Exciting New Programs:

MINI-GRANTS 2009

MINI-GRANT Projects for 2009 Description of the project
2009-2010 Reading Olympics	Books for elementary students to participate in the Chester County IU Reading Olympics competition
Upbeat! Stringscamp	Summer camp to increase skill levels of beginning and intermediate string players
Individual Music Staff Dry-erase Boards	Dry-erase boards to facilitate assessment of National Music Standards
Incorporating Board Games in World Lang. Games	Familiar board games to aid in the teaching and reviewing of concepts taught in World Language Classes
Middle School Literary Magazine	Students will publish short stories, essays and poetry in a bi-annual middle school literary magazine
OJR Painting Camp	Materials for two summer painting camps for elementary students
North Coventry Garden Program	Partnership with Triskeles Foundation to support local healthy food initiatives and increase children’s awareness of where foods come from and how growing their own food, composting, and conserving rain water helps to “Green” their school spaces.
Global Info System (GIS) & Global Positioning System (GPS)	Global Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to support authentic problem-based instruction, helping students tackle real social and environmental research projects in their communities.
Flip Video Cameras	Cameras will be used to provide visual feedback to elementary students upon completion of speeches, reader’s theaters, art projects and group projects.
Educating With Elmo	Elmo Digital Visual Projector will be used to model, instruct, and evaluate work samples in various curricular areas.
Drama Club	Funding for the script, royalty fees, and supplies for the drama club, which will produce a holiday play or musical and a spring play or musical.
Recorder Karate	Expansion of the music program in the elementary schools
Orff Ensemble Instruments	Instruments designed to build an understanding of concepts and skills through connecting students with the music and experiencing it on multiple levels.

previous grants awarded

• High Interest- low readability Texts for Independent Reading
Trade books for learning support Elementary students or those who are struggling with reading.

• Developing 21st Century Literacies in Learners
Elementary program to develop the ability of students to be 21st Century readers and writers of complex, multiple, dynamic, and malleable literacies within global communities.

•Expansion of Recorder Karate program in the elementary schools.

• Helping Reluctant and Struggling Elementary Readers become skilled, passionate, habitual and critical readers
“Just right” texts and frequent opportunities for individual conferences to support this reading.

• Courtyard Ecosystem Pond
An aquatic pond in the courtyard at French Creek. Pond will contain aquatic plants, animals, and the non-living components of a pond.

• All School Earth Day
Elementary program to support on-going Green initiatives through healthy environment awareness programs taught by outside naturalists from Great Valley Center and facilitated by school personnel with green programming expertise.

• Summer Mosaic Classes
Materials to support 3 summer art classes offered to students going into 4th, 5th or 6th grade during the 2008-09 school year. The camps will create garden mosaics for the North Coventry and East Vincent gardens.

• Listen.Connect.Create.
Using video and audio technologies, Elementary students will interact and collaborate with students around the world to enhance their experiences using higher level thinking.

• History Day Club
Middle school students will utilize their club periods in school to further their exploration in History by preparing to compete in local, state and national History Day competitions.

• Science Literacy
Middle School program to increase student literacy by introducing a variety of literature (fiction and non-fiction) to the physical science classroom. Magazines with science content will be purchased.

• Language Arts Classroom Library
Middle School program to provide well-stocked classroom libraries from which students are able to choose books at their reading level.

• Accounting Monopoly
Purchase of monopoly games and enough portfolios for 5 years so that the High School accounting classes can reinforce concepts and principles by playing Accounting Monopoly. This will teach students to deal with exchange of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses using the transactions.

• The Hot Zone
The study of the Black Death is part of the Western Civilization’s curriculum. This book would assist High School students in connecting this to their lives today