Past Super Grant Award Winners
2025-2026 Super Grant Award Winners
Jessie Thackrey Preschool
Tiny Tunes
Nora Rosenberger
This grant will provide a weekly music class for all 70 students at JTP for the remainder of the school year. The music classes will enhance early learning and development in cognition and language development, social/emotional development, and fine and gross motor skills.
Rootin’ for Growth
Brannon McLaughlin
This grant “will fund the expansion of (the outdoor learning garden) to our front entrance where we plan to have Virginia native flower beds, as well as more raised garden beds, soil, tools, seeds, signage, a storage shed and weather-appropriate gear so students can fully engage in all seasons. The garden will be used as a structured learning environment daily. Backed by research, garden-based learning is “widely recognized for its ability to improve academic outcomes, nutrition habits, environmental awareness, and social-emotional growth in young children.”
Mount Daniel Elementary School
Empower Through Movement
Meredith Grasso
This grant will be used to purchase the JumpStart TM Parkour Equipment Kit, Parkour FUNdamentals TM 8 Lesson Unit curriculum, and Equipment Delivery and Professional Development to implement the American Parkour (APK) Movement Literacy Program. This kit provides “durable modular equipment that supports safe jumping, balance, vaulting, and coordination drills…Students will participate in a structured progression tied to SHAPE America Physical Education Standards and focused on core skills: balance, coordination, landing, spatial awareness, confidence and SEL.
The program transforms physical education into a platform for self-efficacy, confidence, and cognitive readiness through movement. The APK curriculum has been successfully implemented in over 50 schools and aligns with the new 2024 SHAPE National Standards.
The Power of Voice: A Hip-Hop Residency
Nicole Guimaraes
This Super Grant brings Marisol Velez, who performs as Pinqy Ring, a nationally recognized hip-hop artist and educator from Chicago, and a professional beatboxer to Mount Daniel Elementary for a four-day artist residency in Spring 2026.
The residency will include:
There are multiple benefits to this grant, including introducing students to hip-hop, a world-wide influential cultural movement that is underrepresented in elementary curricula, enhancing academic skills and collaboration, and bringing artists of color into our school to celebrate a genre rooted in Black culture, which will allow underrepresented students “to see themselves reflected in the curriculum in a positive light, while also broadening the perspectives of all students.”
“Kind Hearts, Bright Futures” Canvas Wall Mural
Meaghan Barrett
Students will work collaboratively to complete a canvas grid (one canvas per classroom) to be in a permanent installation in the front of the building. Jan Garrett (previous art teacher) will be our artist in residence. The children will share what it means to be a kind heart into their design to create an individual square, which will be adhered to a larger canvas. Mount Daniel students begin their social emotional journey by working on empathy and friendship skills which will last a lifetime. This ties in with our school-wide goal of inclusion and equity.
Closing the Literacy Achievement Gap with Multilingual Learner Students
Dave Sikora
This grant will be used to purchase Science of Reading-based literacy games, sets of decodable readers with fiction and non-fiction books across three reading levels, word-building kits, and storage for these materials, which two ESL and two reading teachers will use.
Oak Street Elementary School
Bringing Virginia History to Life
Lauren Carpel/Eric Duchaj
Super Grant funds will purchase 10 Virginia Geographic Alliance (VGA) Floor Maps of Virginia and nine Jamestown Artifact Kits. The maps allow students to step directly into Virginia’s geography, while the artifacts let them handle replicas of tools, pottery, and other objects from early Virginia history. Together, these resources create immersive, tactile learning experiences aligned with the 2023 Virginia Standards of Learning. The grant would primarily benefit all fourth-grade students, with additional use of the maps in Grades K-3 for map skills and early Virginia history, and Grade 5 for U.S. History to 1865.
AI Explorers: Building Early Foundations for Future Innovators
Nila Nash-Jackson
This grant will be used to purchase a CoDrone EDU, an updated programmable drone; three Dobot Magician Lites, a lightweight robotic arm equipped with AI technology, and three coordinate boards, and a Makerbot Sketch 3D bundle and filament pack, which will replace outdated and nonfunctional printers.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Ukelele Flex at MEHMS
Emily Ives
This grant would be used to purchase 25 ukuleles, storage carts, 25 tuners, and music books necessary to create and sustain a new music Flex class for years. Forty students each rotation would benefit. In ukulele Flex, students would have the opportunity to learn the basics of ukulele playing and allow them to compose their own music towards the end of the Flex rotation. This is a fantastic opportunity for students who have an interest in music but aren’t enrolled in choir or band and will allow students to engage in music who might not otherwise during or after school.
The Vibe Tribe – A Peer-based Program to Promote Belonging and Inclusion for Middle School Special Education Students”
Alexis Stec
The Vibe Tribe is a peer-mentoring program designed to strengthen belonging, inclusion and communication skills among middle school students. Through a structured 10-week curriculum, general education peer mentors are paired with students in the ABLE program (self-contained special education) to engage in meaningful activities, such as collaborative art projects, journaling, service initiatives and structured social games. The program emphasized relationship-building, empathy, and peer connection, while also creating leadership opportunities for mentors and authentic social engagement for mentees. The curriculum will be offered as a Flex option each quarter.
New York City Tenement Museum Virtual Field Trip
Maryel Barry
The Tenement Museum offers a virtual, live presentation of its museum, an actual tenement that has been restored, with an explanation of the life of immigrants in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 1910s by one of its staff members who dresses as a character of the time period. This lesson will fit in perfectly with our “Growth of America” Unit, which focuses on later 19th/early 20th century immigration. In total, all ten 6th grade history classes would participate. A virtual tour visit for our 6th graders would make the history that they learn take on a much deeper understanding. The museum is a trove of incredible artifacts and stories that will foster a greater understanding of the life of immigrants and the time period.
Meridian High School
Precious Plastics–Closed Loop Lunch Waste Recycling
Kenny George
Funds from this grant will be used to update and expand the equipment students use to recycle their own plastic waste. Currently, students in the Design and Sustainability programs have a branch of Precious Plastics, an international initiative to reduce plastic waste in landfills through community-based recycling. With current equipment, students can shred certain plastics and inject them into molds using a large format manual injection mold. But the current system has limits, including the need to inject outside and the need to be hooked up to a 220v to shred, and the inability to shred PET, one of the most commonly used plastics in water bottles. The new equipment, which includes an automated mini injection machine, which can be used inside, and two modular molds that can be used with this machine, will solve these problems. The grant will also fund a small scale manual crank shredder that can be mounted on any work surface and a filament maker designed for cutting up PET water bottles and turning them into usable 3D printer filament.
Fab Lab Tech Updates
Kenny George
The funding requested by this grant will be used to upgrade technology in the Design lab and Fab lab (used by over 250 students) to meet the current standards of CAD and design software. We are currently running most applications on equipment that is 10 years old, and with updates of curriculum specific software, our machines are not able to perform as needed. We are looking to replace the following pieces of technology”:
This new equipment will allow students to access current versions of software that we cannot run in the class environment, run it quickly, which will allow students to cycle through faster, and it will free up the instructor to multitask on a machine rather than work with a backlogged queue of projects.
Utilization of Photomodulation, Radial Mechanical Energy
Vicki Galliher
Funds from this grant would provide therapeutic modalities that would contribute to a reduction in post-injury recovery and rehabilitation of approximately 15-23%, thereby returning the injured athlete to sports participation sooner. These modalities can also contribute to the overall enhancement of an injured athlete’s mental and emotional well-being by helping them re-engage sooner in the activities they love, and lead to a greater sense of inclusion within the team. The therapies will be available as needed to any of the 650 participating athletes and to the general student population on an as-needed and prescribed basis.
The grant will fund:
These modalities will add to the state-of-the-art capabilities of MHS to treat athletic injuries.
Creating an eSports Lab
Christopher Cantrell
Super Grants will fund six high-performance computers to be used in the curriculum for all CS classes, as well as eSports, Cyber Patriots and Robotics.
This grant will transform students’ learning and engagement by introducing eSports as a competitive and collaborative discipline, fostering teamwork, strategy and leadership. eSports is recognized as an official VHSL sport, so it is imperative to give students a space to practice and collaborate, engaging learners who may not participate in traditional athletics.
2024-2025 Super Grant Award Winners
Jessie Thackrey Preschool
Building Enrichment Brick by Brick
A. Klink/B. McLaughlin
Funds will purchase “the complete Lego Pre-K Set. This set will be used for small group enrichment and reinforcement of essential skills throughout our Pre-K Classes. Building with LEGO encourages tactile engagement and fosters creativity. The lessons and sets will help our IEP students work on communication and socialization goals while building strong connections with their peers.
Beaming with Learning: Brightening our Understanding
Susan Rhymes
Funded six light tables (one for each room at JTP) along with manipulatives that can be used alongside these tables for various literacy, mathematics, and STEM activities. The light tables will be used to enhance students’ critical thinking skills, fine motor skills, creativity, attention spans, sensory development, as well as spatial awareness.
Mount Daniel Elementary School
All Kids Bike
Kenny George and Dailey Parker
The purpose of this grant is to bring a bike curriculum to MD that will be part of first grade PE. Kenny George and the MHS Bike Club will support the program to promote bike-riding among FCCPS’s younger students by serving as representatives for the program, providing support to maintain the equipment, and serving as volunteer aides. Grant funds will purchase 24 bikes and a proven curriculum.
Flexible Learning Outdoors at Mount Daniel
L. Carpel, S. Alverson, C. Dassira
The purpose of this grant is to convert a terrace outside of two first grade classrooms into a “flexible outdoor environment for all teachers...to use. We envision the space being used starting in the spring with warmer weather and opportunities for connections to content and concepts, particularly in science and social studies...This learning area will have different “zones”, such as an outdoor rug, a sun shade, planters, storage for the outdoor tools, and more...Within spaces, there are zones for different activities, collaborative group work, small group learning with adults, reading, creative learning, experiments and testing, and dramatic play. Funds would be used to purchase picnic tables, a shade sail, raised planting beds, outdoor storage containers, an ant farm, a worm farm, a weather station, and various gardening supplies.
Drumroll Please: Electronic Drums
Nicole Guimaraes
Two electronic drum sets and auxiliary equipment for the students at Mount Daniel. These electronic drum sets will be used in the current school year as a means to enhance our modern band instruction and spring music performances. They will continue to be a part of our music instruction and curriculum for years to come... The addition of electronic drum sets will be an innovative step forward in our music program that builds on our existing curriculum with ukulele, keyboard, and drum pad instruction. Besides that, electronic drums are incredibly useful and valuable for classroom settings because they offer a quiet way to practice drum skills. They serve as a means to continue to modernize our music program.
Oak Street Elementary School
Flexible Seating
Ellie Reynolds
FCCPS funds will be used to purchase various types of flexible seating for Ms. Reynolds third grade class.
Tom Tom Percussion Sets
Connor Burke
Funds will be used to purchase a 14-inch and a 16-inch concert tom set for the elementary school music room and resources for both teaching and learning percussion.
