$53K In Grants Awarded To District 205 Schools

ELMHURST, IL — District 205 Foundation Board members paid surprise visits to teachers who were awarded the Thiems Educational Grants they had applies for last semester. On May 12, Foundation Directors visited all 13 schools in the district, from Madison Early Childhood Center to York High School, the district said.

According to a release, a total of 25 grants worth $53,827 were awarded this year for implementation next academic year. The grant program is named after former District 205 Superintendent Dr. Russell Thiems, who was instrumental in in the formation of the Foundation for Educational Excellence, which has provided close to $1.5 million dollars in Thiems Grants to District 205 since 1989.

“The Foundation recently funded $23,000 in literacy resources,” Brian Bresnahan, foundation chairperson, said in a release. “And a large amount of 2017 grant dollars support science and technology that helps teachers deliver STEM-related curriculum.”

The district said one highlight for this year is the awarding of several grants to help create Makerspaces at every elementary school library and two areas (Library and Lincoln Lab) at York High School. A makerspace is a collaborative workspace for making, learning, exploring and sharing.

“Our donors have helped us enhance all curricular areas for students, including the arts and physical education,” Foundation Executive Director Lisa Fanelli said in a release. “And recently our focus has been on providing future-ready learning opportunities for students.”

York High School received $14,660 in grants, according to a release. The projects include:

• Future Ready Classrooms: Creative Learning Experiences, $3,656, by Jill Heaton, Katie Diebold. The expansion of York’s Lincoln Lab as a future ready classroom continues with resources that allow students to think critically and collaborate with MakerSpace options.
• Blow Up and Move Inflatable Stand-Up Paddle Boards (partial) $2,450, by Elizabeth Munn. These paddleboards will be used in SUP yoga classes and aquatics classes in addition to after school intramurals.
• Data Trends to Success! $2,024, by Jeff Drach, Mark Golebiowski, Amy Moss, Lauren Yun, Robert Blaus and Kathy VanHoeck. Students can conduct experiments in science classes and use graphical tools to analyze, interpret and accurately graph laboratory data. Lab groups can measure temperature, pressure, heart activity, oxygen level, carbon dioxide and pH levels and many more experiments.
• A Taste of Technology $1,425, by Laurie Foss. This will create a “Tech Playground” for Invite to Teach students allowing them to rotate through stations of various new technology tools. Students will practice and develop lessons using tools including an eBeam Edge, Google Cardboard glasses, and an iPad2 with Apple TV.
• Makerspace-Create, Tinker & Explore $1,300, by Erica Drumm. This will expand Maker Mondays by offering more STEM related projects. It will create an informal learning environment in the library where students can explore and learn by doing.
• Book Madness $1,312, by Erica Drumm. Book Madness invites students to read selected books and vote for their favorites and is styled after March Madness. Students and faculty are chosen to select 64 books from a variety of genres and ability levels. This grant allows the number of participants to grow next year from 175 students.
• One Stop Shop for Essential Supplies $1,000, by Jessica Nall, Diane Oliveros, Maria Valerio-Sokolowski. This grant provides additional funding to support a project that began last year with a Thiems Grant. This funding will provide personal and academic supplies for ELL students to obtain as needed.
• Molecular Models For Improved Learning and Connections to NGSS $993, by Kathy Van Hoeck, Amy Moss and Lauren Yun. This grant will purchase amino acid starters, phospholipid and membrane transport, and synapse kits. These modeling kits allow students to learn about diffusion and osmosis, how sodium-potassium pumps work, and how glucose is moved across a membrane into the cell.
• Students Modeling a Research Topic $500, by Kathy Van Hoeck and the York High School Smart Team. Students will do a ‘deep dive’ into the story of one protein by reading the primary research papers that describe its structure and function. This grant will allow students to use the computer program ‘jmol’ to create a 3D model of their protein and present their protein project at a conference of structural biologists.

