Currents in Education
York Education Foundation announces grant winners
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - The applications have been all been reviewed, and in its third year of making funds available for outstanding projects proposed by local educators, the York Education Foundation has awarded $21,583 for programs in the school year ahead.
The grants represent projects in all four of York's schools, explained YEF President John Alexander, who formally announced the awards to the York School Committee last week.
"We have concluded our third year of existence here in York," Alexander said, explaining the goal of the foundation is to provide funding for projects that York's public schools and would not otherwise be possible under the constraints of annual operating budgets.
This year, he said, YEF received a total of $35,000 in requests and was able to award six grants totaling well over $21,500. Two grants were awarded for projects at York High School, two at York Middle School, one at Coastal Ridge Elementary School and one at Village Elementary School. According to the foundation, this year's requests totaled 180 percent of those received in the prior year.
"We've funded a total of 19 projects at an amount just over $50,000," he said of YEF's three years in existence, including three projects at York High School, five at York Middle School, four at Coastal Ridge and eight at Village Elementary School.
In a nutshell, Alexander told the committee, the hope is that these grants will "encourage our educators to continue to think outside the box."
The largest grant award for the coming year, in the amount of $7,883, was awarded to Coastal Ridge fourth-grade teacher Charlotte Pierce for her project "Understanding the Community Around Us: Protecting the Natural Resources of the York River," which will introduce students to the historical, ecological and scientific importance of the river.
"The project includes both in-class and on-site learning experiences using a wide variety of materials such as models, topographic maps, scientific measuring equipment, GIS and photography," according to the YEF grant award summary. "Students will learn the important role of the York River in defining the character and economy of our town and realize their responsibility in protecting this resource."
Also as part of the project, the students will learn about the York Land Trust, York Rivers Association and other conservation groups and will create a public display at the York Public Library.
The second largest grant award went to Mike Little of York High School to found "Future Tradesmen of York H.I.T." The $6,400 grant will fund a new after-school program that, according to the grant summary, is "designed to teach selected students basic trades in a hands-on interactive environment, with the goal of preparing them for further education in the trades or equipping them with some skills and tools to help them get started in a business. Critical elements of this proposed program are a student-mentor partnership as the program grows and a community network of resources for training, information and referrals."
Other programs to receive grants this year include Michele Adams's "Downloadable Audio Books" at York High School, in the amount of $2,700, to make a wide array of literature accessible to as many students and staff as possible while accommodating learning styles and reading levels; Stephanie Carbonneau's "Living Language Lab" at York middle School, in the amount of $1,200, to purchase recording headsets to be used with interactive language software; Margot Simonds's "Improving Literacy through the Reading Workshop" at York Middle School, in the amount of $1,600, to establish classroom libraries of books that students are interested in reading, and Paula Dickinson's "Literacy Team Recording Project" at Village Elementary School, in the amount of $1,800, to support the purchase of a computer and recording equipment for the assessment of reading recovery students.
York Curriculum Coordinator Dr. Maryann Minard praised the organization for its work to support education in York.
"As curriculum coordinator, I can't thank you enough," she told Alexander and the other YEF board members who attended the School Committee meeting on June 20.
For educators, there is a constant effort to leverage a diminishing supply of grant funds, she explained, for worthy projects such service-learning, which matches study of curriculum with service to the community. Projects like Pierce's York River program will go a long way toward those ends, she said.
And, she added, YEF has made it possible for teachers to improve technology within their classrooms and to allow their students to experience cutting-edge technology as part of their daily studies.
"We love that our teachers are now dreaming big as far as technology projects," she said.
In addition to donations, the nonprofit YEF holds key fundraisers during the course of the year to raise the money to support grants such as the ones approved for the 2007-2008 academic year. This year's events included the annual "Uncorked" celebration, hosted by the Dockside this spring, and the first-ever Cardio for Kids event at Kittery's Coastal Fitness. . The foundation has received the support of more than 350 community members and 50 area businesses, Alexander explained.
Want to learn more about the York Education Foundation or make a donation to help fund next year's grant awards? Visit http://www.yorkeducationfoundation.org/.