Video Creation and Editing
Daniel Israelsson
This grant will benefit 200 fifth grade students who will make a commercial as part of a project for an elective unit and will be able to engage in video creating projects throughout the year - including for Exhibition if they choose to do so. “This will allow student's creativity to flourish - they will be able to create new and engaging video and print media to share with our school. It will also give them real-world, practical experience with video creating and editing, including with green screen software.” Funds will be used to purchase three of each of the following: green screen, lighting equipment, wireless microphone system, camera, USB card, Tripod; and video editing software.
Global Adventures in Engineering
Nila Nash-Jackson
This grant will benefit all fourth and fifth grade students. “Engineering is Elementary (EiE), the award-winning curricula division of the Museum of Science, Boston, develops research-based, classroom-tested programs that empower children to become lifelong STEM learners and passionate problem solvers. EiE's curriculum encourages all children, including those from underrepresented groups, to see themselves as engineers. The global and diverse topics fall in line with our district's international mindedness division”. Funds will be used to purchase two units and materials. The fourth grade EIE , “Earthquake Engineering”, will allow students to “explore natural phenomena and its impact on human survival.” The fifth grade EIE , “Light Up the Night: An Electrical Engineering Challenge” will allow students to “learn and use their creativity and knowledge of electrical engineering to design a light display that replicates the floors and patterns of the Northern Lights.”
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Artist in Residence Program: Containing Multitudes
Marc Robarge/ Maddy Miller
This would be the third AIR project in FCCPS. “This school-wide art project, lead by artist Marc Robarge, will result in a large ceramic installation along the ramp wall of MEH just outside the cafetorium...the idea of evolving identity was selected as a theme common across grades 6-8, as well as being a key concept in the IB curriculum...The title is inspired by a line in Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”...”I am large, I contain multitudes. This line is often interpreted to speak to our complex identity, our expanding sense of self, and our relationship to others and the world.” Each participant (everyone at MEH) will create a “house” shape to represent their self and these will be arrayed in a tessellating design inspired by a spiral aloe plant. “An array of these ‘pods” will flow across the wall, creating movement and implying relationships.” This project will reach out to every student, as well as faculty and staff to participate, giving each person a “chance to benefit from a hands-on ceramic workshop while contributing to a school wide art project.”
ELL Nonfiction Resources
Karina Avila
FCCPS will fund nonfiction books in other languages and at a lower academic level of English to help students in school projects and in learning.
Chew and Chat Kindness Projects
Andrea Chew
This club “is a student-led initiative designed to spread kindness throughout our school and community...Our mission is to foster a positive environment to counter bullying, racism, and hate, with a focus on promoting acts of kindness.” Fully funded by the MEH PTA.
MEH Poster Maker and Supplies
Steve Pickering
“We would like a poster maker specifically for Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School. This will allow teachers to make posters with their own materials. It will allow us to have students make posters that beautify our building. It will allow our library’s makerspace to grow.” The request includes a printer, cartridges, and a 36” by 100” roll of paper.
Meridian High School
Seeing the Unseen
Megan Rerucha
FCCPS will purchase 20 new microscopes, benefitting 175 biology students. FCEF will buy additional equipment (i.e., one UltraRocker Rocking Platform, two mini-centrifuges, two countertop distillers, and four water baths.)
Unlocking Genetic Mysteries
Megan Rerucha
“After winter break, students in freshman biology (175+) create a DNA fingerprint to solve a mystery using a process called gel electrophoresis. Through a partnership with Virginia Tech, we get cat DNA to use for this experiment. Students practice scientific skills such as micropipetting and centrifuging in order to conduct this complex lab. Although we are able to get the cat DNA for no cost, the tools that we use to conduct the electrophoresis are very expensive and some of the tools for this extensive lab need to be replaced.” Grant funds will be used to purchase new equipment allowing students to work in smaller groups to obtain more hands-on experience,
Regenerative Sports Physical Therapy
Vicki Galliher
This grant will benefit almost 80% of the student population, especially athletes and students in the CTE Sports Medicine courses. “This Super Grant application addresses the goal of enhancing the treatment & recovery services available to our athletes & students by targeting the acquisition of the latest evidence-based therapeutic modalities. The application also addresses the need to accommodate an expanding number of sports teams/programs being offered at Meridian High School and the continued growth of our CTE Sports Medicine courses.” Grant funds will be used to purchase three therapeutic therapy devices (Lympatouch 3.0 Pro/Rapid Reboot Complete Recovery System/Iron Neck Pro 3.0 System), which are “considered among the leading innovative devices in the field of regenerative medicine and sports physical therapy” and various accessories.
Adaptive Ceramics Wheelchair Accessible Pottery Wheel
Christina Leigh
“At present the MHS Ceramics classroom has a handbuilding table that is ADA compliant and is the proper height for wheelchair access. However, our pottery wheels in the wheel room are not ADA compliant which would leave wheelchair bound or otherwise disabled students at a disadvantage in the wheel throwing. Purchase of this adaptive wheel allows students with disabilities to throw on the wheel. The wheel is adjustable for use with a mobility device, standing or with a stool. Arm rests allow students with balance issues to use the wheel. When not in use by a student with needs, it can also be used by the general population. The addition of this adaptive pottery wheel will make the wheel throwing program completely available to all students and assure access, equity and fairness in the Ceramics classroom.”
Anatomy Models Continued
Kish Rafique
This grant request is for additional skeletal models and clay to allow for smaller groups of students to work on each model to provide more hands-on experience for each student. The models give students the ability to take their book learning and apply it to models where they can build muscle with clay and learn how they work.
Camera Upgrades for Film Studies
Shawn Northrip
This grant will benefit the 27 students currently enrolled in Film Studies and all students who take the course in the future. Grant funds will be used to purchase six video cameras that will allow students to shoot high quality videos to make films.
Compost and Food Rescue
Tosin Adetoro
Compostable cafeteria “waste” alone makes up ~70% of what is currently going into landfill from schools. Several school districts in the DC Metro area currently operate comprehensive waste management programs with composting and food student leaders have voiced that they would like FCCPS to participate. Funds from this grant would be used to implement a division-wide composting program that has the potential to impact every student in FCCPS. Eight to 10 student leaders at MHS will run the program that will expand to student teams at each of the other schools next year... The initiative will redirect organic waste from the kitchen and cafeteria to create compost that can be then used to improve soil quality on campus or elsewhere. FCCPS will fund contract with composting company; FCEF will fund $1000 towards program supplies and signage.
2023-2024 Super Grant Award Winners
Mount Daniel Elementary
Wellness, Equity and Belonging: Learning Adventure, Creativity, and Friendship Await At Every Turn!
Second Grade Team
Grant funds will purchase materials for each classroom that will directly impact all current and future second grade students. “The skills learned, by engaging with these materials, will provide a basis for students to gain understanding and knowledge of positive, productive interactions among peers that will stay with them for years to come. The students will gain educational and social emotional skills that will enhance learning, adventure, creativity and friendship at every turn throughout their years to come!” Materials are differentiated and tied to Virginia SOL’s. The materials will help students make social connections, heighten their sense of community in the classroom and grade, and provide differentiated educational support, all of which are needed after the pandemic with online and hybrid learning.
Piano Stars
Nicole Guimaraes
“I would like to purchase a set of (14 full size) Casio keyboards and the necessary equipment so that all of the students at Mount Daniel can participate in a keyboarding unit and incorporate these skills into our music classes…During the (keyboard) unit, we will cover K, 1st, and 2nd grade SOL’s and make connections with our PYP units of inquiry and learner profile traits…Adding a keyboarding unit to our curriculum will immediately bring (students’) learning to a new level as they explore new ways to make and create music…I have already seen what an impact learning the ukulele has had on the 2nd grade class, and I am excited to extend that impact with an instrument that will reach even more students. This will be yet another means of reaching all students.”
MD Thinking Classroom Book Club
Meg Flajser, Amanda Morey, Meaghan Barrett, Jean Schumacher
Funds will be used to purchase 71 tabletop whiteboards, 18 mounted boards, paper for cabinets, and markers.
“Many Mount Daniel teachers are engaging in a Building Thinking Classrooms book club this year. This is a year long book study which involves learning and implementing small pieces at a time and meeting as a group as thought partners and collaborators…One of the main findings of the research behind this book is that student engagement and thinking is the highest when they are standing and working at non-permanent vertical spaces (whiteboards). By getting students up at white boards constantly collaborating in small groups around thinking tasks in all content areas, students learn how to communicate their thinking, ask thought provoking questions and how to become problem solvers and independent thinkers not reliant on the teacher.”
From Jen Fessenden, who is implementing this approach in a few secondary and MD classrooms: ”I’ve never witnessed anything like this. Nothing has been more transformational and has made such an impact on student thinking and achievement. It takes students from (sitting, taking notes and being bored) to standing and engaging in the content in a naturally differentiated way which allows students to push their thinking to such high levels.”
Oak Street Elementary
Artist in Residence
This grant would fund an Artist in Residence who would work at Oak Street Elementary. “The creation of a work for permanent exhibition at Oak Street will be related to the PYP Transdisciplinary theme of ‘Who We Are’ which relates to the connection of students to the local and global communities. All grade levels at Oak St explore this theme as part of their PYP curriculum. Teachers from across the grade level and Encore team are positive about this theme, as is the PYP Coordinator and principal.”
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Mindfulness in the Middle
Casey Maco and Susan Jinks
“FCCPS has chosen to focus on Wellness, Equity, and Belonging as the district goal this year. Mindfulness in the Middle is centered on the goal of wellness for MEH teachers, paraprofessionals and staff. (It) is aimed at retaining teachers by focusing on their wellness as a part of their daily work schedule instead of another task for teachers after the school day is over…Mindfulness in the Middle aims to create a (room) within the school that (all staff) can access during their planning period, before school, during lunch, or after school. Instead of…feeling burned out when they leave school, our goal is to provide an opportunity to recharge while in school.” The room will have soft lighting, a plush carpet on the floor, walls covered in soft fabric where staff can do yoga, stretch, color, do puzzles or sit in a massage chair” in a spa-like atmosphere. “Teachers value and are expected to teach kids different ways to practice self-care and socio-emotional skills, and what better way to teach it, than to practice it themselves?”
Funded with help from MEH PTA.
Meridian High School
Zoom Pars and Moving Lights for the Black Box
Shawn Northrip
“The students’ growth in light design this year has been exponential. The lighting lab in the Black Box is a powerful tool that many students are excited to utilize across all of my classes. However, the obstacle we ran into last school year was the size of our lighting inventory did not meet the demands of the number of different projects being performed at any one time…with the addition of eight more zoom pars (controllable theatrical flood lights) we’d be able to increase the possibilities for different classes to use the space simultaneously, by having enough instruments to meet the needs of the students’ disparate and inventive staging demands, and the inclusion of four moving lights…would allow each class to meet their needs for specials (single spotlights that serve a specific purpose).
CROW: Extrusion, Pelletizing, and Injecting (Complete Setup)
Kenny George
“The project began last year with the idea of recycling 3D printer filament. Out of this concept came the seed of an idea to scale up recycling to include other forms of plastics and the procurement of additional equipment that would allow for different varieties of post-consumer recycling.”
Last year, FCEF provided a grant to purchase equipment to begin a student-centered effort around recycling waste produced during the design process, primarily by breaking down 3D prints that were no longer needed and project byproducts with the hope of reconstituting the waste into filament that could be used. They were able to break down the filaments, but the results were too inconsistent to replace professionally manufactured options. Also, because MHS is a LEED building, they could not vent out the windows”. The current grant requests equipment to correct these issues.
