LASF: Grants / School Year 2006-07

About LASF: Grant Program

2006 - 2007 Grant Awards

1. Reading Intervention Program - $2,588

Teacher: Dana Chohlis, Burton Valley Elementary, Assistant Principal

This grant will purchase three steps of “Soar to Success” reading books, Houghton Mifflin’s intervention program, for grades three through five. The books will be used in an extra-curricular program where students will learn strategies to help them with their comprehension level in the classroom.

2. Leveled Library - $1,441

Teacher: Dana Chohis, Burton Valley Elementary, Assistant Principal

This grant will purchase books that are categorized into various levels. Students will choose books that are at their learning level to help build confidence, decoding skills, fluency and comprehension. The books will be housed in the Learning Center where the Instructional Support teachers will have daily access to help build reading levels of the students they serve.

3. Mentor For the Garden Classroom - $3,900

Teacher: Mallory Pierce, Burton Valley Elementary, science

A 2005-2006 grant provided for a garden manager to plan, construct, plant, tend, and maintain the garden and coordinate curriculum with teachers, with amazing results. Burton now has a Garden Classroom, a valuable educational resource. This grant will fund a garden manager for the 2006-2007 school year, six hours per week for 26 weeks.

4. Electrical Circuits - $1,040

Teachers: Marilyn Metzler, Jan Broad, Cheri Facer, and Allison Blair, Happy Valley Elementary, 1st Grade

During a visit from Spectrum of Science, each first grade class will make a closed electrical circuit. Students will learn about electricity by practicing the scientific process and complete their experience with a successful scientific project.

5. Technology in the Music Classroom - $6,973

Teachers: Carol Kerr, Rachael Klier, Victoria Ghulam, and Susan Comber, Lafayette School District, choral music teachers

This grant will provide the choral music teachers at the four elementary schools the technology to create and share music in new ways. The new technology will interface with the current MIDI keyboard. It will enhance time management and effectiveness and better prepare elementary students for involvement with the performing arts program at Staley Middle School.

6. Counting Steps - $678

Teacher: Nancy Beliveau, Lafayette Elementary, 4th Grade

This project will combine math, physical education, language arts and science by using pedometers to measure their steps during the school day. Among other lessons, students will learn about fitness concepts and self responsibility, summary and report of data, measurement and estimation, and fractions and geometry.

7. Outdoor Classroom - $1,900

Teacher: Jonathan Winter, Lafayette Elementary, science

This grant will provide for the creation of a garden at Lafayette School. Students will explore the fields of science, botany, zoology, entomology, ecology, and geology. The curriculum will be developed for use of the site. In addition, there is potential for the garden to be used for art, social studies, and language arts lessons.

8. Leap Frog Project - $983

Teacher: Helen Hirsch, Springhill Elementary, 2nd Grade

This grant will provide for the expansion of existing Leap Frog technology into an additional classroom. The program is designed to engage students in learning and mastering reading and language arts and mathematics while addressing the differentiated needs of each student.

9. Differentiating the LeapTrak® - $200

Teacher: Christina Churchill, Springhill Elementary, 2nd Grade

This grant will purchase additional materials for highly successful LeapTrack® Assessment and Instruction System. The additional materials will provide high interest resources for those students who have exceeded the fifth grade standards and benchmarks. LeapTrack® serves the differentiated needs for students in first through fifth grades in the areas of language arts and math.

10. Sixth Grade Core Literacy Program - $4,242

Teacher: Iris Schultz, Stanley Middle School, 6th Grade Core

This grant will provide materials necessary to continue the structure of flexible, differentiated reading groups. Students work in groups that address their skill levels, from basic to advanced, while teachers reinforce skills necessary to improve reading skills on various levels. The materials used in this program will also be shared with the reading intervention program.

11. DNA Extraction - $1,000

Teacher: Charlette Plinneke, Stanley Middle School, science

This grant will purchase materials needed for a DNA Extraction lab. The permanent equipment will be shared by all the seventh grade teachers. The DNA Exraction lab meets California Science Content Standards for sections of Cell Biology and Genetics.

12. Differentiated Vistual and Auditory Instruction Through Use of LCD Projection and Sound System - $1,000

Teachers: Lauchin Divine, Spanish and French, and Claudia Windfuhr, French and German, Stanley Middle School

This grant will purchase an LCD projector and sound system that enlarges all video and computer images so that they can be used for more detailed whole class instruction. The system gives support to visual learners by enhancing subtitles and computer screen images for correct writing and grammar activities, and supports auditory learners by allowing them to hear language subtleties.

13. Bringing AP Bio into the Digital Age - $985

Teacher: Jay Chugh, Acalanes High School, biotech and AP biology

This grant enables the purchase of a colorimeter for use in the photosynthesis lab sections of AP biology. Photosynthesis is a fundamental biological process, but is often difficult for students to understand and grasp. This project aims to improve student engagement and understanding of this topic by using plant pigments, a computer, and a colorimeter (to detect rate of photosynthesis over time).