Glenview Education Foundation

FALL 2011 GRANTS APPROVED

The Glenview Education Foundation is pleased to award the following three educator grants from its 2011 GEF Fall Grant Cycle. These grants, which each target one or more of the objectives spelled out in GEF’s four STAR Initiatives, below, will touch the daily lives of nearly 2200 students and 40 teachers at the primary and middle school levels.

Science Enrichment – Engage students with hands-on learning and new technology.
Teacher Investment – Help teachers to innovate and share strategies for success.
At-Risk Support – Bolster efforts to help academically at-risks students to ensure allstudents learn to their potential.
Readiness Skills – Improve executive function skills (organization, communication, etc.).

ExploreLearning Gizmos – The ability to participate in hands-on experiments and inquiry-based learning on topics as abstract as how the moon causes tides or how the tilt of the earth results in the seasons is the objective of the ExploreLearning Gizmos grant. Every teacher at Pleasant Ridge will receive a subscription to this manipulative-based internet math and science program. Additionally, every 3^rd – 5^th grade student will have his/her own account for use whenever it is needed, enabling the real-time collection and application of data to otherwise difficult-to-understand concepts.

Critical Listening in Primary Grades – With this grant the K-2^nd grade music teachers at Henking, Lyon and Westbrook will implement district-wide music listening centers. Funds will cover the purchase of 24 iPod Touches, enabling a streamlining of the group listening experience (children will no longer have to gather around a single player with headphones). It will also facilitate the efficient creation of curriculum-based playlists that address aural topics such as high/low, instrument-specific and music genres. And in addition to listening, the students will be exposed to apps that visually demonstrate the concepts of melody, tempo and beat.

Ukelele Rocks: Fostering Creativity, Community and Life-Long Arts Appreciation Through Art and Social Music Making – With art and music offered to 6^th graders for one trimester each, this grant, awarded to Attea’s art and music teachers, spans two curricula to address the learning targets identified in both disciplines. Beginning in the third trimester of this year, every Attea 6^thgrader will receive the components to construct and design his/her own ukulele. Once complete, students will learn how to play their instruments and eventually how to compose and perform their own music both alone and with others. The grant’s focus is on achieving incremental success and improving executive function skills.

SPRING 2011 GRANTS AWARDED

The Glenview Education Foundation has awarded its final round of STAR * grants to District 34 educators for the 2010-11 school year. Just over $81,000 has been approved for four grants, and all eight District 34 schools are beneficiaries. Two of the grants involve a technology trial of one-to-one iPad learning. Another grant introduces a summer community school for low-income, at-risk learners and the final grant continues the highly successful GEF Recital Night Program. Each grant is highlighted below.

Little Kids, BIG Learning

Beginning in the fall, this grant will provide a one-to-one iPad instructional environment for four 2 nd grade classrooms at Henking and four 1 st grade classrooms at Lyon. Additionally, four kindergarten classes at Westbrook will also receive iPads – funded directly by the District – as a result of the administration’s commitment to this particular initiative. At the kindergarten level, it is a one-to-two environment. A total of 265 children will be impacted by this installation. The goal of the Little Kids, BIG Learning technology grant – which complements the “Digital Age Learning for All” (DALFA) portion of District 34’s strategic plan – is to develop motivated “anytime, anywhere” learners who find learning with technology as natural as writing with a pencil.

iPads in the 5 th Grade Classroom

Similar to the Little Kids, BIG Learning grant, iPads in the 5 th Grade Classroom also provides one-to-one iPad learning, but in this case to a 5 th grade class at Glen Grove School. The visual, real-time learning afforded by the iPad will allow Kathryn Reihsmann’s 5 th grade class an interactive experience with individual choice. Due to the fact that fifth graders’ daily experiences involve various social media, such as MP3 players, SmartPhones, YouTube videos, and many others, technology fluency becomes imperative for their responsible participation in a global society.