The second request is to purchase equipment to allow students to create products from the recycled waste. “…we hope to produce a variety of post-consumer recycled products in house…we will be launching this program with implementation of an injection molding system.” (The four items produced will be) rock climbing holds for use on playground equipment, small planters to use with plants from the vivarium, custom carabiners with a logo embossed, custom coasters with a logo embossed.
Meridian Maker Club
Logan Russo
“I am starting a Maker Club at Meridian High School. It takes place during Mustang Block and possibly after school, depending on student interest. With this grant money, I would purchase materials…The Maker Club allows students to take brain breaks from their academics, connect with other students in collaborative creative efforts, and even learn new skills…One of the tenets of the FCCPS Strategic Plan is Wellness, Equity, and Belonging. Students will benefit from the Maker Club because having a screen-free break will reduce their stress levels and help them relax, making them more ready to learn in the classroom. Additionally, they can form connections with other students, helping form a sense of belonging. The Makers Club is open to all students who choose to participate…The grant would allow the library to be a space where students can come to innovate and create, as well as to study. All of the students in the school are able to participate…including those who are multilingual learners.” Funded with help from PTSA.
Resistance Training for Adolescents & Youth Athletes
Patrick Anderson, Courtney Gibbons, Vicki Galliher
Grant funds would purchase six 300 lb York International Olympic Sets, six York Olympic Hex 45 lb. Weight Bars, two Safety Squat Bars, and one each of 5-50, 55-100, 105-225 Rubber Hex Dumbbell Sets.
“We are seeking a Super Grant for the purchase of additional resistance/strength equipment and accessories to supplement the current equipment available within the Meridian High School Weight Room/Fitness Center.” The additional equipment would allow for expansion of MHS PE and after-school programming, expansion of adaptive PE classes expansion of the training programming for athletes, and expansion of rehabilitation protocols for athletes. Resistance training has extensive proven benefits for all these purposes. Funded with help from Athletic Boosters and Athletic Department.
Digitalization Within the Special Needs/Special Education Setting: Virtual Reality Therapy
Vicki Galliher and Sasha Thomas
This grant would benefit students with special needs and students receiving physical and occupational
therapy. Funds would be used to purchase 10 Meta Quest 2 – Advanced All-In -One Virtual Reality
Headsets with straps and a charging station, along with eight games.
“Virtual Reality (VR) can be viewed as an assistive technology, due to its potential to minimize or offset
the effects of a disability, and provide an alternative means for an individual to accomplish a particular task. VR learning environments can be personalized to allow a student to focus on their unique strengths and abilities…and work toward mastery of a task or skill. VR can provide a safe and supportive simulated environment that allows a student to practice or enhance various skills that can be transferred to the real world. An advantage to VR includes the use of repetition and the capability to increase the difficulty of the task to measure progress… Virtual reality is making its way into special education classrooms, where it provides students with opportunities to work towards mastery of their target skills, …IEP goals, and engage taught coping strategies within a controlled environment for social settings.”
Living Anatomy Labs: Experiential Learning through Art and Movement
Kish Rafique
Building anatomy and physiology in clay deepens the student’s spatial and relational understanding of anatomy, and thus, results in a better educated student ready to apply their knowledge to reality (3-dimensions and a living human). Experiential learning is an excellent method for students to retain information because the use of their own bodies moving will access the students’ kinesthetic intelligence.
The five “50-minute clay-building sculpting labs will use half-bodied models …to integrate the anatomical learning in 3-dimensions. The oil-based clay never dries out and can be reused indefinitely.” In these labs, students will use clay to build muscles. “The students will leave the muscles they build in previous modules on the model and can build the successive model right on top of their last module. At the end of the course, the student will have a comprehensively sculpted model of a human body and its major muscles from the inner most core to the head, fingers, and toes.”
Music Artist in Residence
Mary Jo West
“Falls Church resident, Stephen Gorbos, is interested in becoming our first composer in residence at MHS. (He) composes concert music for a range of ensembles and soloists, as well as music for film, theatre, and dance. His music… navigates a wide palette of genres and influences, creating a synthesis between styles as diverse as American rhythm & blues, western classical music, and Javanese gamelan.”
Commission Project: Dr. Gorbos would create an original composition five to six minutes long with the City of Falls Church as the inspiration. Students will be part of the creative process from the start, providing ideas of spaces in Falls Church to inspire the piece. The Meridian High School Wind Ensemble will premiere the composition, perhaps at its Carnegie Hall appearance in the spring. Dr. Gorbos would come in for two rehearsals and work with the ensemble on performing the piece.
Electronic Music Project: “Dr. Gorbos will work with IB Music Students (IBHL2), students in the Electronic Music Club, and English Department students in composing and production using Abelton Live (four workstations were funded by FCEF in a prior grant cycle).…in three to four classes. We will solicit original poetry from students in the creative writing program…and Dr. Gorbos will record readings of these poems, and will then mentor the students in composing a soundscape that illustrates these texts…Students will get a thorough introduction to using Ableton Live for music production, working with arranging various sound sources into a coherent audio mix and dramatic expression of the poetry.”
Music Technology
Mary Jo West and Steve Knight
“This is a continued project for the grant received in 2021 for four electronic music production workstations for the music production lab at MHS. The Music Technology classroom now has 4 music production stations due to the generous grant from 2021. We would like to add six more stations…to continue to teach the technical side of music recording, notation, and production. The ultimate goal is to eventually have 10-15 music student stations with headphones and one teacher station…Workstations include standalone MACS with Abelton music production software, monitors, audio interface, keyboard speakers, headphone, cables, microphones, mic stands…This would make it possible for our students to fulfill IB requirements as well as create music technology pieces if we could slowly begin to outfit the lab with student and teacher workstations”.
The lab is used by IB students who need to submit music technology work as part of the assessment in the new IB Music curriculum and the Electronic Music Club that works in the room twice a week. Guitar students would like to use the lab if there were more stations.
Wheel Room Recording and Broadcast Technology
Christina Leigh
Grant funds will purchase a GoPro camera, a Samsung 50” Smart TV and accessories. The project entails mounting a large format flatscreen television to the wall above a selected throwing wheel in the ceramics wheel room. The screen will project an enlarged image and amplified audio of the instruction as captured by a head mounted GoPro camera worn by the instructor during demonstrations.
The wheel room technology requested will allow real time and recorded capture of point of view wheel throwing instruction. By using a head mounted GoPro with cable connection to a wall mounted screen, the video of the instruction will be enlarged and presented in a manner that will be visible to all students. This is a distinct advantage compared to the present situation, which requires students to rely on verbal descriptions and strained, obstructed viewing of the wheel throwing demonstrations.”
2022-2023 Super Grant Award Winners
Jessie Thackrey Preschool
PreK Jam Band (Oudheusden-Adelman)
Access to a musical arts program and materials that are developmentally appropriate, engaging and aligned to state standards.
Family Engagement (Rosenberger)
Purchase the Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) curriculum and provide the “My Big World” magazine for each student
Flexible Seating (Saaty)
Provide various types of flexible seating (scoop rockers, floor table and four chairs, moon seats, concentration rocker, vidgets, peanut balls, wiggle cushions) for our youngest students.
Mount Daniel Elementary
Kimochis Schoolwide (Reyes)
Fund a “Mixed Bag of Feelings” for every classroom (24) and for each administrator. Purchase one set in Spanish and additional characters that were not part of the Educator Kit purchased last year.
Oak Street Elementary
A Nugget of Learning (Wiles)
This grant will provide innovative flexible seating and equipment for special needs students by funding an Outdoor Nugget, lap desks and a mobile white board to be used indoors or out.
Revitalizing the Third Grade Courtyard (Lands/Third Grade Team)
To bring JOY into the courtyard space by purchasing two coated picnic tables with attached seating (one is handicapped accessible), benches, wind chimes, wooden signs, standing wooden planters, paint, and other supplies for planting.
Global Adventures in Engineering (Adetoro)
For 4th grade students, purchase an EiE unit called Earthquake Engineering, which will give students additional opportunities to explore natural phenomena and it impact on human survival. For 3rd grade students, grant funds will purchase “Hop to It”, a unit through which “students learn about invasive animals around the world and how to help protect that region.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Theater Archiving Equipment (Gross)
Fund equipment to archive after-school rehearsals, productions and in-class summative performances, take production photos at dress rehearsals, headshots of actors and production photos to use in marketing and lobby displays, and enable students and families to access previous performances.
Meridian High School
Magic with Black Lights (Northrip/Sample)
Purchase black light equipment for use in the fall musical, Pippin, and then to use in the Black Box Theater and in the new Technical Theater class.
Pinball! Creating, Designing & Programming Games (George/Snyder)
Fund the purchase of “a Multimorphic P3 Pinball cabinet, one game module and a kit of basic components and circuitry that will allow students to learn about game programming, basic circuit design, and mechanical engineering through working with an open-source pinball cabinet that is intended to encourage users to build their own games.”
3D Printer Recycling (George)
Fund to establish an experimental 3D recycling center in the Fab Lab at Meridian High School. The equipment will allow students to grind, melt, extrude and respool 3D printer waste so that it can be reused
Hands-on Learning and Real-World Problem-Solving Through Spheros (Rerucha)
Funding this grant will benefit 25-50 students each year in the environmental science course or the sheltered EL biology course, many of whom receive special education or English language services. They will use the Spheros for two tasks-to collect trash on land and then to collect trash in water.
Comprehensive Physical Education Program (Moore)
Provide a “more individualized approach while enhancing the educational experience offered to students” and “to develop physically literate students by providing experiences outside of the norm of common team sports” by purchasing additional types of PE equipment to supplement current program offerings, like recreational games, archery, CPR, and outdoor pursuits.
Biking Around the Block (McCarthy/Block)
Fund the purchase of two adaptive tricycles for 20 special education students to use to learn how to ride bicycles.
Virtual Reality Therapy (Galliher)
Fund the purchase of VR headsets to to be used with athletes recovering from acute/chronic injuries, students with special needs, and athletes recovering from concussions.
Sonic Journey! (West)
Fund the replacement of our 25-year-old synthesizers, since synthesizers have changed significantly in the power and the sounds that they produce. The grant will fund two synthesizers and two amps.
Aquaria 414 (Pollack/Wu-Rorrer)
Purchase and development of an ecosystem-based series of aquaria to outfit a newly designed aquatics room.
2021-2022 Super Grant Awards
FCEF was pleased to announce the approval and award of $51,341.82 in our eighth round of FCEF Super Grants.
Jessie Thackrey Preschool
Tinker Space Lab for STEM (Meghan Barrett)
The Tinker Space Outdoor Lab will “enhance our inquiry-based Curriculum. Items would enhance units such as Tubes and Tunnels, Balls, Simple Machines, Trees, Garden, Insects, and Building Units (plus many more). Our children learn best with hands on/kinesthetic activities. These materials enhance student centered learning materials for children to build and discover.”
