, and will be particularly useful for teacher and staff professional development and the presentation of student/classroom work.
ENRICHMENT
American Historian Series
A series of lectures by prominent college-level historians will be sponsored during the academic year for the entire junior class at the High School. The focus of the lectures will be the Abolitionist movement, the Civil War and Reconstruction. Lecturers will visit students throughout the day, particularly the U.S. History Regents and AP classes, and the students will be assigned readings by the lecturers prior to the visits.
Kinder K.R.A.T.E.S. (Kindergarten Readiness and Teaching Early Skills)
The Central kindergarten teaching team has designed a set of materials to support and stimulate the development of phonemic awareness in the kindergarten classes. Teaching tubs will be filled with objects that students use to match rhyming sounds. “Letter builders” will support the handwriting program. Books and CDs will feature rhythmic language and familiar repetition for pre-reading skills. With these materials, students will make connections between written and spoken language, and develop vocabulary and grammar to communicate ideas and emotions.
Science Trunks: Scaffolding Students’ Schema “Schema” is a term used to describe the knowledge that a student brings with him or her to a given learning situation. Many children, however, lack a significant amount of schema about the world around them. These trunks are designed to support a hands-on approach to learning about different areas of the fifth-grade curriculum: U.S. landforms, the human body, and the solar system. These trunks will be housed at Mamaroneck Avenue School and made available to all elementary schools, as well as to the children who attend CO-OP camp.
Dinner Music Club
A music library of CDs covering many styles of music throughout many time periods will be made available to families to listen to together—over dinner, in the car, or wherever they choose. The music will be selected for its musical importance as well as for its ability to stimulate conversation. The club will encourage learning and discovery of music outside the classroom in an informal way. “Members” of the dinner music club must agree to listen to all the selections as a family, at least once, and to post a comment on the club website or club bulletin board in the school.
ATHLETICS
Dance Revolution System
This grant will enhance Murray Avenue’s already popular dance unit as part of the Physical Education curriculum. In addition to being a fun aerobic workout, Dance Revolution System allows children to participate at an individual level, which is beneficial to students who may shy away from more traditional athletic activities. The new equipment will allow more students to become engaged in interactive dance sessions by practicing the moves shown on the TV while following along using color-coded practice pads. When gym space is available, this equipment will also be used as a supplemental recess activity and as an alternative gym activity on inclement weather days.
Softball Complex
An exciting project for the Athletic Department will be launched with an award to renovate an existing softball field at Central School. This grant will allow the district to create a Girls Softball Complex, where girls on the Modified, Junior Varsity and Varsity teams can practice, play games and host tournaments. The new field will also be available for use by the Little League. The school district is also contributing to the field work.
PERFORMING ARTS
Pace Theater Piano
The Foundation, in partnership with the school district, is awarding PACE, the high school’s Performing Arts Curriculum Experience, funding to purchase a new upright piano for the Pace Theater. PACE produces at least ten evening music performances each year, and the piano also will be used for classes, rehearsals, daytime programs, assemblies and other programs, benefiting the 220 PACE students and their audiences and guests.
After School Fiddling Performance Group
This grant supports the creation of a district-wide after-school fiddle group open to 5th, 6th, and 7th grade students by audition. The group will include violinists, violists, cellists, and bass players. Fiddling encourages string students to learn to play music by ear and develop pitch memory, and also gives them a unique opportunity to play as part of a small group ensemble. Various fiddling traditions will be incorporated.
Music Enrichment for Minority Students and Low-Income Families
This grant seeks to provide music enrichment to students who many not continue music once they reach Hommocks, due to cultural or socioeconomic factors. It will extend the district-wide instrument rental program (currently offered in grades 3-5), so that it will be available to students through the eighth grade. The grant has three initiatives: 1) to allow the district to purchase instruments over a two-year period so they can be made available to outgoing fifth graders to rent for a nominal fee; 2) to provide instruction in band, chorus, and orchestra during the district’s summer co-op camp; and 3) to offer free music instruction at lunch and/or after school. This grant, supported in part by the Barbara Bennett-Rones Memorial Endowment, will fund the program for two years.
Orchestra Partnership
This grant will establish an exciting four-year music education partnership between the Mamaroneck High School orchestra and the N.Y. Philharmonic. Instructional sessions will be given at MHS by Philharmonic musicians, including master classes for the full orchestra, coaching for orchestra sections and chamber groups, training in specialized skills, and lessons connected to the orchestral studies curriculum. MHS orchestra students will also attend Philharmonic performances at Lincoln Center, including private post-concert Q & A sessions with the musicians. Hommocks eighth-grade orchestra members will participate in the activities during the spring before their initiation into the high school orchestra. The program will additionally be funded through a combination of other sources, including donations from the orchestra parents, a subsidy from the N.Y. Philharmonic and funds from the district.
LITERACY
Building Community Reading (R.O.A.R.)
Building on the R.O.A.R. program the Foundation has funded this year at Murray Avenue, which focuses on themes of Respect, Open communication, Acceptance and appreciation of differences, and Resolving conflicts effectively, this grant will be used to purchase books to reinforce and enrich these themes and connect them to literacy instruction. The books will be read aloud by teachers with follow-up student discussions and activities, so that a common understanding and language can be built across grade levels.
Let’s Talk Books
This grant will fund the establishment of literature circles at the high school and at the Hommocks. Small groups of students will choose their own reading materials and meet on a regular schedule to discuss their reading with a teacher acting as a facilitator. The literature circles are used as part of the English curriculum and serve to encourage independent reading. Five teachers and over 500 students will be served by this grant.
Classroom Libraries in Ninth-Grade English
The high school English department will be receiving a grant to establish libraries in each 9 th grade English classroom. The purpose of these libraries is to encourage students to borrow books from them and read outside of the class; the libraries will provide students with greater access to books in a more informal way as well as encourage them to share their reading experiences with other students. The teachers will purchase a wide variety of books, including young adult and contemporary literature.
VIDEO
Keeping the Dream Alive
Through this grant, Hommocks Middle School students will be involved in the production of a video honoring the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the legacy of the civil rights movement. Residents of Larchmont and Mamaroneck who grew up in the segregated South, who participated in the civil rights struggle, knew Dr. King personally, or have messages of equality to convey will be interviewed and videotaped for this project. The Human Rights Commission, the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Summit, and the Interfaith Council will solicit community members to be interviewed, primarily through local churches and synagogues. Under the direction of the Hommocks media teacher, students will learn video production skills including video editing, story composition, and interviewing. The end product, which will incorporate archival video footage, will be a documentary video that will air on LMC-TV during the week of Martin Luther King's birthday in January 2007. The video will also be supplied to the Hommocks and high school social studies departments and the elementary schools.