Center of Hope: A Collaborative Community Service School Project Between Hoffman School and Glenview Youth Services

This joint Hoffman/Glenview Youth Services grant creates a summer community school for 50 economically disadvantaged students right in their own neighborhood. This eight-week afternoon program will utilize a combination of Hoffman teachers and Youth Services staff to expose 3 rd through 5 th grade students to reading instruction, cultural excursions and community service projects.

7 th Annual GEF Recital Night

This event provides an in-district opportunity for band, orchestra and choral students to prepare and perform solo and ensemble pieces for professional musicians in a clinic/master class format. The festival is typically held the first week of February.

Fall 2010 Grants Awarded (December 2010)
The Glenview Education Foundation is pleased to award the following six educator grants from its 2010 GEF Fall Grant Cycle. These grants, which each target one or more of the objectives spelled out in GEF’s four STAR Initiatives, will touch the daily lives of nearly 700 students and 30 teachers at all three school levels: Primary, Intermediate and Middle School.

Bilingual Technology Before School Program – The goal of this grant, to be implemented before school for eligible 3 rd – 5 th graders at Hoffman, is to lessen the gap between economically disadvantaged students and their same-aged peers when it comes to learning through the use of technology. Children who do not have the benefit of computers in their homes will receive technology instruction for an hour a week before school.
IXL Web-based Math – This grant allows for subscription to a Web-based math program that provides focused practice for students who struggle to master math skills. It will be available for both in-class and at-home use by 2 nd grade students at Henking.
SMART Response Remote Classroom Systems – This grant will allow science teachers at Springman and Attea to test students using a hand-held, wireless remote that works in conjunction with the SMART Notebook software already in place. The system enables teachers to provide immediate feedback to those students requiring additional assistance with the concept being tested.
Kindergarten ESGI (Educational Software for Guiding Instruction) – The more efficient administration, compilation and analysis of student test data is the objective of this grant, awarded to all kindergarten classrooms at Henking. Use of the Web-based software enables quicker identification of students requiring remediation and enrichment.
Science Olympiad – Open to any 6 th – 8 th graders at Attea interested in developing a deeper understanding and passion for science, this grant funds the after-school science-enrichment program. Participating students comprise teams at the varsity and junior varsity level that compete in a multiple-school, hands-on competition.
The Summer Reading Program – This grant allows for a continuation of the highly successful at-home summer reading program launched at Hoffman School last year for 100 at-risk learners. The emphasis is on maintaining and even improving reading skills over the summer so fall test scores do not decline.

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GEF Celebrates First Year of STAR Grants with over $100,000 in Awards!
Nearly 80 educators representing all of our eight schools were the first class of grant recipients under the Foundation’s new STAR initiatives during the 2009-10 School year. Below is a recap of the investments that are already (or will soon be) in the classroom!

Science Enrichment: Engage students with hands-on learning and new technology.

Science Olympiad @ Attea
Participation in this annual science competition creates a passion for learning science by bringing it to life. Attea in 2010-11 will once again, with support from GEF, form a team of students to compete in a multiple school competition with 23 hands-on competitive events.

Science Curriculum Support @ Hoffman
Teachers in grades 3, 4, & 5 worked together over the summer to continue development of student learning outcomes, instructional activities, and materials tied to the recently adopted science curriculum.

Weatherbug Weather Station @ Attea
Real-time weather data is available for students to track, compare, differentiate and monitor the climate using authentic information as they apply it to various curricular subjects. Additionally, data from this technology is transmitted to Weatherbug in partnership with WGN-Channel 9 for use in live weather reports.

Interactive Tables for Primary LRCs @ Lyon, Henking, and Westbrook
Specifically designed for primary aged children, these hands-on/minds-on tables are an incredible small group interactive learning tool. One is located in each of our primary buildings Learning Centers for small group sessions available to all students.
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Teacher Investment: Help teachers to innovate and share strategies for success.

Kindles in the Classroom @ Springman
This pilot program is designed to explore the impact of digital literature on student achievement and motivation to read.