Mount Daniel Elementary School
Tools for Big Feelings (Lisa Murphy)
“Kimochis is a social and emotional learning program designed to give children the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to recognize and manage their emotions, demonstrate caring and concern for others, establish positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and handle challenging situations constructively.” This program will be used with students in Kindergarten. “With the COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout, all kids are having to deal with some very big emotions.” This program gives young students the ability to deal with these emotions through play. “The Kimochis lessons use stuffed characters and little feelings pillows to teach children to get in touch with their emotions in a fun and comfortable way…Kimochis allows children to have a third-party to safely role play and express emotions.”
Electrify the Beat! (Nicole Guimaraes/Kayondra Reid (OS)/Lauren Carpel(MEHMS))
This grant will benefit all MDES and all OSES students, and choral students at MEHMS. The grant will fund two events. The first, in December 2022, will be a three-day workshop, “Electrify Your Choir”, conducted by two professionals, singer/songwriter, Laura Kay, and choreographer/dancer, Nathan Blake. All students will work in small groups and will cover vocal techniques, tips for vocal health, how to “own the stage”, songwriting exercises to explore creativity, and more. The workshop will culminate in a dress rehearsal during the day and a rock concert in the Meridian auditorium that night open to parents and the community. In addition to the concert, it will feature a mid-concert talent show.
The second event, “Beat Goes On”, in May 2023, will feature five days of workshops and a sixth day of performances with famed percussionist and former STOMP member, Ollie Turner. “He is a leading body percussion instructor and promotes the use of music as a means of encouraging well-being for individuals and communities.” He will work with every student at MD and OS and with music students at MEH. He will work with MD students for two days, OS students for two days, and MEH students on the fifth day. “The final day of Ollie’s stay will include a huge community workshop and event, where community members will have a chance to participate…It will be a joyful day full of music-making, laughter, and community building through music.” He will also present a staff development workshop for FCCPS employees that will offer an opportunity for team building that highlights positivity and risk-taking.
Oak Street Elementary School
Drum Fit (Julie Huber, Kayondra Reid)
“DrumFIT is a cardio drumming program that combines the mental health benefits of drumming with the overall health benefits of physical fitness for a full body workout. Teachers can use the online video library in class, or you can have student directed groups or come up with your own choreography from scratch. The project is a collaboration between Physical Education and Music. In both classes they will be exploring rhythm and patterning and how these intertwine with fitness and music”. DrumFIT will benefit all students at MD and OS. “DrumFIT is a non-competitive program that allows everyone to get fit together. It promotes physical literacy, (social-emotional literacy), and personal fitness”. There is a $500 licensing fee per school per year (we may be able to do one), which provides access to 900+ videos, divided by grade level, which can be used in both PE and Music.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Sustainability in Action
(Ray Wu-Rorrer, Carey Pollack, Kenny George, Jason Perkins, Steve Knight)
This grant would fund the installation of an assortment of planters throughout the Secondary campus
with an emphasis on the cafeteria and common areas. This is a multidisciplinary project. For example, plant propagation will take place in MHS. Environmental Science classes and MEH Sustainable Design and Engineering Classes. Plants will be maintained by the 9th grade Environmental Science class and the Lighthouse Program students (MEH). MHS design classes will convert used pallets into planter boxes. Students in MHS Environmental Science classes, MHS Design classes, MEH Lighthouse Program and the MEH Sustainable Design and Engineering Classes will all work to put the planters in place. Dr. Wu-Rorrer will provide the plant materials. As the plants grow, they might be able to be sold in a holiday indoor plant sale. “This project will focus on multiple sustainability initiatives such as interior scaping, urban gardening, air quality, horticultural therapy, etc. It will also provide real-world experiences for the students involved.”
The Math Space (Clare Bournigal)
This is a request for a second grant to continue “to develop a space that is inviting and engaging and where students will practice math. I am asking for two large dry erase tables so students can show their thinking in collaborative groups. Closing the gap is currently a main priority for FCCPS and the students who will benefit from the grant are the current gap students.”
Meridian High School
3D Printing 2.0 (Kenny George)
This grant will “fund the purchase of a high- grade 3D printer, HEPA filtration system, and a starter pack of supplies to aid students in the fabrication of design prototypes and parts.” Although MHS has 3D printers, this model represents a major advancement in the technology, which will allow Mr. George to integrate it into his more advanced curriculum “where accuracy, repeatability and durability are key to the success of a prototype. Up until recently, consumer grade 3D printers did not offer this. The 3D printer I am requesting, the Makerbot Method, is the first affordable model to provide speed, accuracy, and the ability to print in more durable materials…By having this as an option, students will be more encouraged to prototype using solid modeling applications…instead of relying solely on …technologies which only produce things in 2 dimensional forms…Having printers in a range of performance capabilities will truly support the interactive process and allow students to build up from experimentation stages to the final production stage of a process.”
Low-Level Laser Therapy (Vicki Galliher)
“Low level laser therapy (LLLT) is a form of phototherapy that involves the application of low power monochromatic and coherent light to injuries and lesions. It has been used successfully to induce wound healing, reduce short-term inflammation, accelerate pain relief, reduce the formation of scar tissue adhesions during the health process of soft tissue injuries…and enables athletes to experience a quick return to participation…LLLT reduces short-term inflammation (and) significantly lowers the risk of arthritis frequently resulting from sports injuries. Laser therapy is utilized by sports medicine healthcare professionals responsible for secondary, collegiate, and professional and sports teams and athletes to treat inflammation, provide deep-tissue therapy, and accelerate pain relief to help athletes minimize downtime. For the past decade, LLLT has revolutionized treatment in the professional sports world.” In addition to having the ability to shorten injury healing time, the LLLT will be used as a teaching device for students in the Sports Medicine/Athletic Training courses.
Mobile Workshop-Continued (Kenny George)
“During the previous two grant cycles, I began outfitting a mobile fabrication lab with Festool products. These tools are user friendly, highly mobile and modular, and integrate well with the top of the line dust extraction system which makes them an obvious choice for use in a classroom environment. For the proposed grant, I am seeking to complete the outfitting of this mobile fab lab with a few additional tools: a vacuum clamp system with accessories and a mobile HEPA dust extractor.” With these pieces of equipment, MHS “will have a fully functioning mobile lab that can easily be moved to different spaces including classrooms, collaborative hall spaces and the makerspace and provide a clean and safe working environment.”
Art Display Panels (Marc Robarge/Sarah Gurgo)
This grant seeks funding for new student art display panels that “will beautifully fit the architectural character of the new school, and provide display for our annual IB art show. They are self contained movable units that could be used throughout the year, around the building in different configurations.”
Ceramic Slab Roller (Marc Robarge)
“Currently, we have homemade rolling pins and wooden slats to roll out small slabs of clay. The slab roller quoted here has the capacity to produce larger slabs of clay at a variety of thicknesses depending on the nature of the project. The addition of the slab roller would allow more ambitious projects to be realized, and more sophisticated techniques to be applied. The addition of a slab roller is a good investment in our ceramics program…This new equipment will enable more sophisticated approaches and application of clay techniques for our students.” Students who will benefit from this span the diverse current and future ceramic students.
Native Pollinator Gardens (Carey Pollack)
These grant funds will be used “for the development and maintenance of a native pollinator garden on the campus of Meridian High School. The project would begin with a small, 10x10 foot plot that will contain native flowering perennials, native ornamental grasses, and native shrubs. The plants selected will bloom at different times of year…and will attract a wide range of native pollinators…Educational signage will also be developed and placed around the garden…The lessons learned from the first year of the pollinator garden program will be used to inform additional habitat development projects on the campus, including rain gardens, edible gardens, and other ecosystem projects. The garden will provide a unique learning environment for the students where they will be able to see firsthand the importance of native plants as a source of food for pollinators in our area…The project is a priority for the school system…because of our goal of becoming a sustainability academy and governor’s school…We will incorporate garden care into many MHS and MEHMS courses, as well as club activities, and in the past we have used projects like these to engage members of special populations that may otherwise struggle to engage in learning experiences.”
Unity Walk (Tricia Minson, Jen Santiago, William Bates)
This grant will fund a Spring Unity Walk, which will be “an extension of the “our History Matters” work in equity and inclusion. We are hoping to solicit involvement across schools and departments, and have ideas for various reflection points along the walk for students to share who they are and what matters to them. We see this as a great opportunity to focus on students (& staff and community members) social emotional learning and want to work with school counselors, art teachers, physical education teachers, and others to come up with creative activities at various stops.” Staff, students and community members will be involved in planning the walk with the hope of having students build community and their relationships with their teachers and across schools. The hope is that the walk will help to build a caring culture and encourage students to learn more about themselves and their community.
2019-2020 Super Grant Awards
JESSIE THACKREY PRESCHOOL
Wild Walk Hallway Path (Drechsler/Baroody)
This hallway or outside set of large stickers includes a sensory path and multi-sensory approach to learning – in math and early literacy in particular to address different learning styles for ALL (sic).” The path will benefit all students, but especially those who are at risk and who have IEPs. It will be labeled in English and Spanish.
MOUNT DANIEL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Ukulele! (Sweterlitsch)
“I would like to initiate a ukulele unit with 2nd grade music students. This unit would last from about March until June so students have sufficient time to truly gain musical skills on the instrument. During the unit we will continue to cover 2nd grade music SOLs and connect with the 2nd grade PYP planners…1st and 2nd graders really want to play instruments that are not just used in elementary music classes. The ukulele is a great instrument to meet this need. It is being used by many mainstream bands but is also being used in general music classes throughout the country to provide developmentally appropriate instruction. In my experience nothing works better to help solidity a student’s sense of rhythm than playing in an ensemble.” The grant will fund a class set of 25 ukuleles, a ukulele rack, tuners and ukulele “Essential Elements” instruction books.
THOMAS JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
3D Print Your World (Adetoro)
“3D printing is impacting almost every major industry in the world…FCCPS is a district that is dedicated to providing safe and engaging learning environments that allow students to explore and innovate the world around them…For the 2019-2020 school year, all 5th graders will be introduced to technical drawing, CAD, and 3D printing and showcase their projects at STEAM night. For the years after that all three grade levels will complete 3d printing units…Being awarded this Super Grant will mean that over 600 students will have more authentic exploration of objects and their world…It is also important that as a district, our departments align themselves vertically to provide a learning continuum for all students. 3d printing is taught in the middle and high schools and it makes perfect sense to introduce our students to it at the elementary level as well.” The grant will fund two MakerBot Replicator+ 3D Printers, Filament, MakerBot Educators Guidebook, an online certification course, MakerCare for one year and a small extruder.
MARY ELLEN HENDERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Digital Theatre Portfolios
Gross
This grant will fund an IPad Pro with Apple Care ($1200) and a Macbook Pro with Apple Care ($2700) to allow students to “learn the importance of documenting the creative process through digital portfolios. Throughout the entire school year, students will document their brainstorming sessions, take photographs of stage pictures or blocked scenes, record rehearsals and performances to review for critique. Students will also create individual portfolios to document their growth in theatre.”
