D-113 Education Foundation Awards 4 Enhanced Technology Grants

From the District 113 Education Foundation:

Highland Park, Ill., July 17, 2020 – The District 113 Education Foundation has awarded four teacher grants to support innovative educational opportunities for students, teachers and staff at both Highland Park and Deerfield high schools. The Foundation opened a special summer grant cycle for the first time in its history to help the district address urgent e-learning needs as they consider a return to school plan amid COVID-19. The summer 2020 awardees will focus on e-learning platforms for mathematics, English and foreign language.

The Foundation will award recipients nearly $13,000 during this special grant cycle. Since 2008, the grant program has provided funds in support of innovative ideas not covered by the district budget. At the end of the 2019-2020 school year, the Foundation moved to initiate a special summer grant cycle to enhance learning in anticipation of a remote format in the 2020-2021 school year.

"It is the very mission of the District 113 Education Foundation to support innovation in learning inside and outside of the classroom. At no other time in the history of the Foundation has our mission rung truer," said Yumi Ross, co-president of the Foundation. "Even though plans for the 20-21 school year have yet to be confirmed, we do anticipate some level of e-learning as our community and our country grapples with the uncertainties of COVID-19. As we strive to keep our community safe and healthy, we also aim to provide students with best-in-class learning. We are grateful we can help support teacher’s initiatives that would not otherwise be funded by the district's budget and can positively impact everyone at our District 113 high schools."

Awardees include the following:

Deltamath, Daniel Spychala (Highland Park High School) and Joe Taylor (Deerfield High School) – the enhanced online platform provides teachers flexibility to create homework assignment and give students instant feedback on problems they miss through text and video formats. This instantaneous feedback cannot be replicated in the current system and will lead greater learning opportunities, mastery of content and assessment.

eLearning and eCulture for Hebrew Language Acquisition, Donielle Excalante, Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools – the online platform will create new opportunities for remote, and in-person, learning and acquisition of the Hebrew language for more than 300 students. Through a variety of online components that support listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the target language, this program will enhance proficiency and enrich curricula.

No RedInk, Lenny DePasquale, Highland Park High School — the online tool will build stronger writers through internet-based curriculum, adaptive exercises and actionable data for 250 students and 10 English, Special Education and EL educators.

ThisisLanguage.com, Maria Barbanente, Highland Park High School – all students enrolled in the Italian program will have access to an online platform that produces authentic language videos based on a variety of themes that are taught in the foreign language classroom. This content covers both productive and receptive language material as well as vocabulary and grammar. The experience will help strengthen student comprehension and other skills developed through the complementary learning activities and games designed with each video.

The grant program relies on generous donations from the community as well as fundraising initiatives including Honor an Educator, Broadway in Chicago, the Pizza Bowl and Bakery Showcase, and an annual campaign. For more information on how to donate to the Foundation and learn more about all grant recipients visit District 113 Education Foundation.

This news release was produced by the District 113 Education Foundation. The views expressed here are the author's own.