2008 - 2009 Grant Information

Review archived grant information

Online grant application for the 2008-2009 school year

From Ordinary to Extraordinary – Clay Clocks
Fairmont High School - Susan Bennett
This is the second year for this grant in which students are given the opportunity to create “extraordinary clocks” out of clay. Students are shown the art of Oaxacon Indians, Aboriginal art and several modern artists. After a series of problem solving exercises each student will perfect their own design and create their clock.

Mom, Dad, Let’s Read Together
Moraine Meadows - Linda Mauro
The goal of this program is to encourage parents of struggling readers to be involved in reading to and with their child at home. The funding will be utilized to purchase five sets of We Both Read paperback books to be used by parents, teachers, first and second grade students at Moraine Meadows.

Battle of the Books
Kettering Middle School - Janet Weeks, Kristin Lutz
This renewal grant is designed to provide students with a fun and enthusiastic incentive to read more books and discuss them with peers. The program works with the entire eight-grade and encourages them to finish books and pass short test. In May five students from each unit are selected to compete against the other units in the Quiz Bowl, where the other students and their families can cheer them on to victory!

Battle of the Books – 7th Grade
Kettering Middle School - Ryan Lamb, Matt Payne
This renewal grant is modeled after the Battle of the Books – 8th grade. The monies will be utilized to purchase additional titles including a graphic novel choice, a historical fiction novel and the second book in the Maximum Fide series.

Boardmaker Symbols and Pictures Project
Indian Riffle - Kimberly Roeser
This project will address the communication, curricular access, social/behavioral and independence needs of students with autism. The monies will be used to purchase the Boardmaker photo/PCS Symbol Bundle. This special software will be used to support these areas; communication and behavior, Independence and participation, literacy and learning..

Classroom Jeopardy System
Oakview - Kimberly Panek
This grant will enable the teacher to purchase the Classroom Jeopardy System. The technology can be utilized for chapter reviews, test preparation, unit test and Ohio Achievement Test reviews.

Getting Guys to Read, Part II
Orchard Park - Melissa Gallagher, Linda Evans
This fun program is a renewal from last years successful Getting Guys to Read grant. The funds are used to purchase books and magazines that appeal to 4th grade boys, a group that have historically struggled with reading. The class sets a grade-level reading challenge, reads with book buddies, presents monthly book talks and has an end of the year reading celebration.

Graphic Novels – A new Approach to Traditional Curriculum
Fairmont High School - Jenny Borchers, Marie Wehner
Graphic Novels – A new Approach to Traditional Curriculum is a program designed to help introduce classic literature to the over 400 students who have special education needs. Graphic novels meet the needs of a different learning style without compromising the content. Students with learning disabilities who struggle to visualize text or follow the plot greatly benefit from this non-standard presentation material.

How Superheroes Can Create SuperReaders
Kettering Middle School - Elizabeth Hageman
The funds will be used to purchase a variety of graphic novels. These books are designed to assist struggling readers, by confining the text to frames or panels so as not to overwhelm the reader, and incorporating visual support with pictures, font size and more.

If it Ain’t Real what’s the Point? Nonfiction Choices in the Classroom
Kettering Middle School - Elizabeth Hageman
Although fictional novels usually are a big hit there are still students who don’t respond to these books. Furthermore all students need more experience reading non-fiction to better prepare them for high school and college. This grant provided funding for the purchase of several new non-fiction titles.

Inquiring Science Minds Want to Know
JF Kennedy Elementary - Michele Massa
The funding was used to implement an inquiry-based program for Science, through the purchase of the Plant and Animal Populations Science Module. This module provides 12 inquiry-based actives with all the materials and consumables for 32 students. The students will work in groups of 4 and observe and graph changes in populations of plants, ants, fruit flies, daphnia and aphids.

Literacy Fluency Project
Beavertown - Justin Cline
The Aim of the Literacy Fluency Project (LFP) is two fold. First LFP works towards increasing the learner’s reading fluency, vocabulary, decoding skills and retention. Secondly is to aid the learners in the process of meeting each of the Ohio English Language Arts Benchmarks.

Media Makes a Difference
JE Prass
Roxanne Chivington, Joellen Martin, Sharlyn Radcliffe, Gail Moore, Susie Moses, Melodie Byrd
The funding will be used to purchase a variety of topics on DVD that will be used to teach about valued character traits, relationship building skills, substance abuse and other safety issues.