The Math Space
Leahey
This grant will create a Math Space where 40-50 students who need math intervention can come to an inviting and engaging space where they want to receive math support. The grant will fund two large dry erase tables for students to show their thinking in collaborative groups, wobble stools and stability balls, and a large standing desk. “The flexible seating and standing options will support students in engaging their brains at the end of the day by allowing their bodies to be more active. Sixth and seventh grade students who receive math intervention will receive it at the end of the day…By this point in the day many students are checked out or close to it. I’m hopeful that the ability to move will help to keep their blood flowing so that their minds can stay active…Ultimately, I have a vision of developing a Math Space where students can also choose to come during Husky Flex, lunch, etc. to engage in mathematical problem solving, puzzles and discussions or to ask for help when they need it.”
iSing for iPads
Carpel/Sample-MEH and GM
This grant will fund an iPad Pro and Accessories, an AirTurn DUO 200 Bluetooth Pedal and the forScore App for the choral departments in the middle school and the high school, which will enhance vertical alignment of the curriculum. The equipment will benefit all students by enabling the teachers to implement best practices in the classroom, but especially those “with executive functioning needs”. A principal benefit of the iPad Pro and the app is allowing the teacher to walk around the classroom and troubleshoot parts of music during rehearsal. “Additionally, students will be able to interact with this tool and demonstrate their understanding of concepts in the class, allowing the teacher to give immediate feedback on formative assessments. Being able to scan in music and annotate it in real time on a projector will not only assist students’ in honing their music literacy skills, but it will help them learn to identify visual cues within a larger context.” The teachers also will use the equipment to highlight sections of music and different students’ parts in the score, record rehearsals allowing students to reflect on their practice, and create tracks for students to allow them to get extra practice on difficult sections of the music.
Upcycled Making for All
Jinks
“Upcycled Making for All is focused on teaching students how to reuse materials in a way that brings new life to what we would typically recycle or throw in the trash, while giving access to engineering and computer science to all students during their time at Henderson will take on this challenge with all 6th grade flex students and 8th graders enrolled in programming and/or design this year…6th graders will upcycle cardboard from delivery boxes in order to make a working pinball machine…(which) will be available to students during recess, during the 5th graders’ visit to MEH, and other school events…8th graders will upcycle t-shirts (or other clothing) by adding an original vinyl design and programming a light show on the shirt.” The project will reach 260 students this year and more in the future. “The project will allow students to see how computer science is in every aspect of their life. Through upcycling projects, students will see themselves as engineers and computer scientists…this could mean more students in the makerspaces, ..enrolled in engineering classes,…signing up for computer science classes,…more minority and female students enrolled in engineering and computer science classes, and a variety of students signing up for a sustainability academy at the new high school.”
MEHMS PE Ninja Warriors
Coffren, Johnson, Nottingham/PE Staff
“We hope to renovate the Auxiliary Gym/Rock Room (built in 2005) into a 2020 state-of-the-art Ninja Warrior training facility” that will benefit all 665 MEH students, special needs students at MEH and GM, MEH staff, students enrolled in ASAP and GMHS athletes (after school). “By overcoming both physical and mental obstacles, students will increase strength, improve flexibility and agility, and enhance their balance. Their focus and concentration will also improve as they confront each obstacle…The challenges these new ninjas will face will help them grow more resilient, which in today’s world may be the most important skill of all.” With the increase in the student population, new PE requirements, and the reduction in outdoor space due to GM construction, space for physical activity is severely limited. “This grant will provide the much-needed physical outlet our students need to make their academic day successful.” Some items in the extensive list the grant covers include: the Master Ninja System, Ninja Angled Step, Safari Climbing Obstacles, Peg-board Climbers, Ninja Teeter Totter, Soft Fat Landing Mats, Stealth Ninja Ledgerboard, Warp Wall, Warped Wall, the Beast Climber, Scaler Nets and Frames, along with a Fitness Equipment Installer/Technician who will visit twice a year.
GEORGE MASON HIGH SCHOOL
IB Film Studies Equipment
Gurgo
This grant will fund state-of-the-art film equipment, including A Canon EOS C100MK2 24-105 24-105 Kit, a Sennheiser MKE-600 Shotgun Mic, Sennheiser HD-65 TV/Headphone Listening System, LIBEC THX Head/THX Tripod/THX Carrying Case, and will benefit the 26 current and all future film students. “Film students are currently using DSLR Cameras or their Cell Phones to record their films. As a premiere K-12 Continuum School Division, our students need the proper equipment to create the same quality film production work as other IB Film students around the world. This new equipment will allow our students to learn the proper techniques of filming, recording and editing sound for high quality production work. Purchasing this new equipment for our Film students will allow the students to take their knowledge of film production to the next level…This is what the industry calls for and I would like to give our budding film students that same experience and opportunity.”
Ceramic Pottery Wheels
Robarge/Gurgo
This grant will fund “two Ceramic Pottery Wheels in order to make this important ceramic process and technique available to our students. This will dovetail nicely with the planned move to the new high school, as there will be a dedicated ceramic space in the new building…The addition of wheel thrown pottery will take the ceramic techniques available to students to a new and exciting level... (The wheels) will provide “seeding” for the transition to the new ceramics space…the ceramics part of the art program provides a hands-on learning experience that students find rewarding, unique, calming and ends with a product they are often very proud of. Approximately 160-170 art students will benefit from this addition, as well as art teachers from across the school system who will be trained in throwing techniques” through an FCEF Advanced Training Grant that will train K-12 teachers this fall in wheel throwing techniques.
Guest Speaker: Nils Ahbel, Presenting: The Dangers of Alcohol and THC
Jayson
This grant will fund Nils Ahbel for two days and will include an auditorium talk for juniors and seniors (400 students) in the morning and then small group breakout sessions in the afternoon and the next day to “dig deeper into questions that students and community members have…I have watched Nils’ presentation and he is a dynamic, engaging, and very passionate speaker. He is also a high school teacher and understands how to hook an audience full of teenagers. His talk incorporates the mathematics of how THC and Alcohol leave a body over time, and he impresses upon the participants how important it is to understand this reaction (especially when it may be happening in your body or the body of a friend)…the metabolism of the THC in marijuana and ethanol in alcoholic drinks are surprisingly different and understanding the process of how each is metabolized can save lives and prevent brain damage, especially in teenagers. The key is to learn the mathematical models that drive these processes and fortunately, most students who are taking or have taken Algebra II are quite familiar with the models…after students attain a clear understanding of how THC and ethanol at metabolized, they will hopefully make better decisions about their use.”
Mobile Workshop Supplies
George
“I am seeking a (Super Grant) to outfit a mobile fabrication shop for both the current and future George Mason High Schools. This mobile fabrication shop will consist of a suite of hand tools, and storage and travel compartments for these tools. I began to build this catalog of tools last year…and am seeking additional funding to further expand the resources available…We have many students across various disciplines in our building who have both a need and interest in fabricating individually designed products. (The GM fabrication shop) is not always available to all students as it is in an instructional space. The mobile fabrication shop will allow tools to be easily packed up, transported to different classrooms, or project locations, and allow students to work efficiently and safely.” The shop currently consists of a portable dust collection system, hand drills, a palm sander and a circular track saw. I am seeking funding to add a storage system for hand tools and hardware, jigsaw, router, air compressor, cabinets and dollies for storage and transportation and a mobile workspace.” This grant will benefit 150 students directly and ultimately the entire GMHS population.
Hispanic Book Festival at George Mason HS
Garcia
The Hispanic Book Festival of Virginia will take place in the first week of April 2020 and this grant will fund a GM Hispanic Book Festival that piggybacks on the VA Festival. Sr. Garcia will invite 10 writers from different Spanish-speaking countries for a “celebration of writing and Hispanic Culture”. All students at GM and MEH who want to participate “will benefit because they will be immersed in a unique experience: they will meet published authors, they will receive a free book, and also will see the authors reading their work. In addition, students from Spanish 3 and up will be encouraged to write an essay or interview a writer. The best works will receive an award.” The grant will fund the festival for two years.
Independent Reading Books for Our LIEP Students
Zelnik
“I am looking to buy independent reading books for our LIEP students so they can increase their language development and build their reading stamina and background knowledge…The books will be on the students’ reading levels and the pictures in the books will further reinforce what they are reading, helping to increase their comprehension….This (grant) will benefit our LIEP students by providing them opportunities to have access to choice books on their level in order to increase their background knowledge, language development and reading stamina.”
2018-2019 Super Grant Awards
Jessie Thackrey Preschool
Playground Additions and Beyond
(Mary Manzione)
“As JTP has grown so has our need for a variety of play equipment.” This grant will fund a four-seat adapted teeter totter, two free-standing mud kitchens, and a free-standing art easel to support social communication and play, develop fine and gross motor skills, and support the STEAM program through outdoor art and sensory exploration for all JTP students.
Mount Daniel Elementary School
Outdoor Classroom (Mila Fesler)
This project will benefit all students, especially special education students, at MD. It will make the Discovery Woods outdoor classroom more accessible. Troop 349 and an Eagle Scout leader will provide the labor to create a mulch path, build a small footbridge over a portion of the trail, lay gravel in low- lying sections of the path, build a ramp over a curb and build signs to designate the area. The grant will pay for materials and the purchase of five weather-resistant chairs.
Flexible Seating (First Grade Team)
This grant will benefit all first-grade classrooms by allowing them to purchase some flexible seating for each classroom. Teachers have seen the benefit in this type of seating for some students because some teachers have experimented with it in the trailers. “A flexible seating model allows for the incorporation of sensory input in seating options. This type of input aids in focus and processing of information. Sensory input is particularly beneficial to students with ASD, ADD, and/or ADHD.”
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School
On the Ball
Using Spheros to Teach Coding! (Gifted, 5th Grade) $1907.99 “Spheros jump, record sound, pulsate, light, roll, turn and more. They can create artwork, navigate obstacle courses, and swim across bodies of water! Spheros can be programmed to do all of these amazing things in a variety of ways.” They will be used in an 8-9 week unit for 150 third, fourth and fifth grade gifted students to learn a “progression of coding skills”.
Moving with Math (K. Wiles and A. Klink)
“The goal of this project is to provide students with special needs with multisensory math instruction. The Moving with Math Learning system is a research-based program that teaches the concepts of math using a multisensory approach...Moving with Math moves students from conceptual to representational to abstract engagement with math” by moving students from manipulative objects to pictures and communication of ideas (e.g., drawing pictures, writing and talking about math) to connecting the objects and pictures to abstract numbers and signs of arithmetic and algebra. The grant will also fund one $50 Amazon gift card for each grade to purchase supplementary books.
TJ Stage Enhancement
FCEF partnered with the FCEPTA to enhance the TJ stage. This grant was funded out-of-cycle so that TJ could purchase the equipment during the summer.
Padcaster Studio Equipment (Megan Torpey)
This grant will be used to purchase a Padcaster Ultimate studio and an IPad Wifi 128G with Apple Care to “start a video news program where students can work on all aspects of television production and multimedia equipment. This includes writing, filming editing and being in front of the camera. Students will create weekly news shows for the entire school to view. The equipment will also be available to other staff members and students who want to create multimedia presentations.” The grant will benefit all TJ students.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Face the Kids – Math Tablet (Claire Bournigal)
This grant will pay to purchase a smart board to use to “present lessons, have students interact with lessons, and generally help students learn.” In addition, it will be used to create formative assessments, encourage innovation and collaboration, create a fun way for students to be involved with learning and “keep pace with the fast and ever-changing technology while still sticking with the fundamentals of learning”. It will benefit at least 100 students per year and impact the learning of a variety of students from at-risk to special needs to advanced math learners.
