26 June, 2011
Watch the HCAM News video of the Hopkinton Education Foundation awards ceremony. Approximately $79,000 was given to nine applicants whose ideas best met the Foundation's criteria for innovation and positively impacting the Hopkinton Public Schools.
This year’s award recipients are:
Jennifer Parson, Center School Principal, who received $10,560 for the “Review…Refine…Read!” grant, which will offer professional development for teachers regarding literacy assessments, and give Center School faculty reading development strategies to help their students reach the next level of reading.
Jennifer Parson, Center School Principal and Merideth Eckwall, Director of Elementary Education, who received $11,149 for the “Shared Learning-An Exploration of iPads in Education” grant. This grant gives kindergarten and first grade students access to technology and curriculum-related materials.
Teachers will use the iPads to explore educational applications that will focus on higher-order thinking, inquiry, multi-media interactivity, developmental appropriateness and relevance to curriculum. It will also give them the opportunity to teach students in smaller groups.
Lauren Mack, Elmwood School Teacher, who received $13,403 for the “iPads, E-Books, and Apps, Oh My!” grant, which will let second and third grade students use iPad technology for guided reading, individualized learning and to explore other subject areas.
Heather Smith, Hopkins School Teacher, who received $7,911 for the “iTouch Every Learner” grant, which allows for the integration of iPod Touch technology into the daily lessons of a fifth grade classroom. Each student in Smith’s class will receive an iPod Touch with applications customized for individual student learning.
Linda Brooks, Middle School Teacher who received $8,085 for the EMC Mathematics and Science grant, ”One Touch Interactive Science, ” which will fund digital microscopes and related technology tools to create an interactive learning environment for all Middle School science students.
Due to EMC’s generous annual support, this is the sixth year the Hopkinton Foundation has been able to provide a math and science grant.
Noreen Sloan, Middle School Teacher, who received $5,115 for the “Scholastic Reading Inventory” grant, which funds software and professional development to pilot a computer-based reading assessment program for all sixth grade students.
Alan Keller, Middle School Principal, who received $13,650 for the Stephen Gray Memorial Grant, “Establishing the Work of Professional Learning Communities: How Do We Respond When Students Don’t Learn.” This grant supports in-house training of Middle School staff to help them improve the process of student learning and better understand the individual needs of all students in a proactive, timely manner.
Debra Pinto, Middle School Teacher, who received $7,946 for the “Active For Life” grant, which will help enhance the district-wide wellness curriculum and improve student understanding of health and fitness.
Charlotte Shire, High School teacher, who received $1,195 for the “SimBio Virtual Lab Software” grant, which will fund innovative science software that challenges students to think critically as they are led through simulations of real experiments. The software will be piloted in AP Environmental Science and AP Biology classes.
“I am delighted with the range of projects that the Hopkinton Education Foundation has funded!” Assistant Superintendent Mary Colombo said. “Each project will impact student learning in one way or another and so many advance our emphasis on the thoughtful integration of technology into instruction. I’ll be eager next year to see each of these projects being implemented in the schools. Thank you, and all the HEF board members, for your hard work and ongoing, meaningful support of the district’s efforts to ‘learn, create, and achieve together.’”
“We congratulate all of the grant recipients for their hard work and great ideas,” says Education Foundation Treasurer and Grants Committee member Clelland Johnson. “We are proud to be the catalyst for innovation that moves the Hopkinton Schools forward and are excited to see how these innovations will impact learning in the classroom.”
Since its inception in 1992, the Hopkinton Education Foundation has provided more than $900,000 in grants to support innovative ideas of the Hopkinton Public School professional staff.
To learn more about the Hopkinton Education Foundation visit Click Here.
