Saint Gregory the Great School, Danbury Announces 2020 Grant

Saint Gregory the Great School is pleased to announce a grant award of $1,500 from Foundations in Education for “Putting on a Podcast.”

Foundations in Education is an independent nonprofit initiative created to assist the Diocese of Bridgeport’s ongoing mission to support Catholic education in Fairfield County. The grant program, now in its third year, invests in a teacher’s creative project and professional development. Grants are intended for transformative initiatives that benefit multiple grade levels and have a long-term impact on student learning.

An awards ceremony took place on Thursday, January 30th at the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport where grant honorees shared their creative vision with Foundations’ Board of Trustees, Grant Committee members and Donors.

A $1,500 grant was awarded to, Suzanne Curra, Principal for “Putting on a Podcast.” The funds will be used to purchase hardware and software needed to record podcasts as a platform for sharing and discussing school news, as well as topics and ideas of high interest to the students. The podcast will directly support a current strategic goal which will, “employ an integrated technology platform to optimize student learning and prepare students for high school and beyond by empowering them to be lifelong learners through a rigorous and exemplary academic program.” The school principal, in collaboration with middle school teachers and the technology coordinator, will work with the current 7th grade students to create a plan to implement a school podcast for the 2020-2021 school year. Students will have to consider name of podcast, target audience, production, editing and publishing, marking, source of information, among many other areas.

Principal Suzanne Curra stated, "I am a podcast listener and have been thinking about this idea for a while. I am so excited to start a school podcast with our middle school students and am grateful to Foundations in Education for this opportunity!”

The grant is among the 26 awards funded by Foundations, totaling $137,500.

“We encourage teachers to discover new and innovative avenues for learning,” explained Foundations’ Executive Director Holly Doherty-Lemoine. “Teachers are sharing their vision with us and we are investing in them and their students.”

In all, 40 grant proposals were received from 19 of the twenty-six Diocesan-sponsored Catholic schools in Fairfield County. The grant requests totaled nearly $300,000, more than double the available funding.

A grants committee carefully reviewed each proposal and submitted recommendations to Foundations’ Board of Trustees for approval. The committee is led by Dr. Julie McNamara, President Emerita of Albertus Magnus College and Foundations’ Board member.