The Troy Foundation for Educational Excellence is proud to award the following multi-teacher grants:
Multi-Teacher Grants
The Artist's Library - All Elementary Schools
Emily Joy Walker, Lauren Eng, Sarah Clos, Caitlin Erwin, Camille Lamesche, Colleen Price, Tanya Myre, Amy Mee, Andrea Hinman, Jill Sullivan
A rich library is a key component to a well-rounded classroom, and the art room is no different. The Artist’s Library is intended to be an engaging supplementary library for all elementary students throughout the school year. This library will complement the TSD visual art’s curriculum while bridging literacy and art within the classroom. We are fortunate that in this day and age there are so many fantastic art-centered books that touch on art history, the artist’s mindset, the elements of art and principles of design, and character education. This carefully curated list of books is intended to allow students to connect deeply with their learning through story, illustrations, and rich conversations.
Advanced Instruments for Chemistry - Athens High School
Erich Beregszaszy, Sathya Nair, Julian Sanders, Gary Koskinen
This project aims to expand the collection of scientific probe-ware that can be used by students in chemistry and other advanced science courses at Athens High School. The devices purchased will allow for the replacement of old and outdated measurement tools and expand our current measurement tools to ensure that all students are able to successfully participate in rich lab experiences. The purchase of "go-direct" probes will also allow students to take their experiments into the real world as these probes pair with an app on the district iPads.
Tournament of Books! - Schroeder Elementary
Lindsay Keegan, Jamie Lindstrom, Shadia Martin
March is Reading Month! Schroeder staff works hard to promote literacy all month long. During March, students have literacy related activities to do both at home and at school. One of our favorite parts of March is Reading Month is our annual Tournament of Books!! The entire school reads a variety of picture books during the month of March. The books “compete” against each other by students voting for their favorites!! After a series of voting, Schroeder students determine the Book of the Year!! A tournament bracket is created in the school for all to see. They students get so excited when they see their favorite books progressing through the brackets! One of the best parts about the tournament, is that it is an activity that unites the entire school.
Life-Long Readers - Athens High School
Danielle Smit, Kristy Cracchiolo, Rita Briguglio, Haley Beard, Staci Vought
Our goal as English teachers and as Media Specialists is to engender the love of reading in all our students and to provide a variety of avenues for students to get their hands on books. In our technologically advanced world, students have more access to reading content than ever before; however, finding quality content that is worth their time, inherently interesting, and intellectually engaging is very tricky—and that’s where we as teachers come in. Our 9th grade team has been working exhaustively to place high interest, age-appropriate reading material in our classroom libraries to share with our students, but we know there is more work to be done. One of the ways we hope to bridge this gap is through the TFEE grant. Through your generous donation, we hope to purchase books that are specifically curated for 9th grade students that can live in our classroom—easily accessible for everyone. The impact of these rich
libraries will be measured over time as we see students actively reading in our classroom, engaging with others about their reading, and continuing their reading practice begun in middle school. We hope to build our 10th grade classroom libraries next year, then our 11th grade and finally our 12th grade. This is the type of legacy project that will positively impact all students throughout the years.
Sibelius Notation Software - Troy High School
Jacob Greenwood, Brian Nutting
The Troy High Band program is seeking to purchase music notation software, "Sibelius Unlimited," which is a product of Avid. Sibelius is the industry standard in music notation, providing powerful tools to compose, arrange, edit, transpose and print sheet music for the students in our program. Instances arise daily in our program that would benefit from having this notation software.
