The following Robert P. Bell grants totaling $1,521 have been awarded to local teachers for the first grant cycle of the 2011-2012 academic year. It is estimated that over 250 Delaware County students will benefit from these grants.
- Trisha Taylor, Yorktown High School, was awarded $447 to provide high school students in a Women’s Conditioning Class with a basic knowledge of cardio, Pilates, weight training, and yoga activities. The goal of the unit is to encourage young women to participate in fitness activities and provide them with the confidence to participate in future fitness classes outside of the school setting.
- Lisa Jackson, East Washington Academy, was awarded $275 for a class of second and third graders to work in pairs to study historical figures and read books about the lives of their chosen individuals. Students will read about events in their figures’ lives and learn to ascertain fact from fiction. They will then assume the role of their historical figure and interview each other while in character. The information discovered in their interviews will be compiled into a class publication.
- Amy Cullum, Wes-Del High School, was awarded $256 for high school Spanish students to study the culture and geography of South America. As part of the unit, students will use shower curtains to create their own oversized maps of the region, complete with both cultural and geographic aspects of each country studied.
- Holly Brendel, Wilson Middle School, was awarded $131 for students to practice using the scientific method by studying two different ant farms, one with colored sand and the other with nutritious nontoxic gel for the ants to live in. The students will compare the activity of the two ant colonies and make weekly observations in a science notebook. The nontoxic gel was created from information acquired through actual NASA space shuttle experiments studying animal life in space, and the unit will transition nicely into a future unit about space.
- Kandy Keller, Yorktown Elementary School, was awarded $412 for upper elementary students to study nature and learn about efforts to protect the environment. Students will make nature crafts, taste unusual foods from nature, white and perform puppet shows for classrooms focusing on nature preservation, make posters about how kids can help keep our world clean, and plan Earth Day activities for the entire school to participate in. As part of the unit, students will clean up trash and plant flowers on the school grounds.
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 2011-2012 academic year is December 1, 2011. For more information about Bell Grant applications, contact the Foundation Program Officer, at skadinger@cfmdin.org.
