Innovator of the Year 2016-2017
Emily Freeman, Schroeder Elementary
Connected Classrooms, Engaged Learners Emily Freeman
“Connected Classrooms, Engaged Students” will provide webcams for Schroeder teachers to participate in these kinds of global learning opportunities. We will be able to purchase seven top quality webcams that will be available for all Schroeder teachers to use. Our two Technology Chairs will be helping teachers get comfortable with the new devices and develop capacity for innovative teaching through co-planning and co-teaching opportunities for all staff members who are interested. There are several global projects that already exist that are open for teachers to participate in. These include the Global Read Aloud (literature), Same Day In March (weather and data collection), and Mystery Skype(geography).
“Connected Classrooms, Engaged Students” will provide webcams for Schroeder teachers to participate in these kinds of global learning opportunities. We will be able to purchase seven top quality webcams that will be available for all Schroeder teachers to use. Our two Technology Chairs will be helping teachers get comfortable with the new devices and develop capacity for innovative teaching through co-planning and co-teaching opportunities for all staff members who are interested. There are several global projects that already exist that are open for teachers to participate in. These include the Global Read Aloud (literature), Same Day In March (weather and data collection), and Mystery Skype(geography).
Support Staff Person of the Year 2016-2017
Erin Pendergast, Support Staff Person of the Year
Photos courtesy of Rodney Curtis from School Life Troy
2016-2017 Grant Recipients
High School Funded Grants
Creative Spaces 2.0 Adam Burns
This project builds on last year's Creative Spaces grant that developed a section of the TV studio to look more like the 21st century workplaces. Using the world-class BBC Broadcasting House as a model we created in our own studio an open, transparent workspace set up to encourage collaboration and creativity. The class is moving to a more digital experience. We have abandoned our traditional broadcasting method of live daily news and focus instead on prerecording the news for daily.
Sawstop Tim Heath
Students in the woodshop classes at Athens will be able to use a safe, modern table saw for all types of cuts and specialty attachments for advanced work such as cabinetry and furniture making. The blade on the saw carries a small electrical signal that changes when skin contacts the blade and then activates a safety system. An aluminum brake stops the blade at less than 5 milliseconds, drives the blade below the table, and shuts off the motor removing risk of contact.
21st Century Testing Accommodations Center Kerry Collins, Robin Macleish
Athens High School will have a 21st century Academic Support Center (ASC) for our Special Education students through the use of assistive technology via iPad applications. This center will provide our students with (Individual Educational Plans) IEPs and 504s the opportunity to access the General Education curriculum more appropriately according to the accommodations listed on the students’ plans. The goal for the ASC to emulate the accommodations centers of local colleges such as OCC and four-year universities such as Grand Valley State. To help our ASC reach its full potential, the need is to include more assistive technology to support our students’ needs and encourage independence.
Robotics Club STEM Outreach Using Hololens John Tu
The Troy and Athens HS Robotics Team had provided STEM (science, technology, engineering and technology) outreach to students K-12 in the past 2 years using a 3D printer and 3D scanner funded by previous TFEE grants. To expand our technology further, we plan to purchase a Microsoft Hololens to demonstrate robotics and computer applications in augmented reality by projecting holographic images onto our surrounding environment. This is a technology showcase designed to attract K-12 students into STEM activities. The outreach locations includes Troy middle and elementary schools, libraries, CARE CO., and robotics outreach programs in SE Michigan.
Learners Engaged Sharon Douglas-Chong
Troy High School will have a classroom space that respects different learners and will support academic success. The design is based on work space design in companies such as Apple and Amazon Students who have ADHD have a very hard time focusing while sitting in a desk, so a standing desk option will be available. Those who work well in relaxed groups find the traditional classroom inhibits an atmosphere of casual respect. The new space will have a more appropriate group work area.
Modeling and Mysteries in Biology Rebecca Brewer
The objective of "Modeling and Mysteries in Biology" is to help students uncover the "biochemistry of life" as they construct hands-on models of water, lipids, nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates, etc. Molecular-level molecules are often difficult for students to conceptualize since we cannot see atoms with the naked eye. However, by physically interacting with manipulatives, students will be able to hold and see firsthand representations of the atoms that comprise these molecules from a 3-dimensional perspective. To solidify the atomic understanding, we will also perform labs directly connected to the models they are building.
Composer Collaboration Brian P. Nutting, Jeffery Krum
The Troy Colt Bands have a long-standing relationship with renowned band composer, John Mackey. HIs newest composition, "Liminal" (2016), commissioned by the United States Air Force Band for their 75th Anniversary World premiere June 11, 2016, is now available for rental only. Students learned first hand the composer's inspiration for writing the piece, his intent for every stylistic detail and words of encouragement as "an exceptional band in the country." In order to perform the piece we are required to rent the individual parts. We are seeking the support of the Troy Foundation to realize our goal of renting, learning and performing this master composition.
Next Generation Science Standards Conversion Amanda Chin
The State of Michigan has adopted new science standards entitled The Next Generation Science Standards. The Troy School District has embraced the new standards this year and has asked science teachers to teach using the new standards. Funds requested will provide materials to incorporate the 8 Scientific Practices that all science students should be able to demonstrate into the classroom. They are: Asking questions; Developing and using models; Designing and carrying out experiments; Analyzing and interpreting data; Using mathematics and computational thinking; Constructing explanations; Engaging in argument from evidence; Obtaining, evaluating and communicating evidence. Materials requested include Equipment, Manipulatives; Technology Upgrades and Supplies and Visual Aids.
Ozobots for Makerspace Toni Issac
The Troy High School Media Center has a Makerspace. It currently is equipped with a green screen, 3D printer, 3D pen, a Lego Wall, MakeyMakey, Bloxels and magnetic Scrabble board. We will add Ozobots. Ozobots are small, smart toy robots that empower gamers and learners to code, play, create and connect the physical and digital worlds. They can be used by individuals or groups for coding, gaming, and circuit design.
Skull Evolution Renee Boogren
Using Next Generation Science Exemplar PD System recommended and research-based activities a revised Evolution Unit will be designed and implemented. The unit entitled Hominid Cranium Comparison or “Skulls Lab” requires materials for this lab. The Hominid Skull set which is a set of seven primate skulls will be acquired. Students will be engaged as they look for patterns, construct explanations, design solutions and obtain evidence.
Small Ensembles Nicole Mayes, Andrew Shankles
Students in the upper grade level ensembles at the IA East will participate in a small ensemble activity. Students will divide themselves into smaller groups, usually 2-5 students per group. They will choose a new piece of music that they have never seen before, and spend about 4-6 weeks preparing their music with their groups. The music teacher is available for questions, but is not doing the actual teaching. Once the groups are ready, they will perform for the entire class. Some students do choose to take this to the MSBOA (Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association) Solo & Ensemble Festival, performing for a judge. Students learn to perform their own part alone, take responsibility for making their own musical decisions, learn to take cues from each other rather than the conductor/teacher and schedule practices after the school day.
Forensics Shikah Lakhani
Students participating in this after school club will decrease the stage fright, learn different forms and methods of public speaking, compete for recognition in public speaking and give appropriate performances in situations that require them to speak in public. They will explore various forms of speaking from formal to dramatic environments. Within each of these categories there are subcategories that can be labeled Individual "events". The participants will sign up for an Individual 'event' and work extensively on that event until the final competition in April. In addition to these Individual events there are group events, such as, Debate, Theater and Film Festival.
Cybersecurity Club Registration Emily Speicher
The new Cybersecurities Club will participate in the CyberPatriot Program, including competitions. The afterschool, volunteer sponsored club will engage students in learning about careers in cybersecurity and other (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, help students understand the importance of cybersecurity, introduce students to cybersecurity principles and equip students to better protect themselves on the Internet.
Shell Eco Marathon Jeffrey Watson
To promote careers in engineering, IA East students will design and manufacture a prototype fuelefficient vehicle that is able to outperform all other vehicles in fuel category (diesel). Our team will compete in the Shell Eco Marathon Americas 2017, an international competition created to allow high schools and colleges to design and build the most fuel-efficient car possible. The competition is devoted to promoting STEM requirements.
This project builds on last year's Creative Spaces grant that developed a section of the TV studio to look more like the 21st century workplaces. Using the world-class BBC Broadcasting House as a model we created in our own studio an open, transparent workspace set up to encourage collaboration and creativity. The class is moving to a more digital experience. We have abandoned our traditional broadcasting method of live daily news and focus instead on prerecording the news for daily.
Sawstop Tim Heath
Students in the woodshop classes at Athens will be able to use a safe, modern table saw for all types of cuts and specialty attachments for advanced work such as cabinetry and furniture making. The blade on the saw carries a small electrical signal that changes when skin contacts the blade and then activates a safety system. An aluminum brake stops the blade at less than 5 milliseconds, drives the blade below the table, and shuts off the motor removing risk of contact.
21st Century Testing Accommodations Center Kerry Collins, Robin Macleish
Athens High School will have a 21st century Academic Support Center (ASC) for our Special Education students through the use of assistive technology via iPad applications. This center will provide our students with (Individual Educational Plans) IEPs and 504s the opportunity to access the General Education curriculum more appropriately according to the accommodations listed on the students’ plans. The goal for the ASC to emulate the accommodations centers of local colleges such as OCC and four-year universities such as Grand Valley State. To help our ASC reach its full potential, the need is to include more assistive technology to support our students’ needs and encourage independence.