Larson Middle School Takes Flight! - Larson Middle School
Colleen Cain, David Egan
Students at Larson Middle School will have the chance to design experiments that will be flown in microgravity on a ZERO-Gravity flight and one experiment may even be selected to fly on the International Space Station! This is through a NASA-supported partnership between the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and the ZERO-Gravity corporation. Students at Larson Middle School will engage in developing prototypes and models for the proposals. Sphero robots
and 3D printing will be used as a tool for students to utilize in the makerspace as they use innovative technology and apply it to real world problem solving and cutting edge research. The 3D printer can be used to help students design parts of their model. The sphero robots can be used to teach coding. It can also be used for students to complete design challenges to study space exploration. An example of this is having students design and code lunar robots. This grant will provide the students at Larson an opportunity to immerse themselves in what they are learning and connect what they are learning in the classroom in an innovative way. Students will build critical thinking and reasoning skills as they are guided through the design process with the guidance of leading researchers in their field.
Advanced Anatomical Models of the Brain, Eye, and Ear - Athens High School
Elizabeth Denyes, Brenda Rice, Andrew Shipp, Julia Herzog
In addition, this concise summary will be published by the TFEE within TSD and our Troy community to highlight your success within the classroom as well as the TFEE's support of TSD. Anatomical models of the human brain, ear and eye will be used as a tool to provide greater understanding of structure and function as it relates to various parts of these models. Through a partnership between Anatomy, Advanced Placement Psychology, and Psychology classes at Troy
Athens, students will engage in discourse and application of these structures in various lab activities and experiences. These models will not only provide enlarged intricate structural details of the organs, but they will be used as dissection guides’ and assessment tools in preparation for future experiences. Each model comes with supporting materials for students to learn with. For example, important structures are labeled with numbers that aid in students correctly identifying anatomical parts. Moreover, it allows for the students to make connections to how and why these organs function alone and in conjunction with each other within the human body.
Through a collaborative “Brain Day” celebration, students will be able to apply their knowledge of the structures learned during a hands-on human brain experience with the Wayne State Neuroscience Program. Students will also apply their learning during dissections of the cow eye and cat, as well as sensory and perception experiences with sight and sound. Overall, the use of these models will amplify the experiences by allowing students to identify the intricate parts and functionality of these organs more clearly.
Words Matter - Martell Elementary
Mary Burns, Katie Scott, Allison Keaser, Karen Seeling, Jodi Martin
Our Words Matter project is designed to support a positive culture in Martell and encourage well-being within our community. You know the phrase that ends in "words will never hurt you?" We all know this isn't true. After reading the book What are Words Really?, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders will choose a word to inspire and uplift others. They will design the word in Cricut. The word will be transferred to a t-shirt. We plan to designate days for all students to wear their
t-shirts to promote the positive messages for the entire school.
The Chemistry of Soap - Troy High School
Kathryn Robles, William Hevel, Jeff Moore, Kyle Larson
Soap making has been around for centuries, but we would like to bring it into the modern Chemistry classroom to allow students to have an opportunity to see how Chemistry is used in the real world. We represent three different classes at Troy High School (AP Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Active Chemistry) and soap can be made at all levels of chemistry with a focus on a lot of different things. Did you know that making soap involves a unique Chemical reaction called “saponification”? Unlike most reactions we study in class, making soap can take anywhere
from hours to an entire week to complete depending on the recipe used.
Speaking of “recipes” – soap recipes involve a lot of great Chemistry concepts! Different plant and animal fats have different chemical structures and therefore need different additional ingredients to create soap. Each recipe (or in our case, “Chemical Formula”) will produce a soap with unique properties. This is a great way to engage students in conversations from everything to the chemical make-up of soaps to the environmental impact of it. We also can add scents to our soaps, which are another type of chemical that we talk about in other parts of Chemistry.
In addition to this, there is a lot of math in soap making. When soap manufacturers create their products, they have to go through extensive analytical tests to determine the correct amount of each ingredient. The must think about how they can create a product that saves on cost. This real-life experience goes beyond doing boring stoichiometry in the classroom and brings it into a business-like scenario. Who can make their soap the best…and the cheapest?
All of this may sound like just some kitchen fun, but we can assure you that making soap requires science lab skills and proper safety measures. Students must correctly plan and measure ingredients, mix and heat them with caution, and take a pH reading daily to identify when their soap is ready to use.