Drummin’ Up the Band (Jonathan Mills)
“This grant aims to revamp and restructure the organization and management of performance-based percussion equipment. Currently the MEH Band is missing essential pieces of equipment...The grant includes basic equipment that enables the teacher the ability to accommodate students who choose to play percussion, but may be in a financial situation unable to purchase equipment...The equipment will also enable the band to diversify its music literature selection and explore different genres of music with various cultural themes.” The grant will also be used to purchase a “Percussion Workstation”, which is a flexible unit for storage that can be moved around for on-site school performances. The grant will benefit 250 students, including special population students and those with financial needs.
Standing Up (and Pedaling) for Learning (Joel Block/Math Dept.)
“The request is to purchase 14 standing stations that can be used on our current tables @$180 each...and 12 under desk pedal sets @$40 each.” Mr. Block has been using four music stands/lecterns for over a decade and they have been very successful in allowing students to stand and move while working. All math classes will have some of these standers and pedals for student use, so the grant will benefit all MEH students “with a more profound effect on special education students, and students with attention issues.”
Craft Design and Enhancement (Christina Leigh)
This grant will help complete the “start-up phase” of this popular course that MEH initiated last year with the help of a Hitt grant. This grant will be used to expand and enhance the course through the purchase of 20 wooden frame looms, two glass grinders, a large drying rack, assorted ceramic stains,
glazes and underglazes, updated ceramics tools and high fire and low fire clay. All 6th graders, 200+ 7th graders and enrolled 8th graders (75+) will benefit from this new equipment in a course where “the growth mindset has always been at the heart of instruction...where there are no failures, but learning opportunities...where all ideas and expression have value and relevance”.
Video and Editing Equipment for VPA (Lisa Gross)
“Theatre students have various filming projects that require camcorders, editing equipment and editing software. In Theatre 6, students film a public service announcement about why the arts are important, Theatre 7 students create their own silent movie and Theatre 8 students experience acting on camera vs. stage acting. In addition to these projects, students will also be able to film and edit all VPA events, including the musical, concerts and other extracurricular events...With the new equipment that is being requested, students will be able to film and edit high quality video and audio projects.” Equipment includes Apple iMac Desktops with an Apple Care Protection Plan and Canon VIXIA HF R800 HD flash memory camcorders.
George Mason High School
3D Printers (Steve Knight and Freddie Bruner)
FCEF approved this grant out-of-cycle so that Freddie would have the opportunity to get the printers set up and started. This is a great addition to the Maker Space at GM, as Freddie demonstrated to some members of the Board before he left for college.
Breakout of the Norm with Breakout EDU (Garcia, Mahoney, Weston)
“Breakout EDU games require students to work in teams to solve problems based on clues similar to escape rooms. The games are frequently based on curriculum content or just have a pure team building (goal). Students at all levels can enjoy them-and they force students to have a resilient, growth mindset in order to work together to solve puzzles.” This grant will benefit all GMHS students by adding six additional kits to the one kit GM already has, allowing teachers to use three-to-four kits for all of the students in one class.
PE Video Workout System (Green, Dye, Caponnola, Gibbons)
This grant will provide an electronic workout system that will benefit every student in 9th and 10th grades and special education students who take adaptive PE. The LG 65” Smart TV, rolling cart TV mount, Thunderbolt to HDMI cable, DVD/BLU Ray player and Bose TV speaker with optical cable. will allow the PE department “to incorporate a wide range of fitness, exercise and instructional activities in the gym...allow access to videos from YouTube and streaming services...and includes access to a wide variety of abdominal workout routines, cardio kickboxing videos. .and will serve as an aid for teaching specific sport skills.”
Fire Tablets for Android App Development (William Snyder)
“The grant will fund 25 Fire tablets that will enable students to upload their own code-built applications and test their coded applications on an Android Device. Android development is an extension of the Java coding many students learned in AP computer science...Teaching students to develop code on an Android device promotes a marker culture within a classroom, giving students and faculty a chance to see and share their coding projects...Students will be the designers and builders of different applications and must work through the entire system and design life cycle in order to be successful.” All 100 computer science students will benefit, as will the entire GMHS community as students share their apps with other students.
GM Bike Clinic (Kenny George)
“The grant will fund the purchase of a bicycle repair stand, wheel repair stand, and basic bicycle repair tool kit. We will be using these tools to start the George Mason High school bike clinic. This project is a partnership with the newly formed bicycle club, robotics team members, and robotics/CTE students. This bicycle clinic is designed to serve as a means to get students excited about bicycling, to teach students basic bicycling maintenance and safety, and also teach students basic mechanical skills through the process of fixing and maintaining bicycles.” Ninety students and any member of the FCC community who want to participate will benefit.
Interactive Design Toys (Kenny George)
“The grant will fund several interactive projects that will enable students to problem solve, build, and test projects that are highly interactive and promote the concept of play in design. Play is a powerful learning strategy that gets students thinking about how different audiences respond to different stimuli. Design for play also promotes a culture of community within a classroom.” The grant will fund Makerball-a DIY pinball cabinet kit that allows students to build a machine, create playfield elements and design the gameplay of the machine; Makelando-a CNC poster maker, on which students get to build, program and design their own large-scale posters that a robot will draw; Nintendo switch with Labo Kits, which allows students to design simple cardboard or lightweight wood controllers for specific parts of games. 120 students enrolled in CTE, as well as any MEH or GM students who “volunteer to interact with the process” will benefit from the grant.
Digital Camera Kits (Marc Robarge and Sarah Gurgo)
“As our Visual Arts and Computer technology classes continue to grow, we ... request funding for (three Canon IOS Rebel T6 Cameras with 18-55mm and 75-300mm lens kits) to be used jointly by the Photography, Film, and Computer Graphics classes at GM.” This will provide state-of-the-art equipment for GM students and will allow GM to loan some class cameras to students to ensure every student has access to equipment needed to take the courses. This grant will benefit a total of 135 students in these classes. This grant is being funded through the Bob Morrison Fund.
LIEP Books (Susan Zernik)
This grant will fund “independent reading books for 30 LIEP students so that they can increase their language development and build their reading stamina and background knowledge.” The books will be on their reading levels and pictures in the books will reinforce what they are reading and help to increase their comprehension.
Potterbot (Kenny George, Marc Robarge, Sarah Gurgo)
“The grant will fund Potterbot...a CNC clay extruder that works very much like a 3D printer, but outputs clay rather than plastic.” The Potterbot will create “more synergy between Visual Arts and CTE classes through a device that provides experiences where these students can collaborate and exchange skills and experiences.” The Potterbot also is “a more efficient and economical way of rapid prototyping since clay can be reused and iterations of prototypes that are not successful can just be recycled and rebuilt.” The Potterbot will help to expand the skills of 300 CTE and Visual Arts students.
Farmbot Raised Bed (R. Kane, P. Mecca, S. Knight)
This grant will fund a raised garden bed, solar panels, a camera system to monitor the garden bed, gravel to fill the bed and a rain collection system for the Farmbot project. Originally, students and staff were going to build the raised bed, but it required too much expertise. In trying to outsource
construction of the bed, it was difficult to find a company because it was “out of the comfort zone of most.” There is a company that will build it for $6295. The grant will allow GM to proceed with this innovative project.
2017-2018 Super Grant Awards
TJ, MEH, GM
Music Therapy Program for Life Skills Students
Hafsa Rahman - TJ (for students at TJ, MEH and GM)
This grant request is to fund a second year (30 music therapy sessions) of a very successful music therapy program. Parents and teachers provided touching reports of the progress students made educationally, socially, emotionally and in sensory and motor skills with their high level of engagement in the program. "The primary benefit was seen in social, communication, and emotional areas. The benefits in these areas were immense for all students. Every student was fully engaged with no promptings from (the) teacher...The most apparent benefits were seen in those students who are unable to communicate verbally. (They showed) a high level of alertness and responses to the therapist's cues...that are not readily seen in typical classroom activities." As one parent wrote: "It is impossible to put into words the transformation I witnessed with the students and their love for this program and the instructor..."
JTP/MD
Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts
Jeremy Ferrera (MD) and Rachel Hamburger (JTP)
This request is to fund the Wolf Trap residency program for one class at JTP and one class at MD, which will provide "direct in-classroom services to children while emphasizing the professional development of early childhood educators enabling them to infuse the performing arts into classroom instruction." Each residency includes "5 orientation and planning sessions, 11 participatory sessions led by the teaching artist...and follow-up discussions between the teacher and the teaching artist." The program will "change the way we teach" and teachers will be able to use the techniques they learn with classes in future years.
Thomas Jefferson Elementary
Kick Wheel and Splash Pan/Expanding Ceramics at TJ
Angela Wicklund - TJ Art
This request is to expand the art ceramics program by "introducing students to the concept of wheel throwing." The kick wheel is a way for students to "make pottery quickly and effectively at a beginner-intermediate level". It will provide upper level elementary students with the opportunity to use the techniques they learned through "hand-building" ceramics in early grades and to "create bowls, vases, mugs or any type of vessel" with ease. This will give them a more well-rounded preparation for 3D visual arts.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Middle School Craft Design Class Seed and Development Fund
Christina Leigh - MEH VPA
The grant funding would support a new 8th grade elective, "Crafts Design", a one-semester course that "offers students formal instruction in skills, techniques, design, history and creative production of functional art." This include fiber arts, ceramics, glass and wood assemblage. Grant money would be used to purchase "new tools, furniture, storage, equipment and materials vital to the curriculum." The FCCPS budget for this class is $800. "Without the grant, large changes to the curriculum would need to occur, severely truncating the depth of the educational experience for the 40+ students presently enrolled."
MEH/GM
Leadership Seminars for MEH and Band Students
Grades 6-12 Music
The proposal "includes opportunities for 10 leadership empowerment sessions...designed to build capacity, growth mindset, and leadership identity in students through experiential and engaging learning modules." Each session includes two 90-minute sessions at GM and two 60 minute sessions at MEH and a leadership workbook for each student. Sessions cover the topics of Why Leadership: What is your Why? and Mission, Vision and Values; Change and Leadership: Changing YOU and Changing Others; Servant Leadership: The Value of Others; two sessions on Leadership Learning; Motivation vs. Manipulation; and two sessions on Leadership in Action.
Audio/visual Equipment, Flexible Staging and Mural in MEHMS “cafetorium”
Major rework to update and improve functionality and design of the “cafetorium” space and theater classroom at MEMHS for the school and community use. All performing arts students (theater, stage crew, chorus and band) and Falls Church City audiences and participants benefit from more professional environment to perform.
George Mason High School
Replacement of Four Wind Instruments and Replacement of Aging Percussion Instruments
Mary Jo West - Music
"In order to be a successful musician, students must start with an instrument that works...The present inventory consists of intermediate model instruments bought between the years of 2003-2010" which are showing signs of wear and tear and have parts that no longer work. The percussion instruments are used continuously, were purchased 10 years ago and need to be replaced. This grant will fund the purchase of multiple percussion instruments (e.g., bass drums, snare drums, cymbals, chimes, concert Marimba, octave bells, glock cart and stands) There have been no funds for instrument replacement in the last five years and the freeze in the past three years has resulted in instruments not being repaired.
