Third annual awards announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2010 – The Board of Directors of the Tantasqua Education Foundation is pleased to announce that Ted. has approved funding its third annual round of awards to local teachers for six grants totaling $11,750.
Kate Alexander (Ted.), Dan Durgin - Superintendent, Colleen Bonja (Ted.) Chris Tieri (Ted.), Erin Parker, Alesia Peck, Debra Quinn, Steve Tieri, Time Dodd, Lisa Lamothe, Liz DeLuca Matt Guertin, Pete Connly (Ted.), Ellen Canavan, and Vanessa Sullivan.
Teachers from the Brimfield, Brookfield, Holland, Sturbridge and Wales elementary schools as well as the Tantasqua Junior and Senior High Schools are eligible, and final awards were made through a competitive grant application process. These grants are for teacher-initiated projects designed to encourage students to pursue interests and to excel through innovative educational activities that go beyond those that would typically be funded by the district.
The Ted. Grants Review Committee consisted of members of the Ted. Board of Directors, educators not affiliated with the Tantasqua or Union 61 school districts, and community members. In order to ensure impartiality, the Review Committee reads the applications with the teachers’ names and schools removed.
The recipients for 2010 – 2011 include Alesia Peck and Debra Quinn from Burgess Elementary School in Sturbridge for “Traveling through the USA in Song,” a project in which a musician will visit the school five times during the year to teach the students history and American heritage of different regions of the United States. The students will also be able to produce CDs of their own original compositions. Peck and Quinn were also awarded another grant along with Erin Parker to launch “News Network,” a program that will introduce elementary students to broadcasting activities, using equipment such as microphones, green screens and backdrops, as well as using recorded interviews. Also from Burgess is Vanessa Sullivan who has been awarded a grant for “A Little Piece of Land” that will purchase the book One Small Square Back Yard, and will provide nature journals, gardening equipment and microscopes for third graders to study and record their findings about their own designated area of land over the course of the year.
At Holland Elementary School, the Grant recipient is Tim Dodd for “Green Team: An Environmental Application” which will establish a sustainable education program for school-wide learning, using materials such as bug jugs, gardening supplies, rain gauges and science kits.
From Tantasqua Junior High School, the grant recipients are Lisa Lamothe (Librarian), Ellen Canavan (Health), Kristen Daley (Science), and Matt Guertin (Tech Ed.), for “Hydroponic Herb,” an interdisciplinary project that allows for the creation of a hydroponic herb garden built with aquariums and wooden frames and which teaches students in the areas of science, health, research and technology. From from Tantasqua High School, Steve Tieri was awarded a grant for “Video Webcasting and Live Streaming” for the purchase of equipment which will allow for students to learn how to capture and upload live streaming video of school events via the internet. As a result of this project, anyone with internet access can watch many new school activities “on demand.”
The Tantasqua Education Foundation is a community-sponsored, independent, non-profit organization dedicated to providing financial resources to support projects and programs that encourage students to develop their talents, become lifelong learners, and pursue excellence. In the last three years, it has given nearly $50,000 in direct grants. For more information, see www.TedFound.org.