The Mythology Arcade! - Baker Middle School
Dustin Harnish, Madelaine Reem
The Mythological Arcade project has students use Bloxels which is an app that allows them to create a video game on their iPad (think Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros). Students will be able to select from ancient civilizations that we study in our 7th grade social studies class. In addition to the mythology we study in school, we also encourage students to use myths from their family culture. For instance, a student can create a game based off the Korean stories her grandmother told her. The idea is to make a meaningful connection between the content and to teach all who play their games about the myth they chose. Students will also build an arcade cabinet out of a trifold worth of cardboard to hold their iPad. This reimagining of the trifold serves two purposes. First students teach us about the myth by
decorating the trifold. Secondly, the trifold gives a realistic arcade experience for the students.
Wild About Books: Enriching our Reading and Writing Lives with Animal Nonfiction - Hamilton Elementary
Colleen Calandra, Lauren Henderson, Elizabeth Alexander, Kasey Garvelink, Rachel Weiner
In September, for the first time since before the pandemic, Hamilton's students had the opportunity to meet in “Hawk Nests” (Multi-age groups) and begin to build relationships with students outside of their class and grade level. In our Nests we read the book Packs: Strength in Numbers by Hannah Sayler. Students loved this exploration of animal groups so much, that it sparked an idea for a future project: In 2023 Hamilton Elementary’s March is Reading month theme will be Wild About Books, with a focus on learning all about animals and wildlife conservation. We would like to provide each classroom a robust set of nonfiction animal books that can be read and showcased throughout the month. We also hope to involve our entire Hamilton community by providing students with activities to do with their families to further their learning at home. In addition we will partner with our Parent-Teacher Association to provide more learning experiences such as a visit from a local nonfiction author, and an assembly featuring wild animals and conservation. Our student-lead council will conduct a fundraiser for an animal conservation group of their choice. In summary, we hope to kindle that spark from our Hawk Nests into a love of non-fiction reading that can be carried from school to home, and from grade to grade, for many years to come.
Sterile Suturing Kits - Athens High School
Rachel Peterson, Elizabeth Denyes, Julia Herzog, Deanna Fakhouri
The implementation of the Sterile Suturing Kits into the Athens High School science curriculums and clubs will provide a hands-on, real-world experience for students pursuing interests in the fields of medical sciences. While using these kits students will elevate their learning experience by becoming familiar with the tools and supplies used by medical professionals. In addition to this the simulated skin model is designed to mimic real skin and provides 14 precut wounds for students to train with. Once the sutures are completed students can also practice removing the stitches making this kit reusable for the next training exercise and future students. Each kit is self-contained making it easy to clean, store and organize between the different groups that using it. While it will be easiest to use these kits in conjunction with training videos, we also have guest speakers, who are trained medical professionals that are willing to teach us the basics!
Future Ready Readers - Hill & Leonard Elementary Schools
Kaitlyn Palma, Heidi Apol, Brigette Garner, Sarah Grzelakowski, Karen Muzljakovich, Adam Pennwell, Amanda Kochanski, Lauren Welch, Karen Rosewarne, Nancy Haboush
Student’s are naturally curious learners and live in a world where new information is being discovered, recorded, and shared everyday. Our library nonfiction collections desperately need to be updated include texts that reflect new discoveries and student interests. According to Leonard and Hill’s collection analysis, the average age of the nonfiction college is 2003. 58% of Leonard’s nonfiction collection is “aged” and 55% of Hill’s nonfiction is “aged”, which means those titles are at least 15 years old and considered outdated. With these aged titles, not only can information be out of date, but the condition of the books become worn, stained, and ripped, which is not attractive to students. Despite actively purchasing nonfiction titles, our budget constraints make it difficult to keep up. We are in need of a large influx of new and updated nonfiction texts to keep our collection relevant and beneficial to our learners. Nonfiction resources from the library are need throughout the year in every grade level to support units across all areas of the curriculum. Funding from this grant would add 128 new titles to each of our libraries with the average publication age of 2022. These titles include current information, support curriculum across all grade levels and subjects, and are of high interest to students.
