- Becky Keller, Storer Elementary School, was awarded $236 for pre-school students to participate in a unit on China and Chinese culture. Students will dress in traditional Chinese attire in the dramatic play area, watch a dragon puppet play, make Chinese crafts, sample native food, and attempt to imitate simple Chinese characters that 3-5 year old children in China would learn.
- Matt Huber, Albany Elementary School, was awarded $386 for first grade students to participate in a thematic unit on worms. Students will test the worms’ reactions to light and smell, use their math skills to measure the worms, use their measuring skills to create mud and food for the worms, and use gummy worms as math manipulatives to practice measurement and graphing. The unit will include themes on recycling, and the students will use a worm composter to show that worms can effectively recycle.
- Matt Huber, Albany Elementary School, was awarded $301 for first grade students to study oviparous animals. Students will hatch chicken or duck eggs in an incubator and journal their observations along on the way. Students will learn about temperature and compare the temperature in the incubator to the outside temperature. Students will practice their measurement skills by measuring various ingredients to create chicken feed. Finally, students will perform short plays about birds and allow other students in the school to observe the hatched birds and journals created.
- Ami Brown, Cowan Junior/Senior High School, was awarded $141 for eighth grade English students to investigate the art, culture, and daily life of the Incas. Students will research customs such as ceremonial sacrifice and mummification, modes of communication, and religious practices. The unit will culminate with the students recreating their own archeological dig site.
- Margaret Chapel, Cowan Junior/Senior High School, was awarded $416 for high school English and Spanish students to study parts of speech in the English and Spanish languages. Students will use color coded posters to help them identify various parts of speech and then will create their own short stories or grammar storybooks to reinforce their learning.
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 first round of grants in the 2011-2012 academic year is October 1, 2011. Click on the link For more information about Bell Grants, for an application, or contact the Foundation's Program Officer.
