2007-2008 Academic Year Grants

The Guilford Fund for Education approved the following grant applications in 2007-2008.

Guilford Art Center: Teacher Training For Successfully Including Differently-Abled Students

The GFFE awarded a grant to the Art Center to provide training for their youth program faculty to enable the Center to better accommodate current and future students with various learning challenges. The Guilford Art Center (GAC) is committed to the arts as a means to improve the lives of individuals. Since the arts offer opportunities for free expression, students of all abilities often discover power in their own creativity, and can acquire new levels of understanding. Faculty training will be performed by SARAH KIDSTEPS.

Guilford Lakes School: Digital Photography in Art

We live in a highly visual world, with all indications pointing towards ever-increasing use of digital multimedia as a standard for expressing information and communicating ideas. To adequately prepare students for future learning, visual literacy in design and aesthetic concepts must be included alongside written language and verbal skills. To this end, Guilford Lakes art teacher Joe Bernier was awarded a grant to introduce digital photography to the 331 Guilford Lakes students in grades 1 through 4 through an ongoing series of instructional units. To achieve his goal, the grant supported the purchase of 15 digital cameras. (read more - see photos)

Guilford High School: Integrated Technology Laser Innovation Project

The Guilford High School technology department currently serves 420 students in a variety of courses (16 offerings in total) ranging from boatbuilding to architectural drafting to electronics. With a commitment to preparing current department students for a wide range of careers that incorporate new technologies, the faculty of the department enhanced their methods of teaching and student methods of learning with a GFFE grant for a laser cutter. In the process, additional students, attracted to the possibilities of this "cutting edge" technology, will explore course offerings of the department as well. The hands-on potential of laser technology will transform the way students learn, thus enabling a dramatic effect on curriculum and the quality of student outcomes. (read more - see photos)

Baldwin Middle School: Classroom Performance System (CPS)

A grant was awarded to 5th grade social studies teacher John Montanaro for the Classroom Performance System (CPS), a wireless response system, which allows each student to actively participate in class discussions using a handheld touch pad. The system allows for the creation of on-the-spot questions as well as the ability to track student responses and regularly check student progress. The system can generate reports based on the collected data. It may also be integrated with Power School, the GPS grading program, and it can import questions from the social studies text question bank. By getting daily feedback from all of his students, Mr. Montanaro can better reach students who are having difficulty and provide enrichment to those that are exceeding expectations.

Guilford High School: Robotics Redux

As the Guilford High School Robotics team, "Apple Pi," begins its second year, the organizers received funding to enhance the teaching value of the program by replacing equipment in the GHS metal shop. Previously, students were obliged to watch as their mentors produced the robotics parts off-site rather than producing the parts themselves at GHS. This improvement permits the students to have a hands-on experience in the design and fabrication process. An added benefit is that the equipment will be accessible to an even larger body of students through shop department courses.

Guilford Public Schools - The Elementary Schools: Guilford Summer Instructional Symposium: First Steps Reading Course

This grant supports the pilot of a summer instructional symposium in the Guilford Public Schools. The 2008 Symposium will introduce the First Steps Reading Course, a highly respected program that trains elementary-level teachers to differentiate instruction based on the needs of the students in their classrooms. This will build on the new language arts curriculum rolled out in the district in 2007.

Guilford High School: Orchestral Composition

How many high school age music students have the opportunity to perform a world premiere of an original score written by an accomplished and esteemed living composer? With funding from GFFE and GHS Music Boosters, the Guilford High School Music Department will commission a piece of music written especially for the GHS Symphony Orchestra by an eminent composer of quality school level music, Elliot Del Borgo. The student musicians will meet and rehearse with Mr. Del Borgo prior to the premiere public performance, which will take place on election night, November 4, 2008.

Adams Middle School: A Classroom Response System...in a Science Classroom

Adams Middle School Science Teacher Diane Stevens will explore the tremendous potential for inquiry-based learning afforded by Classroom Response System (CRS) technology, incorporating it not just in assessment, but as a learning tool used in balance with a variety of activities and teaching strategies. The interconnection of available technology--a laptop computer, overhead LCD projector, Smart Board, and CRS--will make it possible for students to work together on innovative interactive websites under the direction and navigation of Ms. Stevens.

Guilford Youth and Family Services: GY&FS Summer Enrichment Camp

This request supports the experiential learning component of a new program of Guilford Youth & Family Services, a two-week summer enrichment camp for 20 participants designed to serve 10-12 year olds from low income families. This camp is intended to build social, emotional, life and survival skills for the participants. To that end, campers will participate in an adventure course, as well as martial arts, yoga, meditation and fitness workshops. Complementing these are several recreational activities.

2006-2007 Academic Year Grants

The Guilford Fund for Education approved the following grant applications in 2006-2007.