Emily Joy Walker, Lauren Eng, Sarah Clos, Caitlin Erwin, Camille Lamesche, Colleen Price, Tanya Myre, Amy Mee, Andrea Hinman, Jill Sullivan
A rich library is a key component to a well-rounded classroom, and the art room is no different. The Artist’s Library is intended to be an engaging supplementary library for all elementary students throughout the school year. This library will complement the TSD visual art’s curriculum while bridging literacy and art within the classroom. We are fortunate that in this day and age there are so many fantastic art-centered books that touch on art history, the artist’s mindset, the elements of art and principles of design, and character education. This carefully curated list of books is intended to allow students to connect deeply with their learning through story, illustrations, and rich conversations.
Advanced Instruments for Chemistry - Athens High School
Erich Beregszaszy, Sathya Nair, Julian Sanders, Gary Koskinen
This project aims to expand the collection of scientific probe-ware that can be used by students in chemistry and other advanced science courses at Athens High School. The devices purchased will allow for the replacement of old and outdated measurement tools and expand our current measurement tools to ensure that all students are able to successfully participate in rich lab experiences. The purchase of "go-direct" probes will also allow students to take their experiments into the real world as these probes pair with an app on the district iPads.
Tournament of Books! - Schroeder Elementary
Lindsay Keegan, Jamie Lindstrom, Shadia Martin
March is Reading Month! Schroeder staff works hard to promote literacy all month long. During March, students have literacy related activities to do both at home and at school. One of our favorite parts of March is Reading Month is our annual Tournament of Books!! The entire school reads a variety of picture books during the month of March. The books “compete” against each other by students voting for their favorites!! After a series of voting, Schroeder students determine the Book of the Year!! A tournament bracket is created in the school for all to see. They students get so excited when they see their favorite books progressing through the brackets! One of the best parts about the tournament, is that it is an activity that unites the entire school.
Life-Long Readers - Athens High School
Danielle Smit, Kristy Cracchiolo, Rita Briguglio, Haley Beard, Staci Vought
Our goal as English teachers and as Media Specialists is to engender the love of reading in all our students and to provide a variety of avenues for students to get their hands on books. In our technologically advanced world, students have more access to reading content than ever before; however, finding quality content that is worth their time, inherently interesting, and intellectually engaging is very tricky—and that’s where we as teachers come in. Our 9th grade team has been working exhaustively to place high interest, age-appropriate reading material in our classroom libraries to share with our students, but we know there is more work to be done. One of the ways we hope to bridge this gap is through the TFEE grant. Through your generous donation, we hope to purchase books that are specifically curated for 9th grade students that can live in our classroom—easily accessible for everyone. The impact of these rich
libraries will be measured over time as we see students actively reading in our classroom, engaging with others about their reading, and continuing their reading practice begun in middle school. We hope to build our 10th grade classroom libraries next year, then our 11th grade and finally our 12th grade. This is the type of legacy project that will positively impact all students throughout the years.
Sibelius Notation Software - Troy High School
Jacob Greenwood, Brian Nutting
The Troy High Band program is seeking to purchase music notation software, "Sibelius Unlimited," which is a product of Avid. Sibelius is the industry standard in music notation, providing powerful tools to compose, arrange, edit, transpose and print sheet music for the students in our program. Instances arise daily in our program that would benefit from having this notation software.
Larson Middle School Takes Flight! - Larson Middle School
Colleen Cain, David Egan
Students at Larson Middle School will have the chance to design experiments that will be flown in microgravity on a ZERO-Gravity flight and one experiment may even be selected to fly on the International Space Station! This is through a NASA-supported partnership between the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and the ZERO-Gravity corporation. Students at Larson Middle School will engage in developing prototypes and models for the proposals. Sphero robots
and 3D printing will be used as a tool for students to utilize in the makerspace as they use innovative technology and apply it to real world problem solving and cutting edge research. The 3D printer can be used to help students design parts of their model. The sphero robots can be used to teach coding. It can also be used for students to complete design challenges to study space exploration. An example of this is having students design and code lunar robots. This grant will provide the students at Larson an opportunity to immerse themselves in what they are learning and connect what they are learning in the classroom in an innovative way. Students will build critical thinking and reasoning skills as they are guided through the design process with the guidance of leading researchers in their field.