Serve to Learn @ Glen Grove
For the past six years, Glen Grove’s TREE classes have worked collaboratively with the Glenview Sunrise Rotary Club to increase literacy rates in Guatemala. This past summer GEF funded approximately half the workshop fees for four teachers to visit Guatemala to participate in a cross-culture workshop. Their experiences will be shared with students in a variety of ways.

Kindergarten Transition Portfolio @ Westbrook
This pilot program will facilitate a smoother transition to the classroom for kindergartners, enabling a shorter adjustment period and more solid relationships in the new setting. It will enhance parent-school communication and collaboration, resulting in parents feeling more a part of their child's education team.

SMART Response Remote Classroom System @ Pleasant Ridge, Springman & Attea
An interactive response system combining handheld wireless remotes, a receiver and powerful assessment software that allows teachers to better understand what students have learned and where they need additional instruction. This system began with a pilot at Pleasant Ridge last fall, and now will be extended to both middle schools through the math departments.

Additional "T" grants that fall in more than one category:
- Science Curriculum Support @ Hoffman (See description under Science Enrichment)
- Interactive Tables for Primary LRCs @ Lyon, Henking, and Westbrook (See description under Science Enrichment)
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At-Risk Support: Bolster efforts to help at-risk students to ensure all students learn to their potential.

Summer Reading Program @ Hoffman
The pilot of this innovative, summer, at-home reading program includes one-on-one support with a goal of retaining reading skills and increasing success over the summer months.

Vocabulary A to Z @ Glen Grove
This curriculum supplement supports all ELL students and at-risk readers by providing vocabulary words, materials, activities and games that correlate with the Reading A to Z leveled readers currently in use in classrooms.

MacSpeech Dictate @ Pleasant Ridge
The pilot of this enables students to use their voices to input text. The goal is to offer students with significant written language issues a medium for expressing their ideas with greater ease.

Additional "A" grants that fall in more than one category:
- SMART Response Remote Classroom System @ Pleasant Ridge, Springman & Attea (See description under Teacher Investment)
- Interactive Tables for Primary LRCs @ Lyon, Henking, and Westbrook (See description under Science Enrichment)
- Kindergarten Transition Portfolio @ Westbrook (See description under Teacher Investment)
- Kindles in the Classroom @ Springman (See description under Teacher Investment)
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Readiness Skills: Improve executive function skills (e.g. organization, communication, etc)

Executive Function Skills Program @ Attea
Executive Function Skills are the cognitive processes that occur in the frontal lobe of the brain that allow us to plan, organize, make decisions, pay attention and regulate behavior. The sixth grade team at Attea will be piloting the Middle School Executive Functions Program next school year.

Recital Night Fifth and Sixth Annual GEF Recital Night @ Attea, Springman, Glen Grove, Pleasant Ridge and Hoffman A GEF tradition, this event provides an in-district opportunity for band, orchestra and choral students to prepare and perform solo and in ensemble for professional musicians in a clinic/master class format. The 2010 festival was held this past February and the next will be the first week of February 2011.

Additional "R" grants that fall in more than one category:
- MacSpeech Dictate @ Pleasant Ridge (See description under At-Risk Support)
- Interactive Tables for Primary LRCs @ Lyon, Henking, and Westbrook (See description under Science Enrichment)
- Serve to Learn @ Glen Grove (See description under Teacher Investment)

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GEF Awards More Than $160,000 to Teachers and Administrators in Grants in the 2008-2009 School Year. Congratulations to ...

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GEF Awards More Than $60,000 to Teachers and Administrators in Spring 2008 Grants - May 2008.
On May 9th, 2008 the Grant Giveaway Team was again busy sharing good news to District 34 staff members. Congratulations to ...

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GEF Awards More Than $40,000 to Teachers and Administrators - December 2007.
On December 7th, 2007 the Grant Giveaway Team was busy visiting teachers and staff members who were selected to recieve the winter 2007 grants. Congratulations to...