Blackmagic Camera
Kenny George - GM CTE (Film Studies and TV/Media Production)
"Having a high speed/high definition video camera for film production will allow students a truly unique experience. Students currently film video footage with a number of different technologies including cell phones, GoPros and DSLR cameras. The Blackmagic camera...will allow students to shoot with very high resolutions and record in very high frame rates." The camera will provide "access to a new medium that is relevant to contemporary trends in industry and technology."
Epson Large Format Printer and Ink Cartridges
Kenny George - CTE (Film Studies and TV/Media Production)
"One of the most exciting things for students in a design class is seeing their project take physical form through a print or a photograph. In doing this, students are able to appreciate how their work translates as an object in space rather just a digital rendering. This also allows students to share their designs with a broader audience by displaying work in both showcases around the school, and in public venues. One specific example I am excited to introduce is challenging students to redesign spaces in Falls Church City, including George Mason High School, and display these designs in local business and government offices...the printer will allow for printing large banners and posters that students may design for community and school events, creating a new partnership between CTE classes and other community stakeholders."
Four Digital Cameras and a Digital Sound Recorder
Marc Robarge and Sarah Gurgo - Visual and Performing Arts and CTE
This grant will benefit 135 students in IB Art, Computer Graphics, Film Studies, IB Film and Photography classes. The grant will provide funds to purchase state-of-the-art equipment for students as the classes continue to grow. "By providing some class cameras (Canon EOS Rebel T6 DSLR Cameras with 18-35mm and 75-300mm lens kits) to be loaned to students, we insure that every student has access to the media required for class assignments." The digital cameras provide images that "dovetail with the digital imaging programs available through the Adobe Editing Suite that we have bought to be installed on each student's laptop." Students in Film classes will use the digital recorder for quality sound in their productions and IB Film students will use it as they prepare for their Oral Presentations for final assessment.
Support for a Quarterly Lasso Long Form Magazine
Peter Laub - English
This grant will cover software licenses and National Scholastic Press Association membership for a quarterly print form Lasso for two years. "In the crowded media landscape of 2017, good quality journalism is what stands out. Incisive and accurate reporting, exemplary storytelling, creative and engaging content. This is what we strive for every day at the Lasso. This magazine would be colorful and eye-catching and capture readers with powerful photos, graphics and student artwork...While on the surface the idea of a print magazine may not seem "innovative", it is a form of media our student body has never experienced. It is also, increasingly, a trusted form of media in the wider society."
Kiln
Marc Robarge - Art
The grant will fund a new kiln to replace the aged and broken 12-year-old kiln at GM.
Professional Development K-12
K-12 Encore / Visual and Performing Arts Team
Bringing in an a highly-regarded arts integration specialist (Rob Levitt) to provide professional development in Artful Thinking, "a researched way into combining arts and critical thinking skills." The grant would fund training for four day with sessions divided into morning arts classroom visits and afternoon professional development.
Bringing in a ceramics specialist to expand FCCPS' art teachers’ knowledge of ceramics building and glazing techniques. The training would take place in six 1 1/2 hour sessions over two months with all art teachers attending. This would allow the K-12 art teachers "to collaborate and align (their) ceramics units vertically. Ceramics is a hands-on activity in which skills can be scaffolded to be developmentally appropriate at each grade level."
2015-2016 Super Grant Awards
Auditorium Lighting
The "auditorium has reached the limit of what it can accommodate in the way of older dimming systems and quartz bulb lighting instruments. (This FCEF Super Grant) will begin the process of replacing these with newer LED instruments that can be powered directly by GMHS's digital lighting board." These lights have lower power requirements and generate less heat. The instruments have a long operating life and are the types of equipment needed in the new auditorium when it is constructed. FCEF is providing funding for ETC colorsource PARs @$2400, Chauvet Rogue R2 Moving Head LED Light Fixture @$1800, and adaptors and cable @$250. In the past two years, FCEF has provided Super Grants to significantly upgrade the sound and light systems for the auditorium. The new equipment has made a major difference in the quality of productions and events. GMHS auditorium is used by and benefits the entire community.
TJ, MEH, GM
Music Program for Students in Life Skills
The FCEF Super Grant will provide funding to "create an innovative music program with assistance from a highly trained music therapist" for students in the Life Skills program "who face significant challenges to engage and participate in school activities" in a meaningful way. "Consultation and collaboration with a music therapist is an essential factor in creating this program. It will allow staff to learn how to engage students in a unique way that is not possible in their current curriculum." The grant will pay for 10 consultation sessions each at TJ and MEH-GM and instruments appropriate for these students.
JTP
Movement and Sensory Equipment
This FCEF Super Grant will fund equipment for the multi-purpose room, which JTP will use for movement groups run by the physical therapist, sensory breaks, indoor recess and small groups run by the physical, occupational and speech-language therapists. The project will benefit all students at JTP, especially those with special needs, and will allow them to practice skills that allow them to access the school environment, such as stair skills, climbing, core strengthening. The equipment also provides an opportunity to practice these skills when outdoor areas are not available. Equipment includes a platform swing, sand and water activity center, ball pit, cuddle
swing and tents.
Teachtown Social Skills Curriculum
This FCEF Super Grant provides funding for a "social skills program to help children diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and other special needs. Teachtown is the precursor to the program...that is used at Thomas Jefferson Elementary." The program uses a "character-based video-modeling curriculum" where the students follow the adventures of fun, relatable animal characters to help them learn to cooperate, listen, respect personal space, express emotions appropriately and more." The program can also be used in Spanish. Staff will assess students to demonstrate progress.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Sound System
This FCEF Super Grant funds a new portable sound system that will produce high quality sound that can be used for musical performances and in the classroom. This system will be "future-proof" in that it will have "tried and true" technology and should be durable enough to last for the next 20 years. The system will have a multi-channel mixer that can support new endeavors, such as a school musical or play. This grant will benefit all students at TJ and the community.
Social Skills Activities for Indoor/Outdoor Recess and Beyond -- $1500
This FCEF Super Grant provides funding for Teachtown training (see above) and for materials to initiate a "Positive Behavior Intervention System using board games, a social skills library and Nintendo Wii game systems for 15 students in the Life Skills Program." These items will provide opportunities for these students to practice social skills in peer-to-peer interactions that promote continued social interaction.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Outdoor Amphitheater and Foyer Furniture
This FCEF Super Grant provides funding for two nontraditional learning venues. The grant will be used to build an outdoor amphitheatre/classroom that will accommodate 60 students. Sisler's Stone is donating the materials at or below cost and MEH will use parent, staff and student "sweat equity" to build the structure. ($3400) Entry foyer furniture will not only provide a welcoming atmosphere to the school and allow students and others to sit and gather while they are waiting for events, but will be used as an additional learning space for students, especially for those who might need some time away from class or for special needs students. ($7660)
Demonstration Table for the Family Consumer Services Classroom
This FCEF Super Grant provides funding for a cooking demonstration table with electric range and mirror, which will allow the teacher to "show the necessary skills to all kids at once", so she can move around the classroom once cooking begins as opposed to breaking the groups down and showing each group individually.
Equipment for STEAM classes and Makerspace at Henderson (M@H)
This FCEF Super Grant funds new types of equipment and technology that will benefit all middle school students through the STEAM classes and M@H. New technology includes Ozobots, Bloxels, Arduinos, Glowforge laser cutter, KEVA planks. In addition to bringing new equipment to MEH, Mr. Erick, Ms. Fogle and Ms. Slifer will be holding tutorials after school to show students how to use the equipment. They will also implement a "Maker Buddy Board" where students can find peer mentors to help them with projects. This grant helps M@H and STEAM classes expand their outreach and offerings to all MEH students and parents.
Four Standup Desks, Four Balance Ball Chairs and Sensory Items for 7th Grade Special Education Students
This FCEF Super Grant funds items to provide students with movement while they are learning. Standing desks "allow for movement, which increases attention, engagement, and student learning." Students who have standing desks have health benefits, such as preventing orthopedic degradation and dysfunction, repetitive stress injuries, pelvic floor dysfunction, and knee and hip disorders. Balance ball chairs help students with ADHD engage in needed movement, help to increase alertness and attention and strengthen core muscles.
GM
Four Student Standup Desks with Chairs/Stools
This FCEF Super Grant provides seed funding for four standup desks and chairs/stools. (See the information under MEH Special Ed request for benefits of the desks.) The teacher, Ms. Weston, has a standup desk in her room and it has helped tall students, students with ADHD and others who need to move while learning. There is also more flexibility in arranging the desks to foster collaboration among students when appropriate. The FCEF is asking the teacher and students to evaluate the usefulness and benefits of these desks with an eye toward providing input into items for the new GMHS.
Cameras, Lenses and a Printer for the Art Department
This FCEF Super Grant will be used to purchase three Canon T5i Digital Cameras with 18-55MM lens kit, three Nikon D3300 Digital Cameras with 18-55mm and 55-200 lens kit, one Epson P6000 Printer, two rolls of Luster Photo paper 24" X 100' and one roll of universal bond paper 24" x 150' to outfit the 125 students in Photography, Computer Graphics and IB Art classes with state-of-the-art equipment. This funding will give all students the ability to be involved in the entire process from "image capture on camera, digital editing on their laptop, and printed image for display."
Cameras, Lenses and a Printer for the Yearbook
The yearbook has only one camera for use by 20 class students and 35 club members. FCEF Super Grant funds will be used to purchase three D3300 Cameras with lens kits, a Sigma 10-20 mm and a Nikon 55-300mm lens, and an HP color LaserJet printer that will allow students to practice photography skills and to take pictures at sporting and other events for the yearbook, instead of relying on Lifetouch. Funding will allow more students to be involved in the creative process producing the yearbook. The Bob Morrison Scholarship Fund will provide $2960 for this grant.
Purchase two Dell 1600 CPUs with HP 2240 desktop workstations
This FCEF Super Grant will replace two of the 20 PCs bought six years ago with state-of-the-art equipment for students in technical drawing, film studies, robotics and video production classes, in addition to students in after-school clubs. They will also be available to anyone in the school who needs computers compatible with PCs they have at home. Mr. Ballou states that the Macs used in the high school have provided students with many improvements, but many software programs are only available in PC formats. These two new computers will provide students with much-needed upgrades to run programs that are only available in a PC format.
2015-2016 Super Grant Awards
GMHS Auditorium Lights - spotlight replacement in GMHS auditorium; used for GMHS VPA and all community events in auditorium; will be movable to potential new HS
FIRST Robotics Team - used to purchase swerve drives for robotics team and classes
The Memory Project - art program to support international communities facing substantial challenges
Mindfulness Program Research Project - working with IB Psychology students to introduce mindfulness within classroom; evaluations throughout program from GMU graduate students
MEH Leveled Literacy Intervention - research based program for 6-8 graders focused on literacy competency for students needing intensive support
Sensory Room - sensory room for special needs and all students for a therapeutic and safe space within MEH
Strings Program - for purchase of large strings instruments for MEH strings program
Science Lab Gizmos - MEH subscription to science gizmos for use of all students
Makerspace@Henderson - expand M@H with upcycling equipment and adding 3D digitizer
TJ Makerspace - enhance STEAM offering through equipment, training and materials to expand “family” of Makerspaces to elementary students
Projekt Postcard - collaborative arts and culture exchange project
Jan Richardson Guided Reading Professional Development - training for all TJ and Mt.Daniel staff on guided reading for 2016-17 school year
Big Book Storytelling - reading materials for Thackrey Preschool
Online Mindfulness Training - Funding for training in a mindfulness curriculum (for K-12 students) that has been shown to increase empathy, in-class participation, attention, interpersonal functioning and more. Training for school social worker.