Advanced Anatomical Models of the Brain, Eye, and Ear - Athens High School
Elizabeth Denyes, Brenda Rice, Andrew Shipp, Julia Herzog
In addition, this concise summary will be published by the TFEE within TSD and our Troy community to highlight your success within the classroom as well as the TFEE's support of TSD. Anatomical models of the human brain, ear and eye will be used as a tool to provide greater understanding of structure and function as it relates to various parts of these models. Through a partnership between Anatomy, Advanced Placement Psychology, and Psychology classes at Troy
Athens, students will engage in discourse and application of these structures in various lab activities and experiences. These models will not only provide enlarged intricate structural details of the organs, but they will be used as dissection guides’ and assessment tools in preparation for future experiences. Each model comes with supporting materials for students to learn with. For example, important structures are labeled with numbers that aid in students correctly identifying anatomical parts. Moreover, it allows for the students to make connections to how and why these organs function alone and in conjunction with each other within the human body.
Through a collaborative “Brain Day” celebration, students will be able to apply their knowledge of the structures learned during a hands-on human brain experience with the Wayne State Neuroscience Program. Students will also apply their learning during dissections of the cow eye and cat, as well as sensory and perception experiences with sight and sound. Overall, the use of these models will amplify the experiences by allowing students to identify the intricate parts and functionality of these organs more clearly.
Words Matter - Martell Elementary
Mary Burns, Katie Scott, Allison Keaser, Karen Seeling, Jodi Martin
Our Words Matter project is designed to support a positive culture in Martell and encourage well-being within our community. You know the phrase that ends in "words will never hurt you?" We all know this isn't true. After reading the book What are Words Really?, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders will choose a word to inspire and uplift others. They will design the word in Cricut. The word will be transferred to a t-shirt. We plan to designate days for all students to wear their
t-shirts to promote the positive messages for the entire school.
The Chemistry of Soap - Troy High School
Kathryn Robles, William Hevel, Jeff Moore, Kyle Larson
Soap making has been around for centuries, but we would like to bring it into the modern Chemistry classroom to allow students to have an opportunity to see how Chemistry is used in the real world. We represent three different classes at Troy High School (AP Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Active Chemistry) and soap can be made at all levels of chemistry with a focus on a lot of different things. Did you know that making soap involves a unique Chemical reaction called “saponification”? Unlike most reactions we study in class, making soap can take anywhere
from hours to an entire week to complete depending on the recipe used.
Speaking of “recipes” – soap recipes involve a lot of great Chemistry concepts! Different plant and animal fats have different chemical structures and therefore need different additional ingredients to create soap. Each recipe (or in our case, “Chemical Formula”) will produce a soap with unique properties. This is a great way to engage students in conversations from everything to the chemical make-up of soaps to the environmental impact of it. We also can add scents to our soaps, which are another type of chemical that we talk about in other parts of Chemistry.
In addition to this, there is a lot of math in soap making. When soap manufacturers create their products, they have to go through extensive analytical tests to determine the correct amount of each ingredient. The must think about how they can create a product that saves on cost. This real-life experience goes beyond doing boring stoichiometry in the classroom and brings it into a business-like scenario. Who can make their soap the best…and the cheapest?
All of this may sound like just some kitchen fun, but we can assure you that making soap requires science lab skills and proper safety measures. Students must correctly plan and measure ingredients, mix and heat them with caution, and take a pH reading daily to identify when their soap is ready to use.