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GEF Provides More Than $72,000 to Teachers and Administrators during the 2006-7 School Year.
In May 2007, a new group of District 34 educators were pleasantly surprised when the GEF Grant Giveaway Team arrived unannounced with blue and green balloons, funny hats and kazoos to announce the Foundation’s latest group of grant recipients.

The Dorothy M. Weber Educator Development Grants and Special Projects Grants awarded by the Glenview Education Foundation are designed to support Glenview School District 34's long history of innovative instruction and leading edge practice. The grants assist District 34 professionals as they seek to implement new ideas in their classrooms and across the district. The GEF is proud to honor the educational efforts of District 34 in these ways and are excited about the ideas and thinking from the educators in the District.

Charlotte Carlson Grant: Middle School Science Technology
$23,054
Initiated by Tony Schwinghamer, Crosbie McCourt, Paulette Andrews from Springman and Amy Muller, Wendy Brown and Lisa Humbert from Attea.

This grant represents the first phase of the Charlotte Carlson Grant. Charlotte Carlson was a science teacher who lived in Glenview and worked in Winnetka. She generously donated more than $100k to the Glenview Education Foundation through her will. Because of her connection to science, the GEF Board decided to use the Carlson grant to transform the middle school science curriculum for District 34.

This first phase of the Carlson grant is designed to infuse digital sensor technology, using tools from the Vernier Software and Technology company, into a standardized set of science laboratory experiences for all middle school students. The development of these lab experiences will begin with a review of the current curriculum through a summer work project funded by the District. The first portion of the grant money will be used to purchase specific sensors and probes (e.g. temperature and force sensors) that coordinate the lab work with core scientific concepts. The equipment purchased will allow for two classrooms, in each of the two middle schools, to run experiments simultaneously.

This phase of the grant also allows for professional development for teachers in the District who are interested in becoming trainers on the use and application of the equipment.

Future phases of the Carlson grant project will allow for expanded investment in laboratory interfaces and types of equipment. The additional investment will allow for as many as four classrooms in each building to conduct experiments simultaneously, and will allow for enhanced study of force, motion and chemistry.

Atomic Learning
$3,452
Administrators Phil Collins and Brian Engle

For today’s students and staff, the efficient application of technology and software to learning is the norm – not the exception. Atomic Learning is a modular subscription service that provides online training for virtually all of the District’s software and technology-based programs (e.g. excel, powerpoint, digital video and audio processing). The Atomic Learning modules will be available to all students in grades 3-8, as well as District staff. They can be used at any time – potentially even from home – and the Atomic Learning system can track utilization of the system, as well as progress within individual modules. This grant will allow for the purchase of the Atomic Learning system, as well as a training program for staff in the application of technology into the curriculum.

Kurzweil Scan/Read Lab Pack
$3,614
Pleasant Ridge Teachers Deanna Sainati and Katie Konieczka

The specific goal of the this project is to improve reading performance for students reading one to two grade levels below their current grade placement. This grant will enable the school to purchase a program from Kurzweil Education Systems that has been developed to address reading difficulties stemming from learning disabilities, dyslexia, attention deficit disorder and other language-based difficulties (e.g. ESL students). The Kurzweil system uses assistive reading software that provides a high quality, human-sounding, synthetic speech system to read text as it is displayed and highlighted on a computer screen. The audible tools assists in word decoding, but can also be used for standardized test-taking and to support writing development. In addition, the Kurzweil software can be used to support both classroom textbooks and Internet content; this will improve student access to basic curriculum materials and will open up new knowledge sources.

Wendy Brown at Attea
Teaching Physics with Toys

Donna Toops and Helene Davitz at Attea
Increasing Keyboarding Proficiency

Nancy Kabat at Glen Grove
Orff National Convention

Janet Conlin at Henking
Kindergarten Art

Karen Sarasin at Henking
Orff National Convention

Aimee LeBlanc and Emily O’Connor at Henking
Assistive Technology and Social Language

Bonnie Buehler and Susan Zolin at Springman
Smart Boards Engaging Smarter Kids

Jason Kieronski at Springman
Culture Games

Robin Paul and Mary Louise Rothschild at Westbrook
Supporting Early Literacy

Robin Paul and Mary Louise Rothschild at Westbrook
Techno-Matic Math Facts

Brenda Fuson at Westbrook
Orff National Convention

Diane Balter at Hoffman
Leap to Literacy

Julie Hock and Terri Kimura at Hoffman
Determining Heart Rate

Doree Lattanzio, Diane Abram at Lyon
AAHPERD National Convention

Dave Jones and Jodi Barasky
AAHPERD National Convention

Kathleen Ann Kuzminski at Pleasant Ridge
The Effects of Character-Based Literacy on Classroom Dynamics

Deanna Sainati, Kathy Pattengale, Jan Hinton and Kristin Juozaitis at Pleasant Ridge
Nonfiction Literacy & Differentiated Instruction in Content Areas

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Garth Trask at Henking
Creation of 2nd & 1st grade UCSMP Math Unit Review Assessments Using Classroom Performance System Technology

Susan Clarke, Laura Strejc and Linda Friedman at Hoffman
Digital Handheld USB Scope

Jackie Kemper at Westbrook
Empowering Students & Enhancing Learning with Classroom Performance System Technology

Mary Louise Rothschild and Robin Paul at Westbrook
Sight Word Reading Approach for Non-Readers

Kathy Hamilton and Therese Shultz at Glen Grove
Assistive Technology to Improve Reading and Written Expression Skills in Students with Special Needs

Katie Millman and Ivy Nitzkin at Glen Grove
Peace Jam: Service Learning to Solve Global Problems Through Local Activities

Dave Jones and Jodi Shifrin at Pleasant Ridge
Cardiovascular Fitness Beyond the School Years

Deanna Sainati, Jan Hinton, Kathy Pattengale and Kristen Cusack at Pleasant Ridge
The Private Eye Kit: Developing Thinking by Analogy, Increasing Wonder, Creativity, Problem Solving & Communication

Jessika Gaither, Jennifer Wu and Heather Hopkins at Springman
Teaching and Learning with Digital Cameras

Emily O'Connor at Henking, Linda Brown at Lyon and Melinda Prawer at Westbrook
"How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk" Parent Education Programs

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Carrie Binetti, Springman
Emily Fifield, Lyon
Sharon Giless, Westbrook
Dan Heuser, Lyon
Jan Hinton, Pleasant Ridge
Lorianne Marcotte, Glen Grove
Dominic Mariano, Hoffman
Jeanie Monroe, Lyon
Paul Nudelman, Henking
Emily O¹Connor, Henking
Tina Patitucci, Lyon
Kathy Pattengale, Pleasant Ridge
Robin Paul, Westbrook
Allison Cohen Reatherford, Springman and Attea
Mary Louis Rothschild, Westbrook
Deanna Sainati, Pleasant Ridge
Mary Stump, Westbrook

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Mary Lou Baldwin, Glen Grove
Carol Doetsch, Henking
Linda Fowler, Westbrook
Debra Gurvitz, Lyon
Heather Hopkins, Springman
Diane Horban, Glen Grove
Katrina Klever, Henking
Kathryn Konieczka, Pleasant Ridge
Brenda Kraber, Glen Grove
Joanne Lee, Henking
Rosemary Lorenzo, Pleasant Ridge
Peggy McCarthy, Westbrook
Donna Morrow, Westbrook
Ivy Nitzkin, Glen Grove
Paul Nudelman, Henking
Robin Paul, Westbrook
Mary Louise Rothschild, Westbrook
Laura Strejc, Hoffman
Beth Tsoumas, Glen Grove
Lucille Van Nostran, Westbrook
David Work, Lyon
Mary Pat Zur, Westbrook