Schools
Newport Schools Celebrate 9th Annual Student Showcase
Then Newport Public Education Foundation recognized grant recipients and award winners Thursday night at Thompson Middle School.
The Newport Public Education Foundation sponsored the 9th annual student showcase Thursday night at Thompson Middle School. The foundation, in their 20th year, awarded $24,000 in teacher excellence grants and community grants this year.
Lynn Ceglie, showcase chair and board member of NPEF, explained that the mission of the foundation, "is to raise monies to fund grants for programs which enhance the learning of the students in the Newport Public School system by building community support."
The NPEF provides support through creative and innovative projects that are not covered by the school budget.
Terrence Mey, a third grade teacher at Cranston-Calvert School, received a grant to provide games encouraging math and writing skills.
"It is hard to find educational games that the kids will like and the Geo Boards we have purchased with the grant have been well received," Mey said. "We are able to send the games home with the students as to get the families involved in the process. . . Tonight's showcase attracted a lot of people and it is great they all have a chance to see what students are doing in the classroom, not just here at Thompson, but throughout the community."
The night's event also honored the first recipient of the "Unsung Hero Award," given to Mark McKenna, Family Services Coordinator at Sullivan Elementary School.
"Mark always sees the light in a persons soul, and moment by moment spreads that light. Newport is a better place for having him here," Maria Mare Schultz, Principal of Sullivan, said.
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Other award recipients this evening were William Vareika as the 2011 Friend of Education, Salve Regina University as the 2011 Partner In Education, and Andrew Onofrio received the RHS Senior: 2011 NPEF Scholarship.
Live presentations took place throughout the evening, including musical performances by the Thompson Middle School Orchestra and Jazz Ensembles, Rogers/Tiverton High School Orchestra and All-City Strings and Chorus, as well as a dance performance by the Sullivan School Dancers, under the direction of Island Moving Company.