$11,032 was awarded to District 205 middle schools through the Thiems Educational Grants, the district said. The projects include:

• Developing Alcohol Awareness Among Adolescents $3,000, all three middle schools, by Michael Murphy and Brian Bartoz. This cost effective program provides adolescent learners a simulated experience of vision impairment resulting from the consumption of alcohol and how it affects their ability to walk, complete tasks, and navigate through their environment. Students will see risks posed by alcohol consumption and this first-hand experience will help them make healthy choices.
• Build a Computer $2,500, Churchville, by Debra K. Segiet. These Kano kits will allow students to build their own computer systems, including hardware, operating system, and applications.
• Electronic Balances $2,000, Churchville, by Anthony Petersen. These balances are important for the Next Gen Science Standards where phenomena, inquiry, and experimentation are at the forefront.
• TRX Bands (partial) $1,032, Bryan, by Jeremy Thomas, Jaclyn Sutor, Paul Pokryfke, Michelle Solesky and Michelle Kalchik. Adding Total Resistance (TRX) Bands to the PE hallway will create an additional station for students in the fitness center rotations. The TRX system allows students to exercise using an adjustable amount of their own body weight while using their core to balance, making it a full body workout every time they use them.
• Executive Functioning Program (partial) $2,500, Community/middle schools, by Patricia Glosner and Teresa Wittmer (REACH PTA Officers). The executive functions are a set of processes that all have to do with managing oneself and one’s resources in order to achieve a goal. This funding will help provide parent presentations on Executive Function. This may lead to collaboration between relevant parties that could bring more opportunities for structured programs and assistance in this area to District 205 students down the road.

Lastly, early childhood and elementary schools received $28,135 in grants, according to a release.

• Freedom of Expression $180, Madison, by Bridget McDonald. The purchase of twelve Dano AppCrayon Stylus for Kids provides an age appropriate tool for young learners to use with iPads as they develop writing and drawing skills.
• MakerSpace Momentum: Cultivating 21st Century, all elementary schools, $12,000, by Donna Dewar, Lauren Blanford, Mary Greska, Margaret Lewis, Karla Talbot, Emily Walton, Caroline Weaver and Lisa Wright. This grant provides funding of $1,500 for each elementary school to purchase materials that will establish or extend MakeSpace programs in the libraries.
• Becoming 21st Century Learners: Incorporating Fischer Google Technology into the Common Core, $5,000, by Tamara Kohout, Stephanie DiPaolo, Whitney Brown and Megan O’Doherty. Students in grades 3-5 who have access to 1:1 Chromebooks during the day will be able to integrate Google Expedition Kits as an engaging way to deliver curriculum.
• Exemplary Problem Solving, $2,068 (partial), Jefferson, by Katie Zabinski. This grant will provide all teachers access to a multi-grade level library of differentiated Math Exemplars, helping them provide problem solving tasks that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards and Math Practices. This grant will pilot an online subscription of Problem Solving for the 21st Century, K-8 Built for the Common Core for use as an additional math resource.
• Standing Desks $3,000, Edison, by James Pluskota. These desks offer a unique Swinging Foot pendulum that allows students to disburse energy without disturbing the learning of others.
• Wobble Chairs, $1,544, Edison, by James Pluskota. Wobble chairs have been placed in the Model Classrooms and used at several schools across the district. This grant will provide twenty Wobble Chairs for use in multiple classrooms.
• Wiggle While You Work $1,327, Hawthorne, by Kelly Iturbide. This grant will provide bouncy bands, balance cushions, wobble chairs, and soft cushions for four sections of second grade.
• Read the Day Away with Playawaysm $1,000 (partial), Emerson, by Lauren Blanford and Tammy Dospoy. The use of audiobooks can better engage struggling readers and lead to improvement in comprehension and fluency. Intermediate level (3rd-5th) Chapter Playaway Audio Books will be purchased for the library as additional resources for Readers Workshop.
• Writing on the Walls, $984, Hawthorne, by Kelly Iturbide. Maximizing classroom space and creating learning hubs can easily be accomplished with the help of dry erase paint. This grant will provide materials for second grade teachers (and maybe more) to create dry erase writing surfaces in their classrooms.
• Chairs for Learning, $872, Lincoln, by Susan Grote. Zuma Rockers offer an alternate seating option for students that require some movement to help them focus and stay engaged in learning. Seven Zuma rockers will be purchased for this third grade classroom.
• Video Modeling: Helping District 205 Students Demonstrate Verbal and Nonverbal Skills for Social & Communication Success, $160, Hawthorne, by Kim Nissen and Barb Bosslet. The Foundation has supported video modeling through past grants. Two online subscriptions containing speech and social skills videos will be made available for use at this school.

The district said in addition to the grants, the Foundation supports instructional programs, community programs and partnerships, as well as District 205 initiatives, bringing the total over $2.7 million raised and funded. To make a donation, and for a complete list of 2017 grants, including photographs of the award day, visit www.elmhurst205.org/foundation.

Photos provided by District 205.