The Westerville Education Foundation (WEF) has announced 12 new grants for innovative programs to enhance education in Westerville City Schools. These grants invest more than $20,000 in projects with a cumulative reach of nearly 10,000 students throughout the district. This grant cycle is the largest and most impactful in the WEF’s 25 year history.
This year’s grant recipients are:
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Jason McQuown - Alcott Elementary - 3D Printer - $1,700 - To support, address, and extend grade level curriculum in all subject areas. Offering a unique educational tool can have the power to engage students who excel as well as students who struggle in the classroom.
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Sara Benge, Lori Boyd, Judith Gawelek, Monty Maceyko, Elizabeth Meta, Bethany Solich, Pam Todd - All Elementary Schools - STEM in the Library: Using Folk and Fairy Tales to Inspire Problem Solving - $2,703 - Kits available in each elementary library will be used to develop skills in structure and stability, understanding gears, perimeter and area, force and motion, the design process and problem solving.
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Angie Crego - Blendon Middle School - Kindness Project - $700 - A peer to peer recognition program that will recognize acts of kindness within the school and school sanctioned events.
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Betsy Denney, Naomi Schone, Robert Stranges, Deb Ubry - Fouse Elementary - Leader in Me - $5,000 - Building positive character attributes in staff, students and parents to promote and strong and sustainable learning community that will empower children to work together for an optimal learning experience.
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Eric Cacioppo - Robert Frost Elementary School - Frost Fab Lab - $1,000 - A small scale workshop offering digital fabrication where students can think, problem solve, learn and create.
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Joy Dietz, Miriam Aichler - Robert Frost Elementary - Life Skills Maker Space - $650 - To create an interactive life skills Voice and Choice area. This project encourages problem solving and critical thinking while completing hands-on activities.
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Debbie Pellington, Lisa Lunn - Genoa Middle School - Reading Around the World - $588 - To immerse 6th grade students with content based fiction and nonfiction books. The books will be used to facilitate student-to-student connections through text and allow all levels of readers to feel successful.
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Amber Cunningham - Hanby Elementary - Hanby HANDS Room - $800 - (Helping and Nurturing while Demonstrating Self-Regulation) - sensory specific tools to assist children with emotional regulation and de-escalation.
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Anne Bates - Heritage Middle - Strengths Based Personal & Career Development - $700 - A program for 6th grade students to discover their unique strengths to build more positive experiences for themselves and others.
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Alex Tresoline - McVay Elementary - Interactive White Board - $2,194 - To use this technology to create engaging, academically valuable and cross curricular lessons for students.
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Liz Schar - Westerville Central High School - Artists Collaboration Cafe - $1,831 - relaxed alternative seating to promote student and teacher community, rapport building and learning.
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Jean Trimble - Walnut Springs Middle School - Black History Month Celebration - $2,600 - Black history month Celebration with award winning author Doreen Rappaport as special guest speaker.
Grant funding comes entirely from community contributions like those supporting the WEF’s current campaign, Double Donation December. All donations made at https://tinyurl.com/WEFMatch before January 1, 2018 are being doubled by these generous Matching Sponsors:
2K General Construction, Aqua-Tots Swim Schools - Westerville, Alliance Data, Gandee and Associates, Gandee Heydinger Group, LLC, Garber Electric, The Garland Company, GroupEleven Consulting, Henry Painting, i9 Sports, Italian Body Shop D.B.A. IBS Collision Center, Lake Shore Cryotronics, Inc., Phinney Industrial Roofing, TRIAD Architects, TRIAD Facility Solutions, The Little Gym of Polaris.
Other generous contributors include: Spectra Contract Flooring, K-Guard Leaf Free Gutters, Todd and Nancy McFarland and The Goodsite Family.
Should a donor prefer to write a check to support Double Donation December, rather than complete a transaction online, contributions can be mailed to Westerville Education Foundation, P.O. Box 1315, Westerville, OH 43086.
For more information about the Westerville Education Foundation please follow on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/WestervilleEducationFoundation.
WEF’s Executive Director is Colleen Moidu. She can be contacted at ExecutiveDirector@WestervilleEducationFoundation.com.