APPLE Pi Robotics (An Elizabeth C. Adams Grant)

This proposal adds a dimension to the opportunities at GHS by establishing a FIRST Robotics Team - FIRST standing for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. FIRST is also sponsored by NASA and is open to any high school students. A Robotics Team will build a robot in a six week period and compete in a regional competition. It provides a unique enrichment experience for our students, creates an atmosphere for cooperation amongst a diverse group of students having different interests, fosters an opportunity for both students and parents to participate together in an activity, and exposes students to problem-solving methods in engineering science. Granted: Funds to buy the additional parts needed to enable the robot to perform the tasks that the design team deems necessary.

Guilford to Iraq Online Exchange. (An Elizabeth C. Adams Grant)

Students in Michael Dalton's World Issues/Civics courses at Guilford High School will partner with students in the Rzgary Girls School in Iraqi Kurdistan. Through regular e-mail sessions the students will jointly complete a project that focuses on a major world issue which students will explore, analyze and offer solutions to. Students will be required to consider cultural differences of their peers, adapt to those differences, and work in a positive way in the completion of their analysis. Granted: Funds to help pay for 10 refurbished computers to be sent to Kurdistan.

Smartboard (inter-active whiteboard) for Math Instruction.

Celia Wanat and the Math department at Guilford High School will develop and implement lessons which incorporate technology into math instruction through the use of an inter-active whiteboard. The teachers will learn to use the equipment though professional development provided by the district. In keeping with the district's mission, these lessons will maximize effort and rigor in teaching and learning. Granted: Funds to purchase a Smartboard, the mounting stand, and shipping costs.

People to People Ambassador Program for Physics Teachers.

Raisa Roginsky, a physics teacher at Guilford High School, will participate in a summer teacher exchange program with China where her focus will be on learning instructional strategies effective for maximizing rigor and effort in the classroom and in the lab including lecture, lab work, discussion, team work, research, field trips, and international cooperative projects. In addition to bringing her new learning to her classroom, she will explore the possibility of starting a partnership with a high school in China so that students my may work on joint projects. Granted: Some funds contingent on the applicant finding additional funding to reach the $4995 required for this project.

Guilford Free Library Oral History Podcasting Project. (An Elizabeth C. Adams Grant)

In partnership with Adams Middle School, the Guilford Free Library is proposing a long term program that will enable students to record local oral histories in the form of the a podcast. Utilizing this new technology, which represents a paradigm shift for older generations, is not only appealing to the students who will be participating in this program, it is also second nature. The byproducts of this project are many: the preservation of Guilford's history; an intergenerational encounter and learning experience; student development of new media skills; a nontraditional learning opportunity; and the acquisition of journalistic skills. Granted funds to purchase a laptop computer and attendant equipment and software. (read more - see photos)

Students for Health and Social Justice (SHSJ) Film Presentation (An Elizabeth C. Adams Grant)

Students for Health and Social Justice (SHSJ), a group formed at Guilford High School to raise awareness and provide an opportunity for students to come together to work for positive change in the world, is planning an event to increase awareness about the situation in Darfur. The group is proposing to have an evening screening at the Madison Art Cinemas of God Grew Tired of Us, a new award-winning documentary produced by National Geographic about the "lost boys of Sudan." The screening will include a discussion featuring a "lost boy" now living in New Haven. To raise money and awareness for the dire situation in Darfur, the students will organize a community-wide Darfurfast and break-fast, with all contributions going to charitable organizations working on behalf of Darfur and the "lost boys." Through extensive publicity, the student organizers intend to attract and educate both students and adults in the community. Granted funds to cover cinema rental, film rental & film rights, printing & tickets and miscellaneous expenses. (read more - see photos)

Preserve an Endangered Language (An Elizabeth C. Adams Grant)

A group of students from Guilford High School (2 seniors and 1 underclassman) will be traveling to southwest China to work on a project to help preserve Gelao, an endangered language, according to China and the United Nations. Activities of this project include audio recording the Gelao's spoken language and music, video recording traditional Gelao's costume, living environment and daily activities, translating the dictation into English and learning basic IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) from Yale linguists. An additional group of students will not travel, but will also learn IPA and work on transcription after the trip. Afterward, the students will mount an exhibition documenting their experience. The primary goal of this project is to expose students to other cultures by learning to save an endangered language. Students will learn some basic research skills and approaches to linguistic study, while accomplishing the task of adding Gelao to important language databases. Granted funds to cover a digital still camera, audio digital recording equipment, software, and exhibition materials.

Harkness Method of Instruction

The Guilford High School English and Social Studies departments, led by English teacher John Terenzi, will pilot the Harkness method of instruction, thus providing a new platform for teachers to approach their instructional practices and for students to be active participants and authentic learners. Long established outside of our district, the method moves students out of rows of desks and chairs, away from teacher-driven lessons, beyond objective-based lessons, into an interactive pedagogy. The innovation of the Harkness Table, an oval-shaped table with individual "slides" for each participant, makes this possible. Granted funds to help set up a model classroom to be used in this pilot project. (read more - see photos)