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FALL
2004 AWARDS - (Projects to be completed
between 1/1/05 and 6/30/05)
04F-1:
Literacy Collaboration: Jackson St. Writers, JFK Techies
Katherine Fleming, Mary Bates, Mary Cowhey, Kim Gerould; JFK/Jackson St,
$750
This is the third year of a literacy collaboration between eighth-grade
students from JFK Middle School and elementary students from Jackson St.
School. JFK students will design and publish Web pages that illustrate
original written work by the younger students. This work will include:
writings based on books and poems; interviews the children conduct in
school; original poems, stories, and other compositions; highlights from
the Jackson Street Language Sharing Program; and scientific observations.
The middle school students will o utilize scanners, digital cameras, and
Web-authoring software to create a finished product. Note that NEF program
guidelines limit the amount of funding in the third year to one-half of
the amount granted in the previous year (in this case $1,495.00)
04F-2: A Festival
of Stories Residency with John Porcino
Beth Warren, Barbara Dihlmann, Paula Drabek; RK Finn Ryan Rd., $2,000
Local storyteller John Porcino will conduct a four-day residency in Spring
2005 with the school’s 55 second graders. This residency, “A
Festival of Stories,” will expand upon the school-wide performance
and hour-long workshops that Mr. Porcino conducted last year for the same
students who were then in first grade. That effort was funded by the RK
Finn Ryan Road Cultural Arts Committee. This residency is designed to
enhance the oral language competencies of second-grade students. The work
will include selecting and mapping stories, creating oral presentations
and performing for K-1 classes and parents.
04F-3: The
Study of World War II
Pam Gauthier-Lynes, Virginia Wooster; JFK, $1,300
This project is designed
for seventh- and eighth-grade reading students. They will complete an
in-depth study of WWII through reading, writing, scrap booking and attending
a live performance of “Lily’s Crossing”. In this study,
they will use various multidisciplinary approaches to get involved and
excited about the study of the World War II time period. Through their
reading of Lily’s Crossing and Boy at War, the students will develop
reading, writing and thinking skill while learning about an important
historical event.
04F-4: “Over
the Rainbow”
Seroe Michaud and Heidi Haas; Leeds, $2,000
The project is a fifth-grade
musical production of the Wizard of Oz. It will provide 65 fifth-graders
an opportunity to participate in a project that will unify their class
in a project that combines music, art and theater. Ms. Michaud, Department
Chair for Music, Theater and Dance in Northampton Public Schools, wrote
the script in 1987 and will direct the music. Ms. Haas, a local community
theater educator, will direct the production. There are also plan to include
the participation of kindergarten “buddies.” Daytime and evening
performances are planned for the entire school and the community.
SPRING
2004 AWARDS
- (Projects to be completed between 7/1/04 and 6/30/05)
04S-1:
Exploring Northampton’s Water
Catherine Wanat; NHS, $1,540
This
grant will allow students in the high school’s Environmental Science
classes to develop an enhanced understanding of the water resources in
their community. Students will explore rainfall, groundwater, runoff and
surface water in relation to their own use of our water resources. A physical
groundwater model will allow students to visualize and understand the
complex movement of water in the subsurface. Students will choose water
monitoring locations in Northampton and develop a water quality monitoring
plan, which will be implemented in the fall and spring. Students will
summarize their findings in a poster display for NHS and other community
locations.
04S-2:
Monoprints and Drawing: An Interdisciplinary Connection
Lisa
Leary ; NHS, $1,525
This will introduce art students to the
similarities between drawing and printmaking. Local artist Liz Chalfin
will teach students and teacher alike about nontoxic printmaking techniques,
which are relatively new to the field. Furthermore, students will become
aware of printmaking’s place in art history and in the development
of significant artists’ work. They will be exposed to contemporary
printmaking through their exposure to a working print studio in their
own community.
04S-3: Gamelan Music
Steven Hinks ; JFK, $400
Five of Steven Hinks’s 7th grade
music classes will learn Javanese Gamelan music on classroom instruments
and then go to Smith College to play authentic instruments under the direction
of ethnomusicologist Margaret Sarkissian. This study will be integrated
with the social studies curriculum on Asia. This is the second year NEF
has funded this project.
04S-4: A Celebration of Ancient
Greece
Tracy Dawson-Greene, Nancy Cheevers; JFK, $2,000
This project will engage 7th grade students
on the Banana Split team in experiencing and learning about Greek history,
mythology, drama, music and dance. Nick Kachulis will be artist/scholar
in residence and will work with the teachers to deliver this instruction.
There will be a series of 24 workshops, at the end of which students will
create and present multi-genre projects, including original plays, presentations,
expository and creative writing and artwork based on their understanding
of ancient Greek culture and major gods or goddesses featured in Greek
myths. Applicants have applied to the JFK PTO for $1,000 so that the full
cost of the residency, $3,000, would be covered.
