The Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County has awarded more than $6,000 in mini grants to fifteen local school teachers through its Grants 4Teachers program. The Grants 4 Teachers Fund provides grants to teachers in the Anne Arundel County Public School System for special projects or the tools needed in their classrooms to create the best learning experience possible for our students. Grants are awarded from a minimum of $100 to a maximum of $500.
Schools include: Brooklyn Park Middle, Glen Burnie High, Frank Hebron Harman Elementary, Northeast High, and the Community Home Based School, all in North County; Central Special in Edgewater in the Central district; Bates Middle, Hillsmere Elementary, Severna Park High, Tyler Heights Elementary, and South River High, all in Anne Arundel South; and Maryland City Elementary, Monarch Global Academy, Old Mill Middle and Millersville Middle in West County.
Since the grant program’s inception in 2009, more than $62,000 has been awarded to local schools. These are the projects selected from the total of 36 applications received this year and are a testament to the care and creativity our teachers bring to our county’s students:
Bates Middle
Teacher: Max Vanderbeek
Real Drumline marching percussion equipment including four bass drums graduated in size, two multi toms and two snare drums all with shoulder harnesses, to allow band and percussion students to learn basic marching maneuvers outdoors. This is also a recruiting tool for the high school band and will provide entertainment for school functions and sports events.
Brooklyn Park Middle
Teacher: Angie Robinson
Two additional Google Chrome books add to the five available for the 120 students in the AVID program. AVID helps students possess the skills and tools they often need to be the first in their family to go to college. Google Chrome books let students research and discuss articles and videos on study skills, vocabulary and context clues.
Central Special School
Teacher: Bethany Tinsley
These students with severe, multiple disabilities are all wheelchair users who have visual impairments and limited use of their hands. The funded equipment, such as wheelchair mounts, head switches, tactile overlays, and special apps, allow these students to access technology such as iPads.
Community Home Based School
Teacher: Amy Furlow
A lending library of materials, including developmentally appropriate toys, encourages parent participation in their child’s education. Given the necessary skills, training and materials, parents can continue to be involved into the day and evening.
Glen Burnie High School
Teacher: Allison Ellis
A powerful digital camera with tripod helps AVID students with digital media communications. Students will create a record of their field trips, guest speakers, class activities, and other educational events to create a portfolio of learning experiences throughout the school year. The information will also be used in a monthly newsletter shared with the school and community and in periodic webcasts.
Frank Hebron Harman Elementary
Teacher: Mary Potter
This Green School will introduce more plants into the classrooms. Living walls allow students to learn about plant life, demonstrate responsibility for other living things, and allow a natural increase in air quality.
Hillsmere Elementary
Teacher: Sheila Norris
Materials used to support children with challenging behaviors such as poor fine motor skills, difficulty sitting during classroom lessons, and difficulty focusing, the materials include items such as magic sea squeezers, phantom thinking putty, self calming cards and fit ball discs.
Maryland City Elementary
Teacher: Jennifer Reynolds
Funds to bring the Echoes of Nature, a Walk in the Rainforest Show to the school. This allows pre-K students, many with limited experience, to see firsthand a variety of animals they would encounter in a rainforest. This gives them background knowledge for the Language Arts unit: From Jungle to Desert.
Tyler Heights Elementary School
Teacher: Rebecca Redmond
Adding a trumpet to Tyler Heights’ inventory of band instruments helps accommodate the number of students interesting in joining band. This has doubled in the past year.
Millersville Elementary School
Teacher: Rebecca Redmond
Receive several method books and percussion instruments such as drumsticks, sets of bells, and a drum pad to be loaned to students who cannot afford to rent their own instruments.
Monarch Global Academy
Teacher: Terry Reese
The purchase of two violins will allow students, who can’t otherwise afford an instrument, to join the orchestra program. The school, only open since August 2014, is building an inventory of instruments from scratch.
Northeast High School
Teacher: Jacqueline Dunn
Materials to allow real world, hands-on experience in an anatomy lab for students in the Human Performance, Human Physiology, and Sports Medicine classes. This includes: exploring the muscular and organ anatomy of cadavers; learning about surgical skills training and the roles of researchers and medical educators; and how professionals use this learning lab to improve orthopedic surgical techniques, Alzheimer’s research, dentistry, and paramedic training.
Old Mill Middle School
Teacher: Patricia Moran
A working, up-to-date microscope with a computer attachment. Through the computer, this can be projected onto a smart board for the whole class to see. Students learn to properly investigate samples and discuss what they are seeing as a class.
Severna Park High School
Teacher: Marianne Fitzgerald
Support for an afterschool coding club with the purchase of several Raspberry Pi Model Bs. This will introduce coding particularly to young women. Currently only 18% of computer science (CS) college graduates are women and there’s a projection for a huge number of CS jobs in the future. Once the students master Raspberry Pi, they will move on to other advanced coding projects.
South River High School
Teacher: Wesley Baker
Groups of students in the four Student Leadership classes will brainstorm ways to promote their Harvest for the Hungry campaign. This raises money and collects canned food for the Anne Arundel County Food Bank through “Canstruction” sculptures created from cans. Students professionally present their designs to the class who votes for the best idea. The winning sculpture is then built in the main lobby of the school.
For more information about Grants4Teachers and the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel Count, please visit www.cfaac.org or call 410-280-1102.
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