GRANTS FUNDED AT DAVIS SCHOOL
Davis School Science Curriculum Coordinator Kevin Smaldone was awarded a $900 grant for a weather station for all of the Kindergarten classrooms. This grant includes rain gauges, a 5’ windsock and frame, six wireless remote monitoring weather stations, and two jumbo thermometers.As part of the new Kindergarten science curriculum, students will be observing and recording the weather each day, looking for patterns, and drawing conclusions. By establishing an analog weather station as well as a digital version, we can empower classrooms to collect the data from their own instruments in their own environment.
Second grade teachers Alli Lua and Karen Shamon, and special educator Laura Albonesi, were awarded a $1,500 grant for a Sensory Path to be installed in the hallway at Davis School. The path creates a space for students to have a structured movement break if needed during the course of the school day. This creative addition to Davis School will provide all students the opportunity to access tools that will help them be more focused and available for learning.Literacy Specialist Christina Avis and ESL Teacher Lisa Bourgeois were awarded a $1,500 grant to create a child-centered, inclusive learning and socializing space where children feel welcome. This grant provides for materials used to support a diverse literature base in place at Davis school while helping to enhance the opportunities for students to have a window into the various cultures and abilities of their peers, as well as to shine a mirror onto their own. Through this literature, but also through thoughtful crafts, games, and newly organized learning space, this program will allow for the students to creatively access ‘sliding doors’ into the experience of others in a more welcome and inclusionary classroom environment. 
GRANTS FUNDED AT LANE SCHOOL
Lane School counselor Jessica Smith, speech and language pathologist Nadia Trant, and occupational therapist Elizabeth Larrabee were awarded a $4,500 grant to bring Brain Power Wellness to Lane School. This grant will provide 12 Lane School educators a full-day training session to give them tools to promote focus, mindfulness and emotional wellness for students. A facilitator will also provide three classroom visits per teacher to model activities in the classroom.
Lane School art teacher Hailey Yerova was awarded a $3,000 grant for six iPads, cases, an Apple pencil, and a charging cart for dedicated use in the art room. The iPads will further the students’ independence as learners and help document student artwork throughout the year. Students will also use the iPads for a new stop motion animation unit.Third grade teacher Kathryn O’Brien was awarded a $500 grant for ready-made, project-based activities to support the current math curriculum. These materials will help engage students and differentiate the curriculum to meet the needs of all students. This grant will provide over one hundred hands-on, cross-curricular activities from Teachers Pay Teachers, an online marketplace for original educational materials created by teachers. The materials will be shared with all third grade teachers.
GRANTS FUNDED AT JOHN GLENN MIDDLE SCHOOL
JGMS Librarian Lynda McGraw was awarded a $3,200 grant to bring author Gary Schmidt to the middle school. The two-time Newbery Honor winner will speak to Grade 7 students in January, after they finish reading his novel Wednesday Wars. Mr. Schmidt will speak about his writing process, what he wants the students to learn from his novel, and share how literature acts as a window and mirror into their lives.
Grade 8 teacher Kelsey Little was awarded a $350 grant for a classroom set of headphones for use in her English classes. The headphones, which include microphones, will be used for students to listen to each other reading their written work, verbalize opinions, and ask and respond to each others’ questions. They will also be used for listening to audiobooks, helping to engage struggling readers. This creative approach to increasing access to literature for 8th grade students falls directly in line with district goals to improve literacy throughout the school system.Lauren Noferi was awarded a $400 grant for a Wonderstructs Kit for the JGMS Girls’ STEM Club. The kit includes materials to design and build a rolling ball sculpture involving motors. The club plans to display the finished sculpture on the windows of the JGMS library to be viewed from the courtyard and library.
GRANTS FUNDED AT BEDFORD HIGH SCHOOL
Academic Achievement Center teacher Zuzka Blasi was awarded a $450 grant to pilot equipment intended to improve the quality of lighting in an AAC classroom. The plan includes full spectrum lamps and panel diffusers to cover the fluorescent light fixtures in the classroom. Studies show that more natural lighting such as this, designed to mimic sunlight, can help to improve mental health and academic performance in high school students.
BHS Library Media Specialist Christy Walker Magoon was awarded a $1,800 grant for equipment to extend the capabilities of the growing BHS Library Fab Lab. The grant will provide a crafting station to create glass and jewelry projects and a clamshell heat press to use in conjunction with the existing vinyl-cutting machine. These creative pieces of equipment will be innovative additions to the high school maker space, affording BHS students the opportunity to create a limitless number of projects as they employ their collaborative and problem-solving skills in this highly engaging and hands-on space.
BHS Science teachers Sarah Leshay and John O’Connor, and STEP teachers Victoria Breslin and Cia Dill, were awarded a $2,200 grant for twelve Root robots for use with students enrolled in the STEP program as well as those enrolled in the Robotics 2/3 elective at BHS. These students will design lessons and opportunities to teach coding to younger students at Lane and JGMS, allowing them to take on a leadership and peer mentor role. Root is a small mobile robot designed to teach logic and coding skills. It can draw, play music, light up, and drive on whiteboards with the help of magnets.ESL and Reading teacher Matthew Brennan and Reading teacher Deb Murphy were awarded a $600 grant to develop an online magazine forum for ESL, reading, and foreign language students. Students will publish authentic and engaging stories about their lives in English or other languages. These stories can take the form of memoir, biography, book reviews, artwork, and creative texts as well as podcasts, iMovies, and multimedia stories.
Davis school first grade teacher Kristie Kimball-Dorey was awarded a $550 grant for materials to create permanent sidewalk games on the Davis School playground using a night-sky and space theme. This grant aims to unite the community, social/emotional goals, and the Grade 1 science curriculum.
On behalf of the first grade teaching team, Deb Davies was awarded a $375 grant for thermometers to enrich the science curriculum in relation to weather observations, implications, and patterns. Each first grade classroom will receive a 30-inch tall thermometer that measures temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. In addition, two large thermometers will be placed in easily accessible spaces for all who visit Davis School.
Second grade teachers Kim Marino and Pat Flaherty-Dawson were awarded a $550 grant for manipulatives to enhance their math curriculum. The materials, Cuisenaire rods, Rekenrak 100 beads, and visual cluster number cards, will help students develop number sense, visualize numbers, and apply their knowledge to higher level math problems.
BHS Science teacher Beth Billouin was awarded a $170 grant for curriculum materials for interactive notebooks for honors chemistry and honors biology classes. Interactive notebooks help students to organize and synthesize information with creative, interactive, and easily personalized activities. The notebooks accommodate multiple learning styles at one time, both in and out of the classroom, and will help students build a portfolio to show academic growth over the course of the year.
BHS Business teacher Justine Flora was awarded a $2,600 grant for a Hotronix heat press package to enable Marketing, Introduction to Business, and DECA club members to design and print custom apparel. This machine, which transfers designs onto fabric and other materials, will allow students to have hands-on experience in all that running a small business entails.
Grade 8 Science teachers Charlie Puopolo and Heidi Scaltreto were awarded a $1,300 grant for a weather station with two monitors, one for each classroom. Students will engage in authentic and relevant opportunities that allow them to collect data, recognize trends, and make predictions about the weather.
JGMS Adjustment Counselor Lisa Butterfield, Special Education teacher John Glynn, and teaching assistants Kimberly Limoli, Virginia Stepper, and Katherine Connell were awarded a $850 grant for a Sensory Spot within the SAIL classroom. This will be a safe space for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other related disabilities to help them self-regulate. Some of the materials funded include 2 crash pads, 2 noise-reduction ear muffs, a weighted shoulder wrap, calming sand panel, and a cylinder pillow with vibrations.
PROBLEM-SOLVING WHEELS 
Bedford Education Foundation 