Nonfiction Literature Circles  
Fairmont High School - Jessica Stickel, Carrie Hennessy, Sherri Alexander
This renewal project focuses on exposing 250 freshman students to this important genera, by developing in-class book clubs (literature circles). The novels will be targeted at various reading levels and interests. Students are able to select from a list of predetermined titles and then meet with other students who have chosen the same book.

Opening Doors to Literacy
JE Prass - Shannon Dipple
This project functions as a Tier I and II intervention for struggling students, a fluency program for on-level students and an enrichment program for accelerated students in all three third grade classrooms. It will also provide high-interest weekly read-alouds for families in order to encourage parental involvement and modeling of fluency. The funds were used for the purchase of books to support this initiative.

Physics with a Homemade Hovercraft
Fairmont High School - Jeff McManus
Many important physics principles can be demonstrated by using a simple hovercraft to effectively “float” over the floor. The students will build the hovercrafts from materials purchased with the grant monies. The hovercrafts will allow the students to ride on them and effectively become part of the experiment.

Read Naturally
Greenmount - Gayle Haskell
Read Naturally is a specific reading program for improving fluency and comprehension. The students choose short stories to read. They listen to vocabulary, practice with a slow recording and practice on their own. They then work with a teacher setting scores, goals and graphing their results. The funds were used to purchase the Read Naturally program for the classroom.

Rock and Roll with the Rock Cycle!
Van Buren Middle School - Lyle Dole
The objective of this project is to demonstrate the concept of change over time in the rock cycle process. The funds were used to purchase a rock tumbler that will be started at the beginning of each nine week period.  The students will monitor the process throughout the 40 day process as a parallel to the changes a rock makes during the rock cycle, and at the end of the process will have a beautiful polished rock as a keepsake.

School to Home with Books
Greenmount - Amanda Hawker
This renewal grant allows Kindergarten students the opportunity to take home a quality leveled book and activity each week to practice literacy skills learned in school. The skills will include the foundations needed for reading such as: concepts of print, phonemic awareness, word recognition, comprehension questions, as well as the skills from the DIBELS Assessment. The funds were used for the purchase of various leveled books. 

Social Studies in the Reading Classroom
Kettering Middle School - Kristin Lutz
The funding will be used to purchase multiple copies of books that will support the 8th grade social studies classrooms. These books will cover topics including, tolerance, world culture during holidays around the world, and other various subjects that will help prepare the students for the Ohio Achievement Test.

The Energy of Toys
Kettering Middle School - Debbie Lowe
Students will learn about energy and energy transformations by playing with toys in learning stations and seeing demos of toys in use. The activities will be a direct tie in to the science/physics requirement of the Ohio Academic Content Standards. The monies provided for the purchase of the toys.

The Face in the Mirror
Orchard Park - Patricia Boone
The funds were utilized for the purchase of mirrors, and other art supplies that will assist in a self-portrait program for the first through fifth grade classes. The students will use their own personal experiences and emotions to create unique visual statements.

The Independent Reading Contract
Greenmount Elementary - Dawn Wilcox
At the beginning of the school year the students are educated on Lexile Scores and their independent reading level & ability. The students then set a reading goal and this is tracked throughout the year on their Reading Goal Page. The students are able to select appropriate Lexile Level books and choose activities for their Independent Reading Contract. 

The Writer Fusion Project
Indian Riffle Elementary - Kimberly Roeser
This project will address the handwriting deficits of students with autism in order to allow them access to writing content standards in the regular education classroom. The funds were used to purchase two Writer Fusion Kits. This is a portable keyboard that students can sue in the regular classroom. It includes text-to-speech so students can have their written words read back to them, along with many other functions.

Traveling Across the Writing Workshop
Oakview - Marie Miller
The purpose of the grant is to use read alouds and guided reading leveled texts to introduce students to various genres and authors across the curriculum. Some examples of genres would include; poetry, nonfiction and memoirs.

Traveling Through Writers Workshop
Southdale - Rachel Williams, Holly Clark
The purpose of this grant is to provide quality mentor texts for two classrooms needed to develop units of study for writer’s workshops. The units of studies that will be developed are: how to read like a writer, where writers get ideas, poetry, pattern books, how to books, memoirs and narrative nonfiction.

Wonderful World of Word Study
Oakview - Joey Nels
This renewal grant is a word study program to help children succeed in reading, writing, spelling, phonics, and vocabulary. The funds were utilized for the purchase of materials for the 3rd and 4th grade classes.