News
May 15, 2017Schenectady Teachers Receive Grants
The Board of Directors of the Schenectady City School District Educational Foundation is proud to share the good news about its grant recipients in 2016- 2017. The SCSDEF mission is to help teachers help students. Because of the generosity of individuals and businesses in the community and Schenectady City School District staff we were able to give out a record amount of money and a record number of grants. The SCSDEF awarded grants to 49 applicants in 15 schools for a total of $35,610.97. A review of the grants reveals the dedication and creativity of the teachers and provides an overview of significant trends in the Schenectady City School District.
Girls in Space was the largest grant ($5,000) ever given by the SCSDEF. A team of teachers from Central Park, Mont Pleasant and Oneida, led by Michael Sheridan, worked with the staff at the Museum of Innovation and Science to create a program which ran for three Saturdays. The purpose of the program was to encourage sixth grade girls to explore science and math. They engaged in a mission to explore a comet approaching Earth. The girls watched a Planetarium show, toured the museum and learned about careers through the Living House activity. They tinkered with engineering in the EXNET Exhibition. In Tinkering Garage Explore they worked on 3 D printing, created a piano out of bananas, etc. The girls loved it.
There were several grants designed to modify classroom space and furniture to help students be able to move in their seats to increase their focus on their school work. For example Jessica Izzo purchased wobble chairs. Studies show that students need to move and actually focus better when their bodies are allowed motion rather than just sitting still all of the time. The chairs allow them to move and fidget without disturbing their fellow students.
Support for the arts has been a major theme of the foundation from the beginning. In addition to the many grants for music and literature, this year there was a grant for the dance program. Lindsay Redick purchased ballet barres for use in the Intro To Dance classes as well as the Ballet and Jazz dance classes. The ballet barres support stability and balance for beginning dancers and are integral in helping with a firm grounding in technique. Over 220 students were able to use them at the high school.
About 21% of the grants went to support literacy and 20% were devoted to STEM learning activities. The Fine Arts benefitted from about 18% of the grants. There was a great deal of interest in Special Needs students (11%) and good citizen ship in the classroom and the schools (13%). About 20% of grants in these areas were devoted to field trip experiences. Grants were also awarded for Physical Education, playground equipment, a production studio for videos and podcasts, etc. For a complete list and descriptions of this year’s grants click on All Grant Recipients link.
