Our fall grant cycle was record breaking. 17 grants is the most that we have awarded at one time. Plus… HEF reached the important milestone of awarding more than $2.5M in grants to projects in Hopkins Schools. Below are the fall 2016 grants.
3-D Inspiration: MakerBot — $3,530 — Tanglen — Kim Rossow, Lynette Arneson, Liz Patrick
Science and Math curricula for all Tanglen students will now contain Design and Build elements, courtesy of this new MakerBot 3-D Printer. Hands-on learning can open students to new avenues of ideas and exploration while simultaneously increasing levels of achievement. Read more.
ACT Online Test Prep – $1,250 – Hopkins High School – John Sammler, Felicia Homberger
The ACT test, a high-stakes benchmark for college admission, just became a little easier for all HHS students with this grant of Albert.io software for every student’s Chromebook. This software, a version of which has already been successfully implemented in AP classes at HHS, will supply every student with skill-strengthening activities and practice ACT tests. Read more.
Bakken Museum STEM Residency – $4,200 – Meadowbrook – Sarah Gleason, Rachael Ramy, Tyler Martin
Third graders will design solutions to engineering problems using inquiry, creation, planning, collaboration, and good old-fashioned trial and error. This partnership with The Bakken Museum will fully engage and motivate students, leveraging their curiosity in the exploration of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Read more.
Boogie Boards – $875 – Tanglen – Jill Heath, Janie Driver, Tanya Steinhoff
Lightweight LCD writing screens offer first graders LOTS of writing practice. These tiny ‘white boards’ are portable and simple – no plug needed – just like a pencil on paper without sacrificing any trees. Young hands learn through practice and class participation, and these Boogie Board Jot eWriters encourage both. Read more.
Brain-Building Puzzles – $275 – Tanglen – Michael Yasis
‘Thinking outside the box’ begins with students’ determination to solve problems and the confidence in their ability to persevere. Brain puzzles are an interactive way for students to practice grit and creativity – strengths that 21st Century learners need in addition to academics. As fifth grade students tackle these challenging hands-on puzzles, they will build and strengthen neural pathways along with their self-confidence.
Chinese Culture Residency – $2,250 – XinXing Academy – Molly Wieland, Donghong Wang
Chinese-speaking artists-in-residence will teach traditional dancing, singing, and gong fu (martial arts) to students in Kindergarten through grade four all winter, culminating in the spectacular performance of Lunar New Year on February 21, 2017. The public is invited to attend this celebration of the most important Chinese holiday of the year, and to enjoy XinXing students’ immersion into Chinese culture – a journey that takes them far beyond language lessons.
Creative Project Zone – $750 – North Junior High – Jen Legatt, Peter Ilten, Angela Brueske
A mobile cart of creativity will now be available to all 800 NJH students and staff to support countless imaginative projects throughout the building. The Mobile Creative Project Zone will offer high-end paper-crafting and presentation tools and supplies for projects. Read more.
Earth-Shaking Education – $2,513 – West Junior High – Becky Jacobson, Toni Schwartz, Aaron Ditty
This grants provides devices so all West Junior High eighth grade geology students will be able to collect and analyze earthquake data with Seismograph readers and computers to monitor the activity. Read more.
Engineering Beautiful Music – $2,860 – Eisenhower and XinXing Academy – Kathy Bouten, Emily York, Jon Feulner
Every fifth grader, no matter their prior experience or ability, will utilize both engineering and math skills to become a builder and a musician through this residency program. All will enjoy the challenge and thrill of constructing their own take-home, single-stringed dulcimer. Read more.
Heart Zones Fitness – $4,975 – Gatewood Elementary – Billy Barringer, Mindy Erdal, Leigh Woodburn
Physical health is linked to mental acuity, and the elementary-level Physical Education curriculum is an important part of our students’ learning experience. The use of Blink Armband heart rate monitors for second through sixth graders will help make this curriculum more fun and meaningful, and eventually eliminate the need for traditional testing such as counting push-ups and sit-ups. Read more.
AWESOME FUND RECIPIENT
Kiva U Club: Investing in the World – $2,300 – Hopkins High School – Tim Owen, students Jane Nelson and Katherine Kadoun
This grant allows students to have a direct global impact by jump starting the Club’s efforts to make $25 loans to entrepreneurs all over the Third World. The Club’s goal is to involve more students at HHS, fund raise, and to loan at least $50 in each of the 27 countries represented by HHS students. Read more.
Learning Studio Prototype – $6,000 – Gatewood – Karen Terhaar, Ivar Nelson, Justin Ingham
Research, as well as experience, increasingly points to more flexible classrooms as the most conducive to a 21st Century education. HEF will help the School District kick start the creative redesign of a Gatewood classroom, turning it into an innovative learning studio; an agile and adaptable space to better engage students and offer greater opportunity for learning. Read more.
Mindsets for Parents – $896 – Tanglen and ELL (English Language Learners) – Alex Fisher, Carlos Connell-Torres
Schools’ engagement with parents and families is proven to have a direct positive impact on student learning. This grant, in conjunction with a donation from Flipgrid, will produce a series of short videos in multiple languages, all designed to share information and build relationships with parents who do not have the flexibility to attend school functions and interact with staff. Read more.
One-on-One Royal Readers – $7,500 – Tanglen – Anne Baird, Jill Heath
HEF will fund this updated collection of high-interest culturally-relevant books for an exciting new reading initiative. Trained literacy volunteers will work one-on-one with first grade students on a weekly basis, and the books will also be available for classroom teachers’ use. Read more.
Read, Read, Read! – $3237 – Meadowbrook – Kim Mach, Emma Henke, Stephanie Bell
All fourth grade students will benefit from these new supplemental reading materials in a wide variety of interesting topics and subject areas, both fiction and non-fiction. The engaging short stories address a wide range of student needs to improve comprehension skills for all, and to increase reading confidence. Read more.
Robotics Building Leadership – $1,094 – Gatewood – Mark French
Principal Mark French has found a unique way to encourage leadership, responsibility, and conflict resolution by engaging his students’ interest in robots. This grant allows him the ability to reach students far deeper than a traditional ‘visit to the principal’s office’. Read more.
Yearbook Re-imagined – $1,710 – North Junior High – Carleen Matts, Jennifer Legatt, Angela Brueske
This grant upgrades the North Junior High yearbook equipment, including cameras (personal equipment is not permitted in school) and software with ‘tagging technology’ to help ensure that all students are found in the book multiple times. Students are eager to share the interesting stories of their community of diverse learners and staff members, and this book will tell their tale. Read more.