MEH Teacher Stipends - stipends for literary magazine and technology student association staff
Jessie Thackrey Preschool
Tiny Tunes
Nora Rosenberger
This grant will provide a weekly music class for all 70 students at JTP for the remainder of the school year. The music classes will enhance early learning and development in cognition and language development, social/emotional development, and fine and gross motor skills.
Rootin’ for Growth
Brannon McLaughlin
This grant “will fund the expansion of (the outdoor learning garden) to our front entrance where we plan to have Virginia native flower beds, as well as more raised garden beds, soil, tools, seeds, signage, a storage shed and weather-appropriate gear so students can fully engage in all seasons. The garden will be used as a structured learning environment daily. Backed by research, garden-based learning is “widely recognized for its ability to improve academic outcomes, nutrition habits, environmental awareness, and social-emotional growth in young children.”
Mount Daniel Elementary School
Empower Through Movement
Meredith Grasso
This grant will be used to purchase the JumpStart TM Parkour Equipment Kit, Parkour FUNdamentals TM 8 Lesson Unit curriculum, and Equipment Delivery and Professional Development to implement the American Parkour (APK) Movement Literacy Program. This kit provides “durable modular equipment that supports safe jumping, balance, vaulting, and coordination drills…Students will participate in a structured progression tied to SHAPE America Physical Education Standards and focused on core skills: balance, coordination, landing, spatial awareness, confidence and SEL.
The program transforms physical education into a platform for self-efficacy, confidence, and cognitive readiness through movement. The APK curriculum has been successfully implemented in over 50 schools and aligns with the new 2024 SHAPE National Standards.
The Power of Voice: A Hip-Hop Residency
Nicole Guimaraes
This Super Grant brings Marisol Velez, who performs as Pinqy Ring, a nationally recognized hip-hop artist and educator from Chicago, and a professional beatboxer to Mount Daniel Elementary for a four-day artist residency in Spring 2026.
The residency will include:
- A whole-school assembly introducing hip-hop, beatboxing and storytelling.
- Grade-level workshops where students actively engage in rhythm, rhyme, and beatboxing exercises.
- A culminating showcase where students perform collaboratively with Pinqy and the beatboxer.
There are multiple benefits to this grant, including introducing students to hip-hop, a world-wide influential cultural movement that is underrepresented in elementary curricula, enhancing academic skills and collaboration, and bringing artists of color into our school to celebrate a genre rooted in Black culture, which will allow underrepresented students “to see themselves reflected in the curriculum in a positive light, while also broadening the perspectives of all students.”
“Kind Hearts, Bright Futures” Canvas Wall Mural
Meaghan Barrett
Students will work collaboratively to complete a canvas grid (one canvas per classroom) to be in a permanent installation in the front of the building. Jan Garrett (previous art teacher) will be our artist in residence. The children will share what it means to be a kind heart into their design to create an individual square, which will be adhered to a larger canvas. Mount Daniel students begin their social emotional journey by working on empathy and friendship skills which will last a lifetime. This ties in with our school-wide goal of inclusion and equity.
Closing the Literacy Achievement Gap with Multilingual Learner Students
Dave Sikora
This grant will be used to purchase Science of Reading-based literacy games, sets of decodable readers with fiction and non-fiction books across three reading levels, word-building kits, and storage for these materials, which two ESL and two reading teachers will use.
Oak Street Elementary School
Bringing Virginia History to Life
Lauren Carpel/Eric Duchaj
Super Grant funds will purchase 10 Virginia Geographic Alliance (VGA) Floor Maps of Virginia and nine Jamestown Artifact Kits. The maps allow students to step directly into Virginia’s geography, while the artifacts let them handle replicas of tools, pottery, and other objects from early Virginia history. Together, these resources create immersive, tactile learning experiences aligned with the 2023 Virginia Standards of Learning. The grant would primarily benefit all fourth-grade students, with additional use of the maps in Grades K-3 for map skills and early Virginia history, and Grade 5 for U.S. History to 1865.
AI Explorers: Building Early Foundations for Future Innovators
Nila Nash-Jackson
This grant will be used to purchase a CoDrone EDU, an updated programmable drone; three Dobot Magician Lites, a lightweight robotic arm equipped with AI technology, and three coordinate boards, and a Makerbot Sketch 3D bundle and filament pack, which will replace outdated and nonfunctional printers.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Ukelele Flex at MEHMS
Emily Ives
This grant would be used to purchase 25 ukuleles, storage carts, 25 tuners, and music books necessary to create and sustain a new music Flex class for years. Forty students each rotation would benefit. In ukulele Flex, students would have the opportunity to learn the basics of ukulele playing and allow them to compose their own music towards the end of the Flex rotation. This is a fantastic opportunity for students who have an interest in music but aren’t enrolled in choir or band and will allow students to engage in music who might not otherwise during or after school.
The Vibe Tribe – A Peer-based Program to Promote Belonging and Inclusion for Middle School Special Education Students”
Alexis Stec
The Vibe Tribe is a peer-mentoring program designed to strengthen belonging, inclusion and communication skills among middle school students. Through a structured 10-week curriculum, general education peer mentors are paired with students in the ABLE program (self-contained special education) to engage in meaningful activities, such as collaborative art projects, journaling, service initiatives and structured social games. The program emphasized relationship-building, empathy, and peer connection, while also creating leadership opportunities for mentors and authentic social engagement for mentees. The curriculum will be offered as a Flex option each quarter.
New York City Tenement Museum Virtual Field Trip
Maryel Barry
The Tenement Museum offers a virtual, live presentation of its museum, an actual tenement that has been restored, with an explanation of the life of immigrants in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 1910s by one of its staff members who dresses as a character of the time period. This lesson will fit in perfectly with our “Growth of America” Unit, which focuses on later 19th/early 20th century immigration. In total, all ten 6th grade history classes would participate. A virtual tour visit for our 6th graders would make the history that they learn take on a much deeper understanding. The museum is a trove of incredible artifacts and stories that will foster a greater understanding of the life of immigrants and the time period.
Meridian High School
Precious Plastics–Closed Loop Lunch Waste Recycling
Kenny George
Funds from this grant will be used to update and expand the equipment students use to recycle their own plastic waste. Currently, students in the Design and Sustainability programs have a branch of Precious Plastics, an international initiative to reduce plastic waste in landfills through community-based recycling. With current equipment, students can shred certain plastics and inject them into molds using a large format manual injection mold. But the current system has limits, including the need to inject outside and the need to be hooked up to a 220v to shred, and the inability to shred PET, one of the most commonly used plastics in water bottles. The new equipment, which includes an automated mini injection machine, which can be used inside, and two modular molds that can be used with this machine, will solve these problems. The grant will also fund a small scale manual crank shredder that can be mounted on any work surface and a filament maker designed for cutting up PET water bottles and turning them into usable 3D printer filament.
Fab Lab Tech Updates
Kenny George
The funding requested by this grant will be used to upgrade technology in the Design lab and Fab lab (used by over 250 students) to meet the current standards of CAD and design software. We are currently running most applications on equipment that is 10 years old, and with updates of curriculum specific software, our machines are not able to perform as needed. We are looking to replace the following pieces of technology”:
- Two Manufacturing/CNC computers that “speak directly to manufacturing equipment”;
- One MacPro computer-Teacher Server which is able to run poster prints and 3D prints simultaneously while still able to process complex graphic renders of projects;
- One Macbook Pro Laptop to allow the teacher to run more complex models in CAD, with the ability to run programs overnight at home;
- One Bambu 3D Printer to update to technology that allows for wireless printing, printing in multiple colors and being able to cut and engrave prints in one machine.
- New keyboards and monitors for the new CPU stations
- New Epson printer for posters and signs used by all FCCPS
This new equipment will allow students to access current versions of software that we cannot run in the class environment, run it quickly, which will allow students to cycle through faster, and it will free up the instructor to multitask on a machine rather than work with a backlogged queue of projects.
Utilization of Photomodulation, Radial Mechanical Energy
Vicki Galliher
Funds from this grant would provide therapeutic modalities that would contribute to a reduction in post-injury recovery and rehabilitation of approximately 15-23%, thereby returning the injured athlete to sports participation sooner. These modalities can also contribute to the overall enhancement of an injured athlete’s mental and emotional well-being by helping them re-engage sooner in the activities they love, and lead to a greater sense of inclusion within the team. The therapies will be available as needed to any of the 650 participating athletes and to the general student population on an as-needed and prescribed basis.
The grant will fund:
- Red Light Therapy Panels for targeted area (2) and half body treatment area (2)
- LED Light Therapy contour panels
- Radial shock wave therapy device
These modalities will add to the state-of-the-art capabilities of MHS to treat athletic injuries.
Creating an eSports Lab
Christopher Cantrell
Super Grants will fund six high-performance computers to be used in the curriculum for all CS classes, as well as eSports, Cyber Patriots and Robotics.
This grant will transform students’ learning and engagement by introducing eSports as a competitive and collaborative discipline, fostering teamwork, strategy and leadership. eSports is recognized as an official VHSL sport, so it is imperative to give students a space to practice and collaborate, engaging learners who may not participate in traditional athletics.
2024-2025 Super Grant Award Winners
Jessie Thackrey Preschool
Building Enrichment Brick by Brick
A. Klink/B. McLaughlin
Funds will purchase “the complete Lego Pre-K Set. This set will be used for small group enrichment and reinforcement of essential skills throughout our Pre-K Classes. Building with LEGO encourages tactile engagement and fosters creativity. The lessons and sets will help our IEP students work on communication and socialization goals while building strong connections with their peers.
Beaming with Learning: Brightening our Understanding
Susan Rhymes
Funded six light tables (one for each room at JTP) along with manipulatives that can be used alongside these tables for various literacy, mathematics, and STEM activities. The light tables will be used to enhance students’ critical thinking skills, fine motor skills, creativity, attention spans, sensory development, as well as spatial awareness.
Mount Daniel Elementary School
All Kids Bike
Kenny George and Dailey Parker
The purpose of this grant is to bring a bike curriculum to MD that will be part of first grade PE. Kenny George and the MHS Bike Club will support the program to promote bike-riding among FCCPS’s younger students by serving as representatives for the program, providing support to maintain the equipment, and serving as volunteer aides. Grant funds will purchase 24 bikes and a proven curriculum.
Flexible Learning Outdoors at Mount Daniel
L. Carpel, S. Alverson, C. Dassira
The purpose of this grant is to convert a terrace outside of two first grade classrooms into a “flexible outdoor environment for all teachers...to use. We envision the space being used starting in the spring with warmer weather and opportunities for connections to content and concepts, particularly in science and social studies...This learning area will have different “zones”, such as an outdoor rug, a sun shade, planters, storage for the outdoor tools, and more...Within spaces, there are