The Mythology Arcade! - Baker Middle School
Dustin Harnish, Madelaine Reem
The Mythological Arcade project has students use Bloxels which is an app that allows them to create a video game on their iPad (think Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros). Students will be able to select from ancient civilizations that we study in our 7th grade social studies class. In addition to the mythology we study in school, we also encourage students to use myths from their family culture. For instance, a student can create a game based off the Korean stories her grandmother told her. The idea is to make a meaningful connection between the content and to teach all who play their games about the myth they chose. Students will also build an arcade cabinet out of a trifold worth of cardboard to hold their iPad. This reimagining of the trifold serves two purposes. First students teach us about the myth by
decorating the trifold. Secondly, the trifold gives a realistic arcade experience for the students.
Wild About Books: Enriching our Reading and Writing Lives with Animal Nonfiction - Hamilton Elementary
Colleen Calandra, Lauren Henderson, Elizabeth Alexander, Kasey Garvelink, Rachel Weiner
In September, for the first time since before the pandemic, Hamilton's students had the opportunity to meet in “Hawk Nests” (Multi-age groups) and begin to build relationships with students outside of their class and grade level. In our Nests we read the book Packs: Strength in Numbers by Hannah Sayler. Students loved this exploration of animal groups so much, that it sparked an idea for a future project: In 2023 Hamilton Elementary’s March is Reading month theme will be Wild About Books, with a focus on learning all about animals and wildlife conservation. We would like to provide each classroom a robust set of nonfiction animal books that can be read and showcased throughout the month. We also hope to involve our entire Hamilton community by providing students with activities to do with their families to further their learning at home. In addition we will partner with our Parent-Teacher Association to provide more learning experiences such as a visit from a local nonfiction author, and an assembly featuring wild animals and conservation. Our student-lead council will conduct a fundraiser for an animal conservation group of their choice. In summary, we hope to kindle that spark from our Hawk Nests into a love of non-fiction reading that can be carried from school to home, and from grade to grade, for many years to come.
Sterile Suturing Kits - Athens High School
Rachel Peterson, Elizabeth Denyes, Julia Herzog, Deanna Fakhouri
The implementation of the Sterile Suturing Kits into the Athens High School science curriculums and clubs will provide a hands-on, real-world experience for students pursuing interests in the fields of medical sciences. While using these kits students will elevate their learning experience by becoming familiar with the tools and supplies used by medical professionals. In addition to this the simulated skin model is designed to mimic real skin and provides 14 precut wounds for students to train with. Once the sutures are completed students can also practice removing the stitches making this kit reusable for the next training exercise and future students. Each kit is self-contained making it easy to clean, store and organize between the different groups that using it. While it will be easiest to use these kits in conjunction with training videos, we also have guest speakers, who are trained medical professionals that are willing to teach us the basics!
Future Ready Readers - Hill & Leonard Elementary Schools
Kaitlyn Palma, Heidi Apol, Brigette Garner, Sarah Grzelakowski, Karen Muzljakovich, Adam Pennwell, Amanda Kochanski, Lauren Welch, Karen Rosewarne, Nancy Haboush
Student’s are naturally curious learners and live in a world where new information is being discovered, recorded, and shared everyday. Our library nonfiction collections desperately need to be updated include texts that reflect new discoveries and student interests. According to Leonard and Hill’s collection analysis, the average age of the nonfiction college is 2003. 58% of Leonard’s nonfiction collection is “aged” and 55% of Hill’s nonfiction is “aged”, which means those titles are at least 15 years old and considered outdated. With these aged titles, not only can information be out of date, but the condition of the books become worn, stained, and ripped, which is not attractive to students. Despite actively purchasing nonfiction titles, our budget constraints make it difficult to keep up. We are in need of a large influx of new and updated nonfiction texts to keep our collection relevant and beneficial to our learners. Nonfiction resources from the library are need throughout the year in every grade level to support units across all areas of the curriculum. Funding from this grant would add 128 new titles to each of our libraries with the average publication age of 2022. These titles include current information, support curriculum across all grade levels and subjects, and are of high interest to students.