04S-5: From Plants to Pulp to Paper
Janice Battey, Laura Vachula,
Mary Tighe, Janet Gary; Bridge St., $1,650
How paper is made, when it was first made
and what it is made of are some of the questions 3rd grade students will
have answered in this project with artist-in-residence Sheryl Jaffee.
This five-day workshop will give children an opportunity to not only learn
the history of making paper by hand from its origins in China to local
paper mills in Massachusetts but to engage in the process of making their
own paper. They will learn how books were made in Colonial America, and
they will create their own books with their handmade paper, sewing the
bindings by hand, and then fill the pages with drawings and writings.
04S-6: “Patchwork Stories”
Literary Magazine Project
Johanna McKenna, Janet Gary, Kathleen Casale, Margaret Riddle;
Bridge St., $1,999.37
The creation of Patchwork Stories magazine
will provide students the opportunity to enrich their literacy education
and feel part of the larger community of Bridge St. School. Every student
will contribute a piece of poetry, fiction or nonfiction. Students will
also provide illustrations. The goal is to promote student interest in
and appreciation for written language, build student confidence in their
writing skills and produce a durable product that is representative of
the whole school community.
04S-7: Bridge St. School First
Annual Science Fair
Karen Hurd, Johanna McKenna,
Joan Tabachnik; Bridge St., $1,073.50
“Science and You,” Bridge St.
School’s science fair, is designed to foster interest in the sciences
among all students at all grade levels. Teachers and parents will work
with students in grades 2-5 to develop science projects tied to their
grade-level curriculum and suitable for exhibition (a detailed process
will be provided to all participants). In addition to in-school time,
a weeklong after-school clinic will be offered to all students who wish
to receive additional assistance on their projects. All students will
present their work to the school community during an in-school exhibit
and to parents and a panel of experts in an evening reception and exhibit.
04S-8: Writing Poetry Workshop
with Leslea Newman
Cynthia Berry, Barbara Kowalski;
Ryan Rd., $2,000
Local author Leslea Newman will do a four-day
residency at R.K.Finn Ryan Rd. School working with third through fifth
graders. Poetry is an important feature of the third and fourth grade
language arts curriculum and a natural form of expression for the themes
explored in the fifth grade curriculum, including family, differences
in cultures and friendship. Using specific writing exercises and lots
of visual cues, Ms. Newman will teach students how to draw on their observation
skills (using the senses), their own life experiences (using memory) and
their own imagination (the sky’s the limit!) to create poetry. Teachers
will learn techniques that they will be able to integrate into their classrooms.
04S-9: Jackson St. School/Coleham
Primary School Exchange Program
Gwen Agna, Barbara Black;
Jackson St., $2,000
The principal and teachers at Jackson St.
School are in the process of creating an ongoing exchange with a primary
school in Shrewsbury, England. The first phase of this project was a group
teacher visitation from Jackson St. to Coleham in March 2004. This grant
will fund teacher time to reflect upon, analyze and document the first
stage of the exchange. Teachers will be involved in inquiry-based, data-driven
research. They will look at all the materials and knowledge gained at
Coleham and do a comparison study. The hope is to eventually turn this
work into a journal article and, more importantly, develop ideas and plans
for enhancing their work at Jackson St..
04S-10: Bridging the Gap - Native
Collaborations & Perspectives in Celebration of 350 Years of Northampton
Jackie Coe, Kim O’Connell;
Jackson St., $2,000
Native American specialists Jennifer Lee and Marge Bruchac will present
professional development workshops for the entire faculty in anticipation
of a strong focus in the school during fall 2004 on Northampton’s
heritage in conjunction with the 350-year founding celebration. All activities
connected with the residency will seek to expand and bridge the areas
of European-based/settler area history and present life with that of pre-existing
Native peoples, through storytelling, re-enactment, explorations of Native
daily life and technology, and field trips to surrounding sites of local
historical interest. Activities will culminate in a Harvest Festival,
composed of Native and settler food prepared by students and performances
of Native music and dance, all serving as a celebration of community and
partnership both past and present. Funding is being sought from other
sources to cover the entire project cost of $5,400.
04S-11: The Journey of the Monarchs
Jan Spearance, Trish Duffy; Leeds, $1,800
This project involves kindergarten and
grade one. To enhance the study of monarch butterflies, funding will be
used to: 1) consolidate video and digital images of the monarch nesting
area in El Rosario, Michoacan, Mexico and combine these with images of
the beginning stages of monarch migration from Leeds School into a multimedia
format; 2) transfer digital photography onto cd’s for classroom
use; 3) purchase thematic picture books and video to supplement the unit;
4) buy tagging kits to be used to observe and record data about monarchs
on site; and 5) bring local author/illustrator Bob Marstall into the school
to give a presentation about illustrating and writing An Extraordinary
Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly.
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