17 Worcester Teachers Receive Nearly $23K In Grants

WORCESTER, MA — More than a dozen Worcester teachers will bring new resources, technology and educational experiences to students with help from a local grant program.

Seventeen Worcester Public Schools teachers received nearly $23,000 through the UMass Chan Cares mini-grant program, UMass Chan Medical School announced on Monday. The grants will support literacy materials, classroom libraries, a sensory room, technology, field trips and other student programs.

Five teachers at Roosevelt Elementary School received grants, including school adjustment counselor Leah Hall, who was awarded $1,500 to expand resources used through the school’s Multi-Tiered System of Support.

The framework provides academic, behavioral and social-emotional support based on students’ needs. Hall plans to expand the counseling office’s psychoeducational library and purchase motivational prizes for behavior charts. As many as 120 high-needs students could benefit, according to UMass Chan.

Christina Anderson, a board-certified behavior analyst at Roosevelt, also received $1,500 to add durable equipment to a sensory room serving more than 100 students. The space helps students with sensory processing challenges develop self-regulation and improve access to learning.

Other Roosevelt grants will provide independent literacy materials for students with different reading abilities, expand a third-grade classroom library and purchase technology including a wireless camera for an interactive classroom screen.

Projects at other schools include YMCA memberships, fitness programs and swimming lessons for North High School students in the Life Skills Program. Funding will also support North High’s production of “The Crucible” and its after-school theater program.

Additional grants will pay for a Belmont Street Community School third-grade trip to the EcoTarium planetarium and a Berlin Orchards trip for Lake View School kindergarten students.

The grants were funded by UMass Chan students, faculty and staff who directed donations from the UMass Chan Cares charitable campaign to the North Quadrant Support Services initiative.

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