YORK EDUCATION FOUNDATION GRANTS FOR THE 2009 – 2010 SCHOOL YEAR

The York Education Foundation funded four grants for the 2009-2010 school year, with two grants at Village Elementary School, one at Coastal Ridge Elementary School, and one at York High School.

Wild Birds Around Us, Catherine Sherman, VES:

This grant will fund the purchase of materials and literary resources for a feeding station for birds at Village Elementary School.  All grade 1 students will observe and feed wild birds;  they will learn to identify each bird and understand how they adapt to their environment.  This project will supplement the woodland and coastal birds unit of the curriculum, providing hands-on experience and utilizing their “outdoor classroom”.

Maine Native Americans Study, Pam Whalen-Roy, Betsy Pattison, Carolyn Dupree, VES:

This grant will fund the inclusion of a Native American storyteller as part of a project to create a Wabanaki setting for the 250 VES Kindergarten and CRES 3rd grade students studying Maine Native Americans as part of the social studies curriculum.  The students will participate in hands on learning experiences representing the daily lives of the Wabanaki people of long ago.  The project will have many components, planned by White Pines, and the storyteller will complete the authentic experience for the children.  Projects by the students will be developed based on what they learn from this study.

GPS in the Classroom, Margot Simonds and Martha Borden, CRES:

This grant funds the purchase of 20 GPS units for use by science teachers in grades 5-8.  The project is designed to educate students in using GPS as a scientific tool and to incorporate its use in subject areas involving spacial activities throughout their middle school education.  This will include learning basic mapping skills to document data collection during habitat studies, mapping plant species and creating a geocache trail to identify tree types in forested areas around York, documenting locations of water samples and invasive species.  Students from each grade will be asked to discuss their work with GPS units at a K-12 Science curriculum committee meeting.  The public will have the opportunity to view work done using the GPS units at events displaying results of the 5th grade habitat and 8th grade water studies.

MP3 Language, Sarah Bolanos, YHS:

This grant will fund the purchase of 12 digital voice recorders and accessories for each foreign language teacher at YHS, which will serve the 480 YHS students enrolled in a foreign language class.  Digital voice recorders will enable students to record themselves practicing in the target language and allow them to benefit from speaking and listening activities in and out of the classroom.  In addition, it will provide teachers with a more objective, accurate and detailed assessment of students’ progress than is possible with current technology.