CAPE announces fall grant winners

Continuing its mission to promote “innovative and productive” programming in the Canton Public Schools, the Canton Alliance for Public Education recently awarded $15,000 in grants to six applicants from its 2010 fall grant cycle.

The grants, which have been awarded every year since 2004, are made possible through individual and corporate donations and through the fundraising efforts of CAPE’s volunteers. One of the organization’s most popular fundraisers, the annual CAPE Spelling Bee, is scheduled for tomorrow evening at Canton High School, beginning with the student competition at 6 p.m. and followed immediately by the adult competition at 7:45.

Of the six fall grants awarded by CAPE, two went toward programs at the high school and another two went toward programs at the Galvin Middle School.

Canton Public Schools’ nurse leader Janet Donnelly received a $2,015 grant to revive the high school’s chapter of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions). The new chapter, which currently has 49 members, will use the grant money to fund the purchase of promotional materials as well as in-school programming. The group also plans to launch an awareness campaign that takes a “visible stand against substance abuse in Canton.”

In addition, CHS librarian Joanne Teliszewski received a $1,531 grant for a project aimed at exposing students and teachers to the educational applications of technologies such as MP3 players and eReaders. Teliszewski plans to focus her initial efforts on the special education and ELL student populations while also offering after-school professional development opportunities for interested faculty members.

At the middle school, Maria Spina was awarded a $3,794 grant that will allow students to fully utilize the math software that was purchased as part of the school’s new math curriculum. The grant will fund the purchase of two multi-seat computer stations that will run “Dimension M,” an immersive, 3D game that engages students in learning and applying mathematics.

Another GMS teacher, Sara Donovan, received $1,460 to fund the purchase of flip cameras and flash drives for each of the science classrooms. The goal of Donovan’s “Science Flip Camera Project” is to create an archive of student-made videos that the students can then retrieve to study for midterm exams and for the eighth grade Science MCAS test. The videos are expected to be of particular help to the eighth grade students, who have historically struggled with MCAS questions dealing with topics covered in sixth and seventh grade.

The largest grant in the fall cycle — in the amount of $4,000 — went to Peter Boucher, Kerin Carta, and Camille Killian to support the establishment of a district-wide wellness program called Rage Against the Hate (RATH), which addresses issues around bullying as well as drug, alcohol, and tobacco use. The grant will provide funds for guest speakers, presentations, workshops, panel discussions, and after-school programs appropriate for each grade level.

The sixth and final grant was awarded to the Galvin Middle School Community Problem Solving teams to help fund the Science House of Environmental Discovery (SHED). The $2,200 grant will enable the teams to build a greenhouse and eco-center that will help students learn about going green in an interactive way. They plan to provide binders to each school with prepared lesson plans and labs for grades 2-8, while also offering community service hours to high school students who assist in the maintenance and care of the new SHED.

CAPE board member Cam Reese, who announced the grant winners at the School Committee meeting on January 6, wanted to personally acknowledge Terry Bartlett for all of her hard work as chairman of the grant committee. Reese also reminded the audience of the upcoming spelling bee fundraiser.

“It is a wonderful event,” she said, “and we encourage everyone to come out and support CAPE and all of the bee teams.”

Admission to the fifth annual CAPE Spelling Bee, including both the student and adult competitions, is $5 for adults and $3 for seniors, students and children.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Jan 20 2011. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.