Robotics Club STEM Outreach Using Hololens John Tu
The Troy and Athens HS Robotics Team had provided STEM (science, technology, engineering and technology) outreach to students K-12 in the past 2 years using a 3D printer and 3D scanner funded by previous TFEE grants. To expand our technology further, we plan to purchase a Microsoft Hololens to demonstrate robotics and computer applications in augmented reality by projecting holographic images onto our surrounding environment. This is a technology showcase designed to attract K-12 students into STEM activities. The outreach locations includes Troy middle and elementary schools, libraries, CARE CO., and robotics outreach programs in SE Michigan.
Learners Engaged Sharon Douglas-Chong
Troy High School will have a classroom space that respects different learners and will support academic success. The design is based on work space design in companies such as Apple and Amazon Students who have ADHD have a very hard time focusing while sitting in a desk, so a standing desk option will be available. Those who work well in relaxed groups find the traditional classroom inhibits an atmosphere of casual respect. The new space will have a more appropriate group work area.
Modeling and Mysteries in Biology Rebecca Brewer
The objective of "Modeling and Mysteries in Biology" is to help students uncover the "biochemistry of life" as they construct hands-on models of water, lipids, nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates, etc. Molecular-level molecules are often difficult for students to conceptualize since we cannot see atoms with the naked eye. However, by physically interacting with manipulatives, students will be able to hold and see firsthand representations of the atoms that comprise these molecules from a 3-dimensional perspective. To solidify the atomic understanding, we will also perform labs directly connected to the models they are building.
Composer Collaboration Brian P. Nutting, Jeffery Krum
The Troy Colt Bands have a long-standing relationship with renowned band composer, John Mackey. HIs newest composition, "Liminal" (2016), commissioned by the United States Air Force Band for their 75th Anniversary World premiere June 11, 2016, is now available for rental only. Students learned first hand the composer's inspiration for writing the piece, his intent for every stylistic detail and words of encouragement as "an exceptional band in the country." In order to perform the piece we are required to rent the individual parts. We are seeking the support of the Troy Foundation to realize our goal of renting, learning and performing this master composition.
Next Generation Science Standards Conversion Amanda Chin
The State of Michigan has adopted new science standards entitled The Next Generation Science Standards. The Troy School District has embraced the new standards this year and has asked science teachers to teach using the new standards. Funds requested will provide materials to incorporate the 8 Scientific Practices that all science students should be able to demonstrate into the classroom. They are: Asking questions; Developing and using models; Designing and carrying out experiments; Analyzing and interpreting data; Using mathematics and computational thinking; Constructing explanations; Engaging in argument from evidence; Obtaining, evaluating and communicating evidence. Materials requested include Equipment, Manipulatives; Technology Upgrades and Supplies and Visual Aids.
Ozobots for Makerspace Toni Issac
The Troy High School Media Center has a Makerspace. It currently is equipped with a green screen, 3D printer, 3D pen, a Lego Wall, MakeyMakey, Bloxels and magnetic Scrabble board. We will add Ozobots. Ozobots are small, smart toy robots that empower gamers and learners to code, play, create and connect the physical and digital worlds. They can be used by individuals or groups for coding, gaming, and circuit design.
Skull Evolution Renee Boogren
Using Next Generation Science Exemplar PD System recommended and research-based activities a revised Evolution Unit will be designed and implemented. The unit entitled Hominid Cranium Comparison or “Skulls Lab” requires materials for this lab. The Hominid Skull set which is a set of seven primate skulls will be acquired. Students will be engaged as they look for patterns, construct explanations, design solutions and obtain evidence.
Small Ensembles Nicole Mayes, Andrew Shankles
Students in the upper grade level ensembles at the IA East will participate in a small ensemble activity. Students will divide themselves into smaller groups, usually 2-5 students per group. They will choose a new piece of music that they have never seen before, and spend about 4-6 weeks preparing their music with their groups. The music teacher is available for questions, but is not doing the actual teaching. Once the groups are ready, they will perform for the entire class. Some students do choose to take this to the MSBOA (Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association) Solo & Ensemble Festival, performing for a judge. Students learn to perform their own part alone, take responsibility for making their own musical decisions, learn to take cues from each other rather than the conductor/teacher and schedule practices after the school day.
Forensics Shikah Lakhani
Students participating in this after school club will decrease the stage fright, learn different forms and methods of public speaking, compete for recognition in public speaking and give appropriate performances in situations that require them to speak in public. They will explore various forms of speaking from formal to dramatic environments. Within each of these categories there are subcategories that can be labeled Individual "events". The participants will sign up for an Individual 'event' and work extensively on that event until the final competition in April. In addition to these Individual events there are group events, such as, Debate, Theater and Film Festival.
Cybersecurity Club Registration Emily Speicher
The new Cybersecurities Club will participate in the CyberPatriot Program, including competitions. The afterschool, volunteer sponsored club will engage students in learning about careers in cybersecurity and other (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, help students understand the importance of cybersecurity, introduce students to cybersecurity principles and equip students to better protect themselves on the Internet.
Shell Eco Marathon Jeffrey Watson
To promote careers in engineering, IA East students will design and manufacture a prototype fuelefficient vehicle that is able to outperform all other vehicles in fuel category (diesel). Our team will compete in the Shell Eco Marathon Americas 2017, an international competition created to allow high schools and colleges to design and build the most fuel-efficient car possible. The competition is devoted to promoting STEM requirements.
Middle School Funded Grants
Civil War Day Anthony Morse, Michelle Slaverio
All middle school grade 8 students will visit the Troy Historical Museum to hear great speakers and reenactors will show how people lived during the 1860's. The Troy Historical Museum experience will supplement lessons pertaining to the Civil War taught in 8th grade Social Studies.
ONETROY Element Bee Laura Kemp
All 7th grade science students will participate in an Element Bee similar to a Spelling Bee. Students will be shown a chemical symbol and will have to identify the element. Students will remain in the competition until they are not able to answer correctly. The competition will continue until all symbols from the periodic table have been displayed. A tie-breaker will determine the final winner for each class. One student from each class will be invited to participate in the final round to compete against students from each of the four middle schools. Dr. Emil Lozanov from Wayne State University will facilitate a hands-on activity for the finalists.
ONETROY daVinci Awards Laura Kemp
7th grade science students will apply what they have learned in a class to create a video to teach a specific concept in the context of a story. For example, Literary Analysis from 8th grade language arts students, Exercise videos from physical education students, etc. A public ceremony will take place in the evening at Baker Middle School gymnasium to showcase the “Best of Show” videos from each course and grade level. Selected students will host the award ceremony.
Tuck Everlasting Kelsey Witt, Jo Obrien, Stephanie Hyska, Nadia Barbat, Julie Stebbins, Ewa Ostrowski, Amea Taqi
English Language Development middle school teachers are adapting the general education challenging unit for Tuck Everlasting. Students will have support during their at-home reading of Tuck Everlasting by listening to the audio-book version to be used while using the iBook. Students can make notes while they read, highlight key ideas and words, and even look up words directly in the iBook without ever leaving the application. Students will have ready access to this challenging general education text.
FIRST Tech Challenge- Velocity Vortex Michelle Oddo
Eight 7th graders from Baker Middle School, Boulan Park MS, and Smith MS will work together to design, build, program and operate robots to play a floor game in an alliance format called Pixelbotics. The students are guided by several parents and two mentors from Troy High School and Athens High School.
Stability Ball Seating Betsy Kennedy
8th grade Study Skill's students will gain the ability to stay on task and focus which will in turn have a positive effect on their academic achievement through the use of Stability balls instead of desks or chairs. These students have difficulties sustaining attention, impairment of self-regulatory behavior, and hyperactivity. Students with ADHD typically score significantly lower on academic achievement tests and are more likely to suffer disciplinary issues. All of this translates into students with ADHD struggling in school on a daily basis. Research has been done on using Stability balls in lieu of chairs in the classroom for increasing students’ focus, enhancing levels of attention, and in turn improving academic achievement. Teachers have reported that students are more attentive, have higher achievement outcomes, and are better able to concentrate than when seated on stability chairs.
Baker Science Olympiad Janet Herberholz
Baker's Science Olympiad team members prepare throughout the year to compete in 23 different, challenging events. These events are rigorous and demanding on resources. Students with parent coaches meet weekly for 3-5 hours of practice and testing. Baker student scientists take tests in traditional science disciplines and create products to show science concepts. They will design and build bottle rockets that will stay aloft for an extended time. Baker engineers will design bridges to maximize load efficiency.
Corey Jones Shares Message of iam_"me" and iam_my attitude Sarah Clos
The goal of the school Buddy program is to develop a mentoring relationship between 6th grade students and 8th grade students. There are two things that we have always have control over and that is our EFFORT and our ATTITUDE! Through these principles, Corey Jones will educate our students on the importance of always giving your maximum effort on everything that you do and to always carry a positive attitude. The iam_my attitude character assembly also emphasizes to always be yourself and to never let anybody or anything change the way you are.
Breakout EDU Laura Kemp
Baker teachers and students will have more opportunities to conduct Breakouts EDU games by acquiring additions game kits. Breakout EDU is a concept similar to the idea of The Great Escape Room. The Great Escape Room asks participants to work together to solve puzzles to break out of a room. The concept of Breakout EDU is to “break in” to a box. Breakout EDU games teach critical thinking, teamwork, complex problem solving, and can be used in all content areas. Students work in teams to solve puzzles which reveals the combination to several locks that are placed on the box.
First Technical Challenge Bhaskar Marthi, Kalyan Palanisamy
Baker Middle school will start a First Technical Challenge after school program. First Technical Challenge is a technical STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) based program where teams of middle and high school-aged students are challenged to design, build and program a robot to play a floor game against other teams’ creations. The challenge this year is to build a robot using a pre-defined guidelines and program it for an autonomous period of 30 seconds and driver controlled period of 2 minutes to compete against seasoned and rookie teams.
Club Create Kathryn Loc, Lisa Gaglio
Club Create meets every other Wednesday from 3-5 P.M. to provide an opportunity for Project-Based Learning and creativity beyond the walls of the classroom. Initially, students will participate in problem solving activities designed to scaffold their thinking and learning and encourage team-building and positive interactions with peers. The Club will provide a forum, including space, resources, and mentorship for deeper learning opportunities that foster a growth mindset and an appetite for inquiry, particularly in the STEM areas. A natural outcome of encouraging student choice and exploration is the development of divergent thinking skills and increased stamina for risk and failure. Research supports that the PBC approach increases student motivation to learn while supporting the content areas in an authentic way.
Boulan ASD Calming Room Maureen Caldwell
Autistisc Spectrum Disorder (ASD) students are able to take a break during their school day to engage in sensory activities, self-regulate, and interact with their Link peers. The calming room is in need of appropriate sensory materials and games/activities that our students can utilize for behavior organization, calming, and socialization with typical peers. Examples of items include hand fidgets, oral motor chewies, visual items such as motion bubblers, weighted balls, and a ball chair. Also, activities such as magnetic blocks, puzzles, and building sets will be introduced. It is a small space that could be improved to enhance positive behavior support by promoting leisure skills, sensory exploration and socialization. By attending the ASD Calming Room students will be in a "just right state" to resume their learning activities when they return to the classroom.
Taking a Stand in History/ National History Day Michelle Slaviero
Students in eight US History classes will create a Michigan History Day project this year. They will follow the Michigan and National guidelines with the hopes that some student projects will be selected to compete in the district, state, and national levels. More than half a million students across the United States compete in this program annually. It is intended to have a History presentation for the school community. Students will hone their project management, critical thinking, historical reading, problem- solving, research and executive functioning skills to complete a persuasive project in one of five categories: documentary, exhibit, performance, paper or website design.
GPS Show Me The Way Cynthia Shankin
As a part of the sixth-grade social studies curriculum, students learn about different tools of geography. Some of the tools that students work with are maps. Since GPS is intimately related to maps, Handheld GPS Navigators are a natural tool to use for classroom small group geocaching activities. Students will gain a better understanding of how a GPS works and how improvements in technology have changed the way geographers navigate the Earth.
Boulan Park Middle School Volunteer Corps Mary Typinski
7th and 8th grade students in the Effective Teens class volunteer once a week in a Kindergarten and 4th grade classroom at Bemis Elementary School where they provide classroom support and concept reinforcement in small-group and one-on-one settings. Students will wear shirts identifying them as volunteers when at Bemis.
Reading Comprehension--Fast Forward Lisa Jansen
Students in ELA Strategies Classes will select high interest books from a collection for reluctant readers. Once the books are in students' hands, we can use many best practice strategies to motivate the reluctant readers that have the lowest reading comprehension. The students will be taught to annotate the text to increase comprehension and deep thinking in preparation to meet with a book club. The students will also be using the Troy School District supported Visible Thinking strategies to increase compression and make thinking visible. Each student will do a culminating presentation on his/her iPad.
Innovation Incubator Prototypes and Maker Projects Jason Fawcett
Larson Middle School is now offering students the Innovation Incubator elective once per semester. This new project-based elective engages students in the design thinking process as they tackle team challenges such as inventing a new sport, creating the world's best roller coaster, developing a new invention or innovation in the Rebel Tank and creating a self-directed maker project. They will develop projects which will result in having a positive impact on their community. The Innovator Incubator Prototypes and Maker Project will provide funding for tools and materials to help students create prototypes and purchase supplies for maker projects.
Larson Robotics Club Timothy M Shoales
The Larson Robotics Club consists of two First Lego League (FLL) teams and two First Tech Challenge (FTC) teams. Students design, build, and program robots to compete first on a regional level and then possibly on a state level. As part of this activity, students develop mechanical engineering skills, computer programming skills and engage in real-world problem solving. Through teamwork, they will design, build and program robots to accomplish predefined tasks, compete at a regional level, qualify for state level competitions and in the process develop the necessary engineering and programming skills.
Science Olympiad Teams Girija Natarajan, Sachin Prabhu
Teams of 4-6 Smith Middle School students will participate in Science Olympiad events. Science Olympiad is a scientific -academic tournament with 23 events on all aspects of earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology. This after school program will use parents as coaches. Funds will be used for materials for build events, study materials and participation in invitational and practice tournaments.
Smith Recording Studio Christina Chatel
Smith teachers challenge their students to create multimedia projects on their iPads. Daily, students come into the Smith Media Center and ask if they can record videos for their English, Social Studies, Science, and even Math classes. The Smith Media Center has a small room that is briefly used for school announcements. This under-utilized space will be converted to an audio-video recording studio by acquiring a permanent green screen, a portable green screen, an iPad tripod, a camera shutter remote and an iPad compatible microphone. Students will be better able to create professional quality videos by having a recording studio with tools to facilitate their innovative ideas.
Breakout Smith Terri McCormick, Kelly Lerdahl, Duane Losey
Breakout Boxes provide a high level of student engagement through collaborative problem-solving in a game format. A Breakout Box event is a physical, hands-on collaboration of minds to problem-solve and work through a series of clues to solve smaller parts of a puzzle. These smaller parts can be sequential or non-linear, but culminate in the ability to “break in” to a locked box if all of the smaller puzzles are solved correctly. This main and final box is a concrete goal for teams to work towards. Multiple Breakout boxes allow for more classrooms to engage in Breakout games, the building of larger and more complex games and to break down games so that smaller groups of students are able to engage more deeply with the pieces of the game.
Listen As You Read Ewa Ostsrowski
Above grade level readers will be provided leveled literacy instruction using books that are of interest and appropriate in content and language at their reading level. The books feature fiction and nonfiction texts that reinforce skill and vocabulary. Funds will be used to purchase 1 set that includes 6 copies of each title and 25 of each strand for a total of 125 titles.
All middle school grade 8 students will visit the Troy Historical Museum to hear great speakers and reenactors will show how people lived during the 1860's. The Troy Historical Museum experience will supplement lessons pertaining to the Civil War taught in 8th grade Social Studies.
ONETROY Element Bee Laura Kemp
All 7th grade science students will participate in an Element Bee similar to a Spelling Bee. Students will be shown a chemical symbol and will have to identify the element. Students will remain in the competition until they are not able to answer correctly. The competition will continue until all symbols from the periodic table have been displayed. A tie-breaker will determine the final winner for each class. One student from each class will be invited to participate in the final round to compete against students from each of the four middle schools. Dr. Emil Lozanov from Wayne State University will facilitate a hands-on activity for the finalists.
ONETROY daVinci Awards Laura Kemp
7th grade science students will apply what they have learned in a class to create a video to teach a specific concept in the context of a story. For example, Literary Analysis from 8th grade language arts students, Exercise videos from physical education students, etc. A public ceremony will take place in the evening at Baker Middle School gymnasium to showcase the “Best of Show” videos from each course and grade level. Selected students will host the award ceremony.
Tuck Everlasting Kelsey Witt, Jo Obrien, Stephanie Hyska, Nadia Barbat, Julie Stebbins, Ewa Ostrowski, Amea Taqi
English Language Development middle school teachers are adapting the general education challenging unit for Tuck Everlasting. Students will have support during their at-home reading of Tuck Everlasting by listening to the audio-book version to be used while using the iBook. Students can make notes while they read, highlight key ideas and words, and even look up words directly in the iBook without ever leaving the application. Students will have ready access to this challenging general education text.
FIRST Tech Challenge- Velocity Vortex Michelle Oddo
Eight 7th graders from Baker Middle School, Boulan Park MS, and Smith MS will work together to design, build, program and operate robots to play a floor game in an alliance format called Pixelbotics. The students are guided by several parents and two mentors from Troy High School and Athens High School.
Stability Ball Seating Betsy Kennedy
8th grade Study Skill's students will gain the ability to stay on task and focus which will in turn have a positive effect on their academic achievement through the use of Stability balls instead of desks or chairs. These students have difficulties sustaining attention, impairment of self-regulatory behavior, and hyperactivity. Students with ADHD typically score significantly lower on academic achievement tests and are more likely to suffer disciplinary issues. All of this translates into students with ADHD struggling in school on a daily basis. Research has been done on using Stability balls in lieu of chairs in the classroom for increasing students’ focus, enhancing levels of attention, and in turn improving academic achievement. Teachers have reported that students are more attentive, have higher achievement outcomes, and are better able to concentrate than when seated on stability chairs.
Baker Science Olympiad Janet Herberholz
Baker's Science Olympiad team members prepare throughout the year to compete in 23 different, challenging events. These events are rigorous and demanding on resources. Students with parent coaches meet weekly for 3-5 hours of practice and testing. Baker student scientists take tests in traditional science disciplines and create products to show science concepts. They will design and build bottle rockets that will stay aloft for an extended time. Baker engineers will design bridges to maximize load efficiency.
Corey Jones Shares Message of iam_"me" and iam_my attitude Sarah Clos
The goal of the school Buddy program is to develop a mentoring relationship between 6th grade students and 8th grade students. There are two things that we have always have control over and that is our EFFORT and our ATTITUDE! Through these principles, Corey Jones will educate our students on the importance of always giving your maximum effort on everything that you do and to always carry a positive attitude. The iam_my attitude character assembly also emphasizes to always be yourself and to never let anybody or anything change the way you are.
Breakout EDU Laura Kemp
Baker teachers and students will have more opportunities to conduct Breakouts EDU games by acquiring additions game kits. Breakout EDU is a concept similar to the idea of The Great Escape Room. The Great Escape Room asks participants to work together to solve puzzles to break out of a room. The concept of Breakout EDU is to “break in” to a box. Breakout EDU games teach critical thinking, teamwork, complex problem solving, and can be used in all content areas. Students work in teams to solve puzzles which reveals the combination to several locks that are placed on the box.
First Technical Challenge Bhaskar Marthi, Kalyan Palanisamy
Baker Middle school will start a First Technical Challenge after school program. First Technical Challenge is a technical STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) based program where teams of middle and high school-aged students are challenged to design, build and program a robot to play a floor game against other teams’ creations. The challenge this year is to build a robot using a pre-defined guidelines and program it for an autonomous period of 30 seconds and driver controlled period of 2 minutes to compete against seasoned and rookie teams.
Club Create Kathryn Loc, Lisa Gaglio
Club Create meets every other Wednesday from 3-5 P.M. to provide an opportunity for Project-Based Learning and creativity beyond the walls of the classroom. Initially, students will participate in problem solving activities designed to scaffold their thinking and learning and encourage team-building and positive interactions with peers. The Club will provide a forum, including space, resources, and mentorship for deeper learning opportunities that foster a growth mindset and an appetite for inquiry, particularly in the STEM areas. A natural outcome of encouraging student choice and exploration is the development of divergent thinking skills and increased stamina for risk and failure. Research supports that the PBC approach increases student motivation to learn while supporting the content areas in an authentic way.
Boulan ASD Calming Room Maureen Caldwell
Autistisc Spectrum Disorder (ASD) students are able to take a break during their school day to engage in sensory activities, self-regulate, and interact with their Link peers. The calming room is in need of appropriate sensory materials and games/activities that our students can utilize for behavior organization, calming, and socialization with typical peers. Examples of items include hand fidgets, oral motor chewies, visual items such as motion bubblers, weighted balls, and a ball chair. Also, activities such as magnetic blocks, puzzles, and building sets will be introduced. It is a small space that could be improved to enhance positive behavior support by promoting leisure skills, sensory exploration and socialization. By attending the ASD Calming Room students will be in a "just right state" to resume their learning activities when they return to the classroom.
Taking a Stand in History/ National History Day Michelle Slaviero
Students in eight US History classes will create a Michigan History Day project this year. They will follow the Michigan and National guidelines with the hopes that some student projects will be selected to compete in the district, state, and national levels. More than half a million students across the United States compete in this program annually. It is intended to have a History presentation for the school community. Students will hone their project management, critical thinking, historical reading, problem- solving, research and executive functioning skills to complete a persuasive project in one of five categories: documentary, exhibit, performance, paper or website design.
GPS Show Me The Way Cynthia Shankin
As a part of the sixth-grade social studies curriculum, students learn about different tools of geography. Some of the tools that students work with are maps. Since GPS is intimately related to maps, Handheld GPS Navigators are a natural tool to use for classroom small group geocaching activities. Students will gain a better understanding of how a GPS works and how improvements in technology have changed the way geographers navigate the Earth.
Boulan Park Middle School Volunteer Corps Mary Typinski
7th and 8th grade students in the Effective Teens class volunteer once a week in a Kindergarten and 4th grade classroom at Bemis Elementary School where they provide classroom support and concept reinforcement in small-group and one-on-one settings. Students will wear shirts identifying them as volunteers when at Bemis.
Reading Comprehension--Fast Forward Lisa Jansen
Students in ELA Strategies Classes will select high interest books from a collection for reluctant readers. Once the books are in students' hands, we can use many best practice strategies to motivate the reluctant readers that have the lowest reading comprehension. The students will be taught to annotate the text to increase comprehension and deep thinking in preparation to meet with a book club. The students will also be using the Troy School District supported Visible Thinking strategies to increase compression and make thinking visible. Each student will do a culminating presentation on his/her iPad.
Innovation Incubator Prototypes and Maker Projects Jason Fawcett
Larson Middle School is now offering students the Innovation Incubator elective once per semester. This new project-based elective engages students in the design thinking process as they tackle team challenges such as inventing a new sport, creating the world's best roller coaster, developing a new invention or innovation in the Rebel Tank and creating a self-directed maker project. They will develop projects which will result in having a positive impact on their community. The Innovator Incubator Prototypes and Maker Project will provide funding for tools and materials to help students create prototypes and purchase supplies for maker projects.
Larson Robotics Club Timothy M Shoales
The Larson Robotics Club consists of two First Lego League (FLL) teams and two First Tech Challenge (FTC) teams. Students design, build, and program robots to compete first on a regional level and then possibly on a state level. As part of this activity, students develop mechanical engineering skills, computer programming skills and engage in real-world problem solving. Through teamwork, they will design, build and program robots to accomplish predefined tasks, compete at a regional level, qualify for state level competitions and in the process develop the necessary engineering and programming skills.
Science Olympiad Teams Girija Natarajan, Sachin Prabhu
Teams of 4-6 Smith Middle School students will participate in Science Olympiad events. Science Olympiad is a scientific -academic tournament with 23 events on all aspects of earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology. This after school program will use parents as coaches. Funds will be used for materials for build events, study materials and participation in invitational and practice tournaments.
Smith Recording Studio Christina Chatel
Smith teachers challenge their students to create multimedia projects on their iPads. Daily, students come into the Smith Media Center and ask if they can record videos for their English, Social Studies, Science, and even Math classes. The Smith Media Center has a small room that is briefly used for school announcements. This under-utilized space will be converted to an audio-video recording studio by acquiring a permanent green screen, a portable green screen, an iPad tripod, a camera shutter remote and an iPad compatible microphone. Students will be better able to create professional quality videos by having a recording studio with tools to facilitate their innovative ideas.
Breakout Smith Terri McCormick, Kelly Lerdahl, Duane Losey
Breakout Boxes provide a high level of student engagement through collaborative problem-solving in a game format. A Breakout Box event is a physical, hands-on collaboration of minds to problem-solve and work through a series of clues to solve smaller parts of a puzzle. These smaller parts can be sequential or non-linear, but culminate in the ability to “break in” to a locked box if all of the smaller puzzles are solved correctly. This main and final box is a concrete goal for teams to work towards. Multiple Breakout boxes allow for more classrooms to engage in Breakout games, the building of larger and more complex games and to break down games so that smaller groups of students are able to engage more deeply with the pieces of the game.
Listen As You Read Ewa Ostsrowski
Above grade level readers will be provided leveled literacy instruction using books that are of interest and appropriate in content and language at their reading level. The books feature fiction and nonfiction texts that reinforce skill and vocabulary. Funds will be used to purchase 1 set that includes 6 copies of each title and 25 of each strand for a total of 125 titles.
Elementary School Funded Grants
Canopies for Runners and Elementary Field Days Lauri Bussell, Christina DePassio-Attard
The District-wide T.R.O.Y. Fifth Grade Fitness Run is held annually. Canopies will be used to cover food donations, electronic sound system and/or event awards and race/timing equipment. The canopies would also be used to provide protection and shade for the water/rest/first aid stations held at every elementary school throughout May and June. These canopies would be shared and used by the Elementary PE staff (Field Days) to potentially benefit every elementary student in the district.
LEGO In The Library! Making a Makerspace Lauren Henderson
Students will collaborate in partnerships or teams to build simple machines and robots, develop code, or create and design structures using the school Makerspace. A Makerspace is a place where students can come together to work collaboratively on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) projects that encourage creativity and thinking outside the box. The Makerspace will be mobile so that it can be loaned out to classrooms, too. All projects contained in the Makerspace will be research-based for success with elementary students based on The Big Book of Makerspace Projects by Colleen and Aaron Graves (published 10/2016).
Accommodations Nicole Coffer
Inspired by a Time Magazine article "The Mindful Classroom", accommodations and opportunities for differentiation to students who have learning or behavioral challenges on our classrooms will be provided. The fourth grade teachers at Barnard will acquire tools and resources that will help our students find more success with their learning. These tools and resources include children's picture books on anxiety, EZC reader strips (to help focus in reading text), bouncy bands for desks, fidget widgets, and inflatable sensory seats for students who exhibit ADHD behaviors. Flexible Seating Amy Bauman Research indicates that flexible seating can improve students' grades, affect, personalities, and conversations. The students will have seating that will be ergonomic and stationary but ideal for all learning situations. Hokki and yoga balls allow for movement in all directions, which is critical to student development as physical movement both increases well-being and encourages the physical and intellectual growth. Many kids who have a great deal of trouble sitting still will be given the chance on the stool to move in an appropriate way and get some exercise. Indications are that the movements kids make while balancing stimulate their brains and help them focus.
Fostering Language Skills for ELL Students Through Story Telling Angelika Gadlage
Story retelling is a tried and true strategy that can help develop and improve language skills of the many ELL students at Bemis Elementary. By purchasing a Big Book Storytelling Activity Kit, our kindergarten English Language Learners (ELL) will have access to many old kindergarten favorites that can be used to retell over and over again. The kit provides classic big books, storytelling props, as well as engaging activities. ELL students will have the opportunity to use the kits independently or with classmates. Research has shown that retelling has improved story structure, length of retelling, reading comprehension, and confidence in most subject areas.
Foster Language for ELL Students Through Pretend Play Jennifer LaTarte
ELL students will develop important complex social and higher order thinking skills and synthesize knowledge and skills through Pretend Play. Pretend Play requires advanced thinking strategies, communication, and social skills. Through pretend play, children learn to do things like negotiate, consider others’ perspectives, transfer knowledge from one situation to another, delay gratification, balance their own ideas with others, develop a plan and act on it, explore symbolism, express and listen to thoughts and ideas, assign tasks and roles, and synthesize different information and ideas. In this creative play description, we could just as easily be describing the skills needed to successfully manage a work project for an adult as describing children’s pretend play.
Puppet Possibilities Amanda Summers
By working together using the puppets, non- or limited English speaking kindergarteners will develop conversation skills such as risk taking and appropriate responses in a conversation by use of creative dramatics The use of puppets provides an opportunity for students to explore language and express themselves verbally. Through puppets, children are empowered to speak and behave on behalf of the character they are playing. Funds will be used to purchase various puppet sets.
"Flexible Seats" and Where To Find Them Grayson McKinney, Zach Rondot
The 4th grade team at Costello will create a "learning lab" to replace our traditional classrooms. The removable wall between classrooms will be removed. An innovative 21st century classroom will be created by introducing flexible seating. The Kore chairs we hope to purchase are NOT just a piece of furniture...it is a LIFE CHANGER! This innovative chair-alternative allows one’s knees, hips, and back to find comfortable and ever-changing positions. It is ideal for students with ADD or ADHD.
Project Wiggles Seth D. Wyatt
The goal of Project Wiggles is to ensure that all students facing a sensory, attention, or learning disability are provided the necessary tools to thrive in their learning environment. Project Wiggles is designed to help provide students who have sensory processing disorders and learning disabilities the ability to overcome their body’s natural response to fidget in their classroom seats. By providing a yoga ball chair, instead of just a yoga ball, a student’s concern of losing balance and falling off the ball is no longer present. The yoga ball chair allows students to remain stable while they actively work.
Learning Programming and Robotics with Ozobots Wendy Gustin
An Ozobot Classroom Kit will be acquired for use by all students at Costello Elementary. Ozobot are small robots that help kids learn about simple code language and deductive reasoning. Students may also use customized block-based programming through OzoBlockly, which is based on Google’s Blockly visual programming editor. Ozobot also has free apps that may be downloaded to student iPads for additional programming challenges. Ozobot teaches code writing in a different way. There are many apps out there that teach code writing, but Ozobots are tactile and some children need this three-dimensional approach.
Seating For Success Kyle Rogers
Students will have multiple seating opportunities in their classroom. Throughout my years of teaching it has become more and more clear that students excel the most in the classroom when given choice. Giving students multiple seating options (stools, yoga balls, swivel chairs, etc) can lead to enhanced growth when incorporated correctly.
Science Guided Reading Books Suzanne Siegel
Common Core State Standards emphasize literacy being taught throughout the curriculum, and students are expected to read (and understand) as much informational text as they do fiction. To respond to this world class guided reading books that focus on the concepts of Science will be acquired for Science instruction. For example, in one text, each vignette uses a monster and cool comic book style illustrations to show the hows and whys of science. The books have accessible text, photo diagrams and high-impact images.
Science Nook Mike Thomas
The Science Nook will be placed in the classroom so that students can respond to STEM/STEAM challenges during Free Choice times, Literacy Stations and during Science Stations. The Nook would have beakers, test tubes, magnifying glasses, microscope, all sorts of specimen, informational books regarding various topics, writing tools to help record findings and data and other scientific tools as needed. Funds will be used to acquire items listed above.
Before School Choir Program Cara Lebryk
Before School choir is a volunteer choir for all 4th and 5th graders at Hamilton Elementary School. Students choose to be in choir and arrive to school at 8:15 to sing. We meet once a week on Tuesdays from 8:15 - 9:05. The choir will perform on December 3rd on the grand staircase of the Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI. This will allow the choir to sing for a wide audience. After we sing, the students will be able to watch the performance of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer the Musical. The choir will have a 2nd concert in the Spring at Hamilton elementary school. The students will perform for their family and friends throughout the Troy community. We will also perform an in-school concert.
LEGO to the Library! Making a Makerspace Lauren Henderson
Students will collaborate in partnerships or teams to build simple machines and robots, develop code, or create and design structures using the school Makerspace. A Makerspace is a place where students can come together to work collaboratively on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) projects that encourage creativity and thinking outside the box. The Makerspace will be mobile so that it can be loaned out to classrooms. All projects contained in the Makerspace will be research-based for success with elementary students based on The Big Book of Makerspace Projects by Colleen and Aaron Graves (published 10/2016).
Hill Community Center Erin Detmer, Pam Mulligan, Danielle Davenport
To strengthen parent involvement positively, and thereby improve student performance, the Large Group Instruction area (LGI) will be transformed so that it can also function as a community, corner--a place where parents, students, and teachers can spend quality time thinking, talking, and working together. We envision the space having many functions throughout the school year, and even throughout the school day. During school hours, parents will have a place where they can work on school activities and as classroom helpers. After school, the LGI to be a comfortable place for the PTO to hold meetings, for the staff to collaborate and for our community groups to meet.
Kindergarten Lending Library Melodie Myrick
Kindergarten teachers will set up a lending library for the students and their parents to borrow age appropriate high quality texts that are filled with the structures and concepts that we are teaching in class. Each day the students will choose a book from our carefully set up classroom library to support the skills they need to become fluent readers with comprehension. Since this library will be set up for kindergartners by the teachers who know them, all of the books will be relevant and appropriate for their skill levels.
Lighting Learning Friendly Lauren Welch
To implement a Cultures of Thinking environment and a calmer working environment in a second grade classroom florescent light coverings will be installed to provide softer light more like sky light. Research suggests that florescent lighting can increase headaches in children and adults; furthermore, research also suggests that students with autism are particularly sensitive to the harsh light given off from fluorescent lights. Funds will be used to purchase and install the covers.
Multicultural Art Show Maria Balcoff
15 short multicultural lessons will take place during the before and after school CARE program throughout this 2016-2017 calendar year. Each lesson will be comprised of literature, discussion and imagery of a certain country followed by ethnically infused artwork that each child will create. Near the end of the year. when all the lessons have been completed, a "Multicultural Art show" will be held to showcase all the traditionally rich artwork created by the students.
Viofit Jr. Fitness Tracker Lauri Bussell
Vivofit jr. is a fitness tracker by Garmin designed specifically for children. The vivofit jr. tracks steps, sleep and 60 minutes of daily recommended activity. (6) vivofit jr. fitness trackers will be used on a check-out basis for students in grades 4-5 with the potential to add more grades after initial trial period of use. Students would wear the device for 3-4 days tracking their steps, sleep and activity level and submit the collected data and brief summary including the tracker's impact on motivation for fitness, overall health and what they learned about their fitness habits. Project would rotate through students throughout the year.
Coding With Dash Claudia Rzepka
4th graders at Martell are given the opportunity of participating in Coding Club during lunch and recess about twice a month. Students will encounter the basics of computer science by using apps and websites that are age appropriate. Dash robots can be programmed using various apps. Students will create a code on the ipad for a robot. The robot will perform the instruction according to the student code. Students will work collaboratively in pairs. Classroom teachers have used Dash robots with little buddy/big buddy activities. Additional robots will be acquired consistent with the demand for their use.
Morse Community Garden Fencing Melissa Batts
Morse Elementary School will create a fenced-in edible outdoor garden and classroom. Through this garden, we plan to provide learning opportunities for our students and community as well as provide them with fresh fruits and vegetables. Morse Elementary is a Title I School located inside the Troy School District. As one of the larger schools in the Troy School District, Morse has nearly 500 students in grades pre-K through five. The students at Morse are some of the most diverse in the district with 60% speaking a language other than English at home. As a result of our school's demographics, our families will benefit from this project.
Genius Hour/Makerspace Jennifer Bell
Students spend one hour each week directing their own learning. Students follow their interests and passions through the process of inquiry, research and development, and sharing/communication. Projects are coordinated with the 4th grade science kits so that students will easily be able to use inquiry to strengthen their science skills in the areas of Earth Materials, Magnetism and Electricity and Environments. Some students complete several short projects while some students spend a few months on each project.
Schroeder 5th Graders Serve Shannon Kocher, Tammy Polena, Jason Chechowicz
Fifth graders at Schroeder Elementary will participate in community service projects for children and seniors. These community service activities will take the place of our Halloween, Holiday and Valentine parties. Students will create small gift bags with crayons, pencils, and coloring pages for children who cannot trick or treat because they are in Troy Beaumont Hospital or the DMC Children’s Emergency Room during Halloween. During our holiday party, students will put together blankets for families by working with Troy People Concerned and St. Anastasia Catholic Church. During our Valentine party, students will create one of a kind art work for the local senior center in Troy to show them they are loved.
Learning Programming and Robotics with Ozobots Wendy Gustin
Students will use the Ozobot to learn hands-on about robotics and programming while working on STEM applications. Ozobot teaches them in a fun way so they learn while being engaged and playing. Ozobot can teach students of all ages. Students will start programming Ozobot with visual color codes on a tablet using the free apps, or with markers on a piece of paper. Students will also have the additional option to learn advanced programming skills with Ozobot Bit and OzoBlockly.
"iTell" Teaches About Technology Karen Bush
Five full day guest teachers will be employed to allow staff members that are interested in implementing new technology into their rooms to work with the Innovation Technology Education Leader. Teachers will spend a half day in planning and immersion in the technology and devise a plan that is best for their students to implement. The other half day Innovation Technology Education Leader will go in to their classroom to co-teach to support implementation. Participating teachers will learn to use webcams, OneNote Classroom, global learning, self-created digital media and more.
Student Led Heart Dissection Jason Cichowicz
Boulan Park Middle School students will lead the Schroeder fifth graders in a dissection of an actual veal heart. There will be roughly twenty-four groups of students. Each group will have their own heart. The groups will be comprised of about four or five elementary students and multiple sixth grade leaders. Using a set of directions to guide the exploration, the students will be asked to discover the various components of the veal heart through the dissection. The sixth graders will be in charge of leading the groups through the discovery process and assisting with the dissection. Teachers will be present to help supervise, provide additional instructions, and assist as needed.
Connected Classrooms, Engaged Learners Emily Freeman
“Connected Classrooms, Engaged Students” will provide webcams for Schroeder teachers to participate in these kinds of global learning opportunities. We will be able to purchase seven top quality webcams that will be available for all Schroeder teachers to use. Our two Technology Chairs will be helping teachers get comfortable with the new devices and develop capacity for innovative teaching through co-planning and co-teaching opportunities for all staff members who are interested. There are several global projects that already exist that are open for teachers to participate in. These include the Global Read Aloud (literature), Same Day In March (weather and data collection), and Mystery Skype(geography).
Troy Schroeder Destination Imagination Bin Jing
The parent led after-school team’s project is 2017 Destination Imagination (DI). Unlike other academic programs which heavily focus on knowledge learning. DI project focuses more on student’s creativities, technical innovation and problem solving skills. The DI project is not a temporary project. This year, our team picked a scientific challenge. The team will put what they learn from math, science and technology into a story and present it on stage. In order to win, the team must come up with their own creative ideas and build their own innovative gadget and use it during the presentation. The students will use teamwork and interpersonal skills, creative and critical thinking, management skills and presentation skills.
Ipad Mini Kathryn Kerch, Green School Committee
Kindergarten through 2nd grade students in the special education resource room will have access to an iPad mini. Technology is a big motivator for many students and the use of an iPad for a short period of time as a reward keeps many students on task. This iPad would also be beneficial for many of my students who have fine motor issues and become frustrated with the writing process. We can use the typing features which is a lifelong skill for students to practice. Students can also use the speak to text functions of an iPad to develop their writing skills. In Special Education, there is a need for lots of data and frequent small group or one on one instruction. An iPad mini has effective applications that work on student specific skills and record data.
Wass Wolves Go Batty Deborah Kellett
Three Wass second grade classes will decorate and install, on school property, three bat houses purchased from the Organization of Bat Conservation. The houses will encourage families to come back up to school to observe the bats at night. Students will raise additional funds to purchase and donate bat houses to be installed in two or three of the neighborhood parks Funds will be used to purchase the bat houses and for an assembly presentation by the Organization For Bat Conservation.
Flexible Seating Stations Jacklyn Skinner
Using research based seating alternatives, the classroom environment will be enhanced by introducing alternative seating such as Hokki and yoga balls and some more ergonomic stationary seating. To promote a “How do I learn best?” teaching approach the flexible furniture will allow more movement and choice throughout everyone’s day that will, in turn, increase well-being and encourage physical and intellectual growth.
Simple Swivel Solutions Alan Gieleghem
By acquiring 23 Arlik swivel chairs from IKEA, classroom instruction will be enhanced because students can quickly arrange themselves in partners, triads, and small groups. Currently, we are using chairs with four legs that do not swivel. These chairs are heavy for third graders to maneuver, and time is lost when trying to setup collaboration opportunities. The Arlik swivel chairs are lightweight and allow quick and easy maneuvering because of their wheels. It is time consuming to move our current chairs into position and instructional time is lost. The Arlik swivel chairs have wheels that allow even the smallest of third graders the ability to move their chairs quickly into the needed instructional layout for the lesson.
Don't Neglect Above Grade Level Readers Alan Gieleghem
Above grade level readers will have leveled literacy instruction. Many books that are of interest at their reading level written by popular authors may include controversial language and topics. By acquiring a complete set of 4th and 5th grade texts that include On-Level, Below-Level, and Above-Level content above grade level readers will analyze and critique appropriate texts on a consistent basis during their small group instruction. The goal is to increase their reading level by vocabulary improvement and critical thinking.
Wass Math Pentathalon Satish Ravoor, Supriya Ravoor
The Pentathlon Institute is a Non-Profit organization that provides a time-tested program of interactive problem-solving games, supportive curricular and instructional activities and assessment tools for students in grades K-7. This motivational program strengthens basic math concepts and skills, aligns with National and State Mathematics Standard and stimulates creative thinking while developing problem-solving skills. Students of varying abilities and learning styles are motivated to enjoy math and spend more time learning this subject matter. This exciting, engaging, effective and nationally recognized STEM program will be implemented as an after-school program.
Wass Science Olympiad Supriya Ravoor, Satish Ravoor
A parent led after-school Science Olympiad team will be assembled. The team will compete in the Wayne-Oakland Science Olympiad, a competition dedicated to expanding the science curriculum beyond the classroom. Sixteen 3rd, 4th and 5th grade participants will form a team and work on challenging projects to present at competitions. Funds will be used for entry fees and materials for the projects.
Coding With Dash Claudia Rzepka
4th graders at Wass are given the opportunity of participating in Coding Club during lunch and recess about twice a month. Students will encounter the basics of computer science by using apps and websites that are age appropriate. Dash robots can be programmed using various apps. Students will create a code on the ipad for a robot. The robot will perform the instruction according to the student code. Students will work collaboratively in pairs. Classroom teachers have used Dash robots with little buddy/big buddy activities.
Motion Promotion Carolyn Mahre
The HOKKI is an ergonomic stool that transforms stationary sitting into an activity. I am making a move towards a "motion promotion" in the classroom, which simply means integrating more movement throughout the day. The convex base of the HOKKI stool allows for movement in all directions, which is critical to student development as physical movement both increases well-being and encourages physical and intellectual growth. Many kids who have a great deal of trouble sitting still will be given the chance on the stool to move in an appropriate way and get some exercise. Indications are that the movements kids make while balancing stimulate their brains and help them focus.
Energy Bus Matt Jansen
The Wass character education program, the Wass Wolves' Way, will use the Energy Bus for Kids to enhance the positive learning environment in our learning community that supports "Deep Learning" and "Ambitious Outcomes" within the OneTroy vision. The Energy Bus takes children on an enlightening and inspiring ride that will positively impact them at school and home. The Energy Bus for Kids shows children how to overcome negativity, bullies and everyday challenges to be their best and share their positive energy with others Wass Elementary has been contacted by The Energy Bus Schools program to be a national example of character education and positive behavior interventions.
Kinesthetic Kids Julie Noe, Angela Rota
Wattles students will have more physical activity during the school day through the use of balance boards, been bags, tumbling mats, sit and spins, exercise balls...etc. Parent volunteers will work with small groups of students in the centrums and hallways on indoor recess days. We will teach parents how to work with children in performing many of the following gross motor skills: cross-lateral movements, position in space, static balance, coordination, eye tracking, hopping, catching and throwing, body control, depth perception, counting and duel task training.
The District-wide T.R.O.Y. Fifth Grade Fitness Run is held annually. Canopies will be used to cover food donations, electronic sound system and/or event awards and race/timing equipment. The canopies would also be used to provide protection and shade for the water/rest/first aid stations held at every elementary school throughout May and June. These canopies would be shared and used by the Elementary PE staff (Field Days) to potentially benefit every elementary student in the district.
LEGO In The Library! Making a Makerspace Lauren Henderson
Students will collaborate in partnerships or teams to build simple machines and robots, develop code, or create and design structures using the school Makerspace. A Makerspace is a place where students can come together to work collaboratively on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) projects that encourage creativity and thinking outside the box. The Makerspace will be mobile so that it can be loaned out to classrooms, too. All projects contained in the Makerspace will be research-based for success with elementary students based on The Big Book of Makerspace Projects by Colleen and Aaron Graves (published 10/2016).
Accommodations Nicole Coffer
Inspired by a Time Magazine article "The Mindful Classroom", accommodations and opportunities for differentiation to students who have learning or behavioral challenges on our classrooms will be provided. The fourth grade teachers at Barnard will acquire tools and resources that will help our students find more success with their learning. These tools and resources include children's picture books on anxiety, EZC reader strips (to help focus in reading text), bouncy bands for desks, fidget widgets, and inflatable sensory seats for students who exhibit ADHD behaviors. Flexible Seating Amy Bauman Research indicates that flexible seating can improve students' grades, affect, personalities, and conversations. The students will have seating that will be ergonomic and stationary but ideal for all learning situations. Hokki and yoga balls allow for movement in all directions, which is critical to student development as physical movement both increases well-being and encourages the physical and intellectual growth. Many kids who have a great deal of trouble sitting still will be given the chance on the stool to move in an appropriate way and get some exercise. Indications are that the movements kids make while balancing stimulate their brains and help them focus.
Fostering Language Skills for ELL Students Through Story Telling Angelika Gadlage
Story retelling is a tried and true strategy that can help develop and improve language skills of the many ELL students at Bemis Elementary. By purchasing a Big Book Storytelling Activity Kit, our kindergarten English Language Learners (ELL) will have access to many old kindergarten favorites that can be used to retell over and over again. The kit provides classic big books, storytelling props, as well as engaging activities. ELL students will have the opportunity to use the kits independently or with classmates. Research has shown that retelling has improved story structure, length of retelling, reading comprehension, and confidence in most subject areas.
Foster Language for ELL Students Through Pretend Play Jennifer LaTarte
ELL students will develop important complex social and higher order thinking skills and synthesize knowledge and skills through Pretend Play. Pretend Play requires advanced thinking strategies, communication, and social skills. Through pretend play, children learn to do things like negotiate, consider others’ perspectives, transfer knowledge from one situation to another, delay gratification, balance their own ideas with others, develop a plan and act on it, explore symbolism, express and listen to thoughts and ideas, assign tasks and roles, and synthesize different information and ideas. In this creative play description, we could just as easily be describing the skills needed to successfully manage a work project for an adult as describing children’s pretend play.
Puppet Possibilities Amanda Summers
By working together using the puppets, non- or limited English speaking kindergarteners will develop conversation skills such as risk taking and appropriate responses in a conversation by use of creative dramatics The use of puppets provides an opportunity for students to explore language and express themselves verbally. Through puppets, children are empowered to speak and behave on behalf of the character they are playing. Funds will be used to purchase various puppet sets.
"Flexible Seats" and Where To Find Them Grayson McKinney, Zach Rondot
The 4th grade team at Costello will create a "learning lab" to replace our traditional classrooms. The removable wall between classrooms will be removed. An innovative 21st century classroom will be created by introducing flexible seating. The Kore chairs we hope to purchase are NOT just a piece of furniture...it is a LIFE CHANGER! This innovative chair-alternative allows one’s knees, hips, and back to find comfortable and ever-changing positions. It is ideal for students with ADD or ADHD.
Project Wiggles Seth D. Wyatt
The goal of Project Wiggles is to ensure that all students facing a sensory, attention, or learning disability are provided the necessary tools to thrive in their learning environment. Project Wiggles is designed to help provide students who have sensory processing disorders and learning disabilities the ability to overcome their body’s natural response to fidget in their classroom seats. By providing a yoga ball chair, instead of just a yoga ball, a student’s concern of losing balance and falling off the ball is no longer present. The yoga ball chair allows students to remain stable while they actively work.
Learning Programming and Robotics with Ozobots Wendy Gustin
An Ozobot Classroom Kit will be acquired for use by all students at Costello Elementary. Ozobot are small robots that help kids learn about simple code language and deductive reasoning. Students may also use customized block-based programming through OzoBlockly, which is based on Google’s Blockly visual programming editor. Ozobot also has free apps that may be downloaded to student iPads for additional programming challenges. Ozobot teaches code writing in a different way. There are many apps out there that teach code writing, but Ozobots are tactile and some children need this three-dimensional approach.
Seating For Success Kyle Rogers
Students will have multiple seating opportunities in their classroom. Throughout my years of teaching it has become more and more clear that students excel the most in the classroom when given choice. Giving students multiple seating options (stools, yoga balls, swivel chairs, etc) can lead to enhanced growth when incorporated correctly.
Science Guided Reading Books Suzanne Siegel
Common Core State Standards emphasize literacy being taught throughout the curriculum, and students are expected to read (and understand) as much informational text as they do fiction. To respond to this world class guided reading books that focus on the concepts of Science will be acquired for Science instruction. For example, in one text, each vignette uses a monster and cool comic book style illustrations to show the hows and whys of science. The books have accessible text, photo diagrams and high-impact images.
Science Nook Mike Thomas
The Science Nook will be placed in the classroom so that students can respond to STEM/STEAM challenges during Free Choice times, Literacy Stations and during Science Stations. The Nook would have beakers, test tubes, magnifying glasses, microscope, all sorts of specimen, informational books regarding various topics, writing tools to help record findings and data and other scientific tools as needed. Funds will be used to acquire items listed above.
Before School Choir Program Cara Lebryk
Before School choir is a volunteer choir for all 4th and 5th graders at Hamilton Elementary School. Students choose to be in choir and arrive to school at 8:15 to sing. We meet once a week on Tuesdays from 8:15 - 9:05. The choir will perform on December 3rd on the grand staircase of the Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI. This will allow the choir to sing for a wide audience. After we sing, the students will be able to watch the performance of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer the Musical. The choir will have a 2nd concert in the Spring at Hamilton elementary school. The students will perform for their family and friends throughout the Troy community. We will also perform an in-school concert.
LEGO to the Library! Making a Makerspace Lauren Henderson
Students will collaborate in partnerships or teams to build simple machines and robots, develop code, or create and design structures using the school Makerspace. A Makerspace is a place where students can come together to work collaboratively on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) projects that encourage creativity and thinking outside the box. The Makerspace will be mobile so that it can be loaned out to classrooms. All projects contained in the Makerspace will be research-based for success with elementary students based on The Big Book of Makerspace Projects by Colleen and Aaron Graves (published 10/2016).
Hill Community Center Erin Detmer, Pam Mulligan, Danielle Davenport
To strengthen parent involvement positively, and thereby improve student performance, the Large Group Instruction area (LGI) will be transformed so that it can also function as a community, corner--a place where parents, students, and teachers can spend quality time thinking, talking, and working together. We envision the space having many functions throughout the school year, and even throughout the school day. During school hours, parents will have a place where they can work on school activities and as classroom helpers. After school, the LGI to be a comfortable place for the PTO to hold meetings, for the staff to collaborate and for our community groups to meet.
Kindergarten Lending Library Melodie Myrick
Kindergarten teachers will set up a lending library for the students and their parents to borrow age appropriate high quality texts that are filled with the structures and concepts that we are teaching in class. Each day the students will choose a book from our carefully set up classroom library to support the skills they need to become fluent readers with comprehension. Since this library will be set up for kindergartners by the teachers who know them, all of the books will be relevant and appropriate for their skill levels.
Lighting Learning Friendly Lauren Welch
To implement a Cultures of Thinking environment and a calmer working environment in a second grade classroom florescent light coverings will be installed to provide softer light more like sky light. Research suggests that florescent lighting can increase headaches in children and adults; furthermore, research also suggests that students with autism are particularly sensitive to the harsh light given off from fluorescent lights. Funds will be used to purchase and install the covers.
Multicultural Art Show Maria Balcoff
15 short multicultural lessons will take place during the before and after school CARE program throughout this 2016-2017 calendar year. Each lesson will be comprised of literature, discussion and imagery of a certain country followed by ethnically infused artwork that each child will create. Near the end of the year. when all the lessons have been completed, a "Multicultural Art show" will be held to showcase all the traditionally rich artwork created by the students.
Viofit Jr. Fitness Tracker Lauri Bussell
Vivofit jr. is a fitness tracker by Garmin designed specifically for children. The vivofit jr. tracks steps, sleep and 60 minutes of daily recommended activity. (6) vivofit jr. fitness trackers will be used on a check-out basis for students in grades 4-5 with the potential to add more grades after initial trial period of use. Students would wear the device for 3-4 days tracking their steps, sleep and activity level and submit the collected data and brief summary including the tracker's impact on motivation for fitness, overall health and what they learned about their fitness habits. Project would rotate through students throughout the year.
Coding With Dash Claudia Rzepka
4th graders at Martell are given the opportunity of participating in Coding Club during lunch and recess about twice a month. Students will encounter the basics of computer science by using apps and websites that are age appropriate. Dash robots can be programmed using various apps. Students will create a code on the ipad for a robot. The robot will perform the instruction according to the student code. Students will work collaboratively in pairs. Classroom teachers have used Dash robots with little buddy/big buddy activities. Additional robots will be acquired consistent with the demand for their use.
Morse Community Garden Fencing Melissa Batts
Morse Elementary School will create a fenced-in edible outdoor garden and classroom. Through this garden, we plan to provide learning opportunities for our students and community as well as provide them with fresh fruits and vegetables. Morse Elementary is a Title I School located inside the Troy School District. As one of the larger schools in the Troy School District, Morse has nearly 500 students in grades pre-K through five. The students at Morse are some of the most diverse in the district with 60% speaking a language other than English at home. As a result of our school's demographics, our families will benefit from this project.
Genius Hour/Makerspace Jennifer Bell
Students spend one hour each week directing their own learning. Students follow their interests and passions through the process of inquiry, research and development, and sharing/communication. Projects are coordinated with the 4th grade science kits so that students will easily be able to use inquiry to strengthen their science skills in the areas of Earth Materials, Magnetism and Electricity and Environments. Some students complete several short projects while some students spend a few months on each project.
Schroeder 5th Graders Serve Shannon Kocher, Tammy Polena, Jason Chechowicz
Fifth graders at Schroeder Elementary will participate in community service projects for children and seniors. These community service activities will take the place of our Halloween, Holiday and Valentine parties. Students will create small gift bags with crayons, pencils, and coloring pages for children who cannot trick or treat because they are in Troy Beaumont Hospital or the DMC Children’s Emergency Room during Halloween. During our holiday party, students will put together blankets for families by working with Troy People Concerned and St. Anastasia Catholic Church. During our Valentine party, students will create one of a kind art work for the local senior center in Troy to show them they are loved.
Learning Programming and Robotics with Ozobots Wendy Gustin
Students will use the Ozobot to learn hands-on about robotics and programming while working on STEM applications. Ozobot teaches them in a fun way so they learn while being engaged and playing. Ozobot can teach students of all ages. Students will start programming Ozobot with visual color codes on a tablet using the free apps, or with markers on a piece of paper. Students will also have the additional option to learn advanced programming skills with Ozobot Bit and OzoBlockly.
"iTell" Teaches About Technology Karen Bush
Five full day guest teachers will be employed to allow staff members that are interested in implementing new technology into their rooms to work with the Innovation Technology Education Leader. Teachers will spend a half day in planning and immersion in the technology and devise a plan that is best for their students to implement. The other half day Innovation Technology Education Leader will go in to their classroom to co-teach to support implementation. Participating teachers will learn to use webcams, OneNote Classroom, global learning, self-created digital media and more.
Student Led Heart Dissection Jason Cichowicz
Boulan Park Middle School students will lead the Schroeder fifth graders in a dissection of an actual veal heart. There will be roughly twenty-four groups of students. Each group will have their own heart. The groups will be comprised of about four or five elementary students and multiple sixth grade leaders. Using a set of directions to guide the exploration, the students will be asked to discover the various components of the veal heart through the dissection. The sixth graders will be in charge of leading the groups through the discovery process and assisting with the dissection. Teachers will be present to help supervise, provide additional instructions, and assist as needed.
Connected Classrooms, Engaged Learners Emily Freeman
“Connected Classrooms, Engaged Students” will provide webcams for Schroeder teachers to participate in these kinds of global learning opportunities. We will be able to purchase seven top quality webcams that will be available for all Schroeder teachers to use. Our two Technology Chairs will be helping teachers get comfortable with the new devices and develop capacity for innovative teaching through co-planning and co-teaching opportunities for all staff members who are interested. There are several global projects that already exist that are open for teachers to participate in. These include the Global Read Aloud (literature), Same Day In March (weather and data collection), and Mystery Skype(geography).
Troy Schroeder Destination Imagination Bin Jing
The parent led after-school team’s project is 2017 Destination Imagination (DI). Unlike other academic programs which heavily focus on knowledge learning. DI project focuses more on student’s creativities, technical innovation and problem solving skills. The DI project is not a temporary project. This year, our team picked a scientific challenge. The team will put what they learn from math, science and technology into a story and present it on stage. In order to win, the team must come up with their own creative ideas and build their own innovative gadget and use it during the presentation. The students will use teamwork and interpersonal skills, creative and critical thinking, management skills and presentation skills.
Ipad Mini Kathryn Kerch, Green School Committee
Kindergarten through 2nd grade students in the special education resource room will have access to an iPad mini. Technology is a big motivator for many students and the use of an iPad for a short period of time as a reward keeps many students on task. This iPad would also be beneficial for many of my students who have fine motor issues and become frustrated with the writing process. We can use the typing features which is a lifelong skill for students to practice. Students can also use the speak to text functions of an iPad to develop their writing skills. In Special Education, there is a need for lots of data and frequent small group or one on one instruction. An iPad mini has effective applications that work on student specific skills and record data.
Wass Wolves Go Batty Deborah Kellett
Three Wass second grade classes will decorate and install, on school property, three bat houses purchased from the Organization of Bat Conservation. The houses will encourage families to come back up to school to observe the bats at night. Students will raise additional funds to purchase and donate bat houses to be installed in two or three of the neighborhood parks Funds will be used to purchase the bat houses and for an assembly presentation by the Organization For Bat Conservation.
Flexible Seating Stations Jacklyn Skinner
Using research based seating alternatives, the classroom environment will be enhanced by introducing alternative seating such as Hokki and yoga balls and some more ergonomic stationary seating. To promote a “How do I learn best?” teaching approach the flexible furniture will allow more movement and choice throughout everyone’s day that will, in turn, increase well-being and encourage physical and intellectual growth.
Simple Swivel Solutions Alan Gieleghem
By acquiring 23 Arlik swivel chairs from IKEA, classroom instruction will be enhanced because students can quickly arrange themselves in partners, triads, and small groups. Currently, we are using chairs with four legs that do not swivel. These chairs are heavy for third graders to maneuver, and time is lost when trying to setup collaboration opportunities. The Arlik swivel chairs are lightweight and allow quick and easy maneuvering because of their wheels. It is time consuming to move our current chairs into position and instructional time is lost. The Arlik swivel chairs have wheels that allow even the smallest of third graders the ability to move their chairs quickly into the needed instructional layout for the lesson.
Don't Neglect Above Grade Level Readers Alan Gieleghem
Above grade level readers will have leveled literacy instruction. Many books that are of interest at their reading level written by popular authors may include controversial language and topics. By acquiring a complete set of 4th and 5th grade texts that include On-Level, Below-Level, and Above-Level content above grade level readers will analyze and critique appropriate texts on a consistent basis during their small group instruction. The goal is to increase their reading level by vocabulary improvement and critical thinking.
Wass Math Pentathalon Satish Ravoor, Supriya Ravoor
The Pentathlon Institute is a Non-Profit organization that provides a time-tested program of interactive problem-solving games, supportive curricular and instructional activities and assessment tools for students in grades K-7. This motivational program strengthens basic math concepts and skills, aligns with National and State Mathematics Standard and stimulates creative thinking while developing problem-solving skills. Students of varying abilities and learning styles are motivated to enjoy math and spend more time learning this subject matter. This exciting, engaging, effective and nationally recognized STEM program will be implemented as an after-school program.
Wass Science Olympiad Supriya Ravoor, Satish Ravoor
A parent led after-school Science Olympiad team will be assembled. The team will compete in the Wayne-Oakland Science Olympiad, a competition dedicated to expanding the science curriculum beyond the classroom. Sixteen 3rd, 4th and 5th grade participants will form a team and work on challenging projects to present at competitions. Funds will be used for entry fees and materials for the projects.
Coding With Dash Claudia Rzepka
4th graders at Wass are given the opportunity of participating in Coding Club during lunch and recess about twice a month. Students will encounter the basics of computer science by using apps and websites that are age appropriate. Dash robots can be programmed using various apps. Students will create a code on the ipad for a robot. The robot will perform the instruction according to the student code. Students will work collaboratively in pairs. Classroom teachers have used Dash robots with little buddy/big buddy activities.
Motion Promotion Carolyn Mahre
The HOKKI is an ergonomic stool that transforms stationary sitting into an activity. I am making a move towards a "motion promotion" in the classroom, which simply means integrating more movement throughout the day. The convex base of the HOKKI stool allows for movement in all directions, which is critical to student development as physical movement both increases well-being and encourages physical and intellectual growth. Many kids who have a great deal of trouble sitting still will be given the chance on the stool to move in an appropriate way and get some exercise. Indications are that the movements kids make while balancing stimulate their brains and help them focus.
Energy Bus Matt Jansen
The Wass character education program, the Wass Wolves' Way, will use the Energy Bus for Kids to enhance the positive learning environment in our learning community that supports "Deep Learning" and "Ambitious Outcomes" within the OneTroy vision. The Energy Bus takes children on an enlightening and inspiring ride that will positively impact them at school and home. The Energy Bus for Kids shows children how to overcome negativity, bullies and everyday challenges to be their best and share their positive energy with others Wass Elementary has been contacted by The Energy Bus Schools program to be a national example of character education and positive behavior interventions.
Kinesthetic Kids Julie Noe, Angela Rota
Wattles students will have more physical activity during the school day through the use of balance boards, been bags, tumbling mats, sit and spins, exercise balls...etc. Parent volunteers will work with small groups of students in the centrums and hallways on indoor recess days. We will teach parents how to work with children in performing many of the following gross motor skills: cross-lateral movements, position in space, static balance, coordination, eye tracking, hopping, catching and throwing, body control, depth perception, counting and duel task training.
Special Program Funded Grants
Community Coffee Lisa Dziatczak, Jared Kowalski
Troy Center students will learn various job tasks to support the “Community Coffee” business. “Community Coffee” will service Baker, Troy Center, and IA East students and staff while building important life skills for Troy Center young adults (ages 18-26). Troy Center students will run this small business while learning and developing social, money and community skills needed for greater independence in their own lives. "Community Coffee" is a special education student operated enterprise. Students built the “Community Coffee” bar, a portable four piece coffee service business.
Diasability Awareness Stacia Crowe, Janet Callahan
Fourth grade classes at all participating elementary schools in the Troy School District will spend time with the various components of the disability awareness kit. They will discover and learn about the myriads of disabilities that some of their classmates face. Each year the fourth grade classes attend the event and benefit from learning about disabilities and trying the various assistive devices.
Incredible Kid Recognition Nancy Morrison
Fifty children between the ages of 5 and 12 are nominated by adults in the community (family members, teachers and neighbors) for making a positive impact in the community. The children are individually recognized during an evening event. They walk through a receiving line which includes local elected officials. Research shows children who feel they are part of a healthy community and adults care about them, they are less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. Funds will be used for the cost of supplies and facility rental.
Troy Center students will learn various job tasks to support the “Community Coffee” business. “Community Coffee” will service Baker, Troy Center, and IA East students and staff while building important life skills for Troy Center young adults (ages 18-26). Troy Center students will run this small business while learning and developing social, money and community skills needed for greater independence in their own lives. "Community Coffee" is a special education student operated enterprise. Students built the “Community Coffee” bar, a portable four piece coffee service business.
Diasability Awareness Stacia Crowe, Janet Callahan
Fourth grade classes at all participating elementary schools in the Troy School District will spend time with the various components of the disability awareness kit. They will discover and learn about the myriads of disabilities that some of their classmates face. Each year the fourth grade classes attend the event and benefit from learning about disabilities and trying the various assistive devices.
Incredible Kid Recognition Nancy Morrison
Fifty children between the ages of 5 and 12 are nominated by adults in the community (family members, teachers and neighbors) for making a positive impact in the community. The children are individually recognized during an evening event. They walk through a receiving line which includes local elected officials. Research shows children who feel they are part of a healthy community and adults care about them, they are less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. Funds will be used for the cost of supplies and facility rental.