SERF grants over $33,000 to the K-8 and L-S school districts

The Sudbury Education Resource Fund (SERF) has just completed the first half of their granting cycle for the 2007-2008 school year and will award over $33,000 in grants to the K-8 and L-S school districts. This granting cycle will enhance the curriculum in the areas of Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, Art, Music and Health and Fitness.

In Language Arts, Reyne Booth and Kathy Zito will create new activity packets that will contain a variety of phonic, comprehension and writing tasks for use with specific leveled reading titles; these activity books will be used across all 1st grades throughout the district. Joshua Baumer will purchase a collection of videos and DVDs that contain lessons for teachers at Haynes to learn the Units of Study for Primary Writing: A Yearlong Curriculum by Lucy Calkins. Ellen Donahue and Cecilia Nunez-O’Doherty will purchase two iPods to improve English fluency, listening skills, vocabulary expansion and reading comprehension at Loring. Barbara Wasley will purchase literacy games for the 2nd grade classrooms at Haynes. Kathy Zito and Sandy Bell will develop writing guides to enhance the teaching of creative writing techniques for each grade level for grades 3,4 and 5 at Nixon. L-S teacher Bill Ray will purchase a scanner to preserve literature online. In support of the guided reading program at two schools, teachers will be using SERF grant money to supplement existing reading tools and literature at their schools: Kathleen Carney will purchase books and CD’s for use in the literacy center at Noyes; Daria Hayes, at Nixon, will purchase the complete package of the Rigby PM Silver Story Book Collection.

The Social Studies curriculum will be enhanced by the following grants: Rebecca Howard will purchase 50 textbooks and audio books of the book Massachusetts Our Home to supplement the 3rd grade curriculum at Loring. Two sixth grade science teachers will create a simulated fossil hunt; the dig will support learning in evolution, life science, anatomy, history of early civilizations and geology for all sixth grade classes. L-S teacher Sandy Crawford’s grant will enhance the students’ understanding of Chinese Culture with the teaching of Tai Chi; the students will be exposed to the traditional Chinese martial Arts, Daoism, and traditional Chinese ideas about health and fitness.

Two new grants will benefit the math and science curriculum across the Sudbury district. Joy Cooke will purchase Project M3 Mentoring Mathematical Minds) materials for grades 3, 4 and 5; these materials will be incorporated into the Math Challenge Centers supported by SERF last year. In science, grant money will be used to purchase two site licenses to Exemplars, an on-line community of teachers who compile best practices in science assessment; it also includes Exemplars, Best of Science K-8 CD that contains 220 science tasks to be used for assessment, which Karen McCarthy will pilot.

The music curriculum will be expanded with the addition of keyboards, CDs and videos. Michael Gorgone will purchase 10 Yamaha YPG225 Portable Grand Keyboards and related accessories to be used by all grades at the Noyes elementary school. At L-S, Ruth Hartt plans to build a library of choral CDs and videos to be used in the classroom for listening exercises and to stimulate class discussion.

A variety of grants will enhance the art curriculum. Jeanne Goldner will purchase 75 fine art posters to create a library of art posters to introduce students to many different styles of art; students in grades 1 -5 have been challenged to learn to recognize 54 works of art by the end of the school year at Loring. Danielle Weisse’s grant, with the partial assistance of SERF funds, will sponsor a traveling professional theater company to perform Cyrano at L-S. Ron Darzan will purchase seasonal items for use in setting up still life arrangements at Curtis. L-S teacher Sandy Crawford will enhance the students’ understanding of India through the lens of Bollywood by hosting L-S graduate Dave Kahn for a lecture and discussion of his filming experience while in India.

In the area of professional development, reading tutors from each elementary school will be sent to a workshop for staff development in teaching reading comprehension. Debbie Dressler will send two representatives to the American Speech Language and Hearing Association Conference who will then share their knowledge about intervention for Unintelligible Speech. Loring teachers, Joseph Dinmore and Mary Wuest, will attend a seminar to learn how to develop Literacy Centers. SERF will fund Shannon Famigletti and Katie Carpenter’s at Loring for time spent developing curriculum and communicating with students about their trip to China. SERF will also assist in funding L-S teachers Alison Cutler and Katie Worth toward attending a literature seminar in India

The Sudbury Education Resource Fund, Inc. (SERF) is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization dedicated to enriching, enhancing and supporting Sudbury’s public schools, from kindergarten through high school. Since its establishment in 1991, SERF has played a critical role by providing supplementary grants to the schools, augmenting classroom learning opportunities, expanding the curriculum and promoting professional development. To learn more about SERF and how you can get involved, please the website at www.serf.sudburyconnection.com.