The following Robert P. Bell grants totaling $2,969 have been awarded to local teachers for the first grant cycle of the 2010-2011 academic year. It is estimated that over 1,000 Delaware County students will benefit from these grants.
- Jodi Scales, Selma Middle School, was awarded $340 for seventh grade students to participate in digital and face-to-face literary circles, write reviews for a literary blog, give book reports to younger students, and produce a student centered literary review magazine. A catalog of books recommended will be kept for other students to review when looking for a good book.
- Amy Cullum, Wes-Del High School, was awarded $164 for sixth graders and eleventh graders to partner for a unit. High school Spanish students will recreate three important aspects of the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. They will recreate the Aztec calendar, the entrance to the museum, and a presentation by Ballet Folklorico. After the recreations are complete, the class will invite the sixth grade geography class to come visit their recreated museum and enjoy presentations from the Spanish students.
- Renee Huffman and Gina Burke, Burris Laboratory School, were awarded $366 for kindergarten and third grade students to partner for a “Community Connections” unit with an integrated character education focus. Students will partner with local nursing home residents to participate in two service learning projects each month.
- Samara Newnam, East Washington Academy, was awarded $211 for fifth grade students to learn basic Swahili and communicate with pen pals from a class of students from a school in Kenya.
- Biff Wilson, Delta High School, was awarded $187 for advanced psychology students to study the parts of the human brain that deal with learning and memory. Students will dissect sheep brains and relate the structures of the sheep brain to that of a human. Students will videotape their work, edit the videos, insert narration, and post the videos on a classroom website.
- Stacy Morton, Burris Laboratory School, was awarded $132 for fourth and fifth grade visual arts students to study the arts and culture of the island of Haiti during a larger unit on the Caribbean. Students will specifically focus on the unique characteristics of Haitian architecture and create their own version of a Haitian house in ceramic and glaze. This unit complements the students’ efforts last year to raise money to benefit the children of Haiti following the devastating earthquake.
- Anita Jones, Wapahani High School, was awarded $394 for high school fine arts students to study the visual languages in ancient Mayan, Egyptian, and Chinese cultures. Students will study hieroglyphics and calligraphy writing and compare and contrast the visual writings of the ancient cultures. Students will create their own artwork using the techniques studied in the unit including school paintings using ancient Chinese characters, wall paintings similar to those in ancient Egyptian tombs, and bas relief sculptures expressing similarities to Mayan temple relief sculptures.
- Kara
Jackson and Susan Atherton, Storer Elementary School, were awarded $280 for elementary music
students to stage the musical productions of The Magic Jukebox (grades 3,
4, and 5) and Nutcracker (grades K, 1, and 2). The lessons from this unit will be built
around the concept of interdependence of music and movement as the
children demonstrate their new knowledge through investigation,
preparation, and performance.
- Barbara Crawford, Wilson Middle School, was awarded $172 for seventh and eighth grade students to use visual and auditory methods to strengthen the learning of standards in core subject areas. Students will memorize words to songs about Black History and economics, identify the physical features of landmasses and continents by singing along to rap music lyrics, and sing the directions to finding mean, median, and mode as they solve related math problems. As part of the unit students will draw and paint visual aids to use in performance of the songs and raps.
- Josiah
Parker, Delta High School, was
awarded $446 for high school engineering and technology students to
participate in unit studying various concepts involved with robotics. Students will learn about problem
solving, electrical systems, gear systems, programming, 3-D modeling and
design, structural components, and fabrication.
- Nancy
Swickard, West View Elementary School, was awarded $277 for elementary art students to take a journey back
to the 1200’s to “walk” in the footsteps of Marco Polo and follow the Silk
Road Trade Route. Students will
start their “journey” traveling through the Middle
East and being introduced to geometric-based designs
developed by Islamic artists. Students
will also be introduced to Middle East customs,
practices, and traditions while practicing math skills of symmetry,
pattern, and geometry that are coordinated with the school’s math
curriculum.
Bell Grants of up to $450 are awarded to teachers with innovative ideas, programs or projects designed to stimulate learning in their students. The deadline for the next round of grants in the 2010-2011 academic year is December 1, 2010. For more information about Bell Grant applications, contact the Foundation's Program Officer, at skadinger@cfmdin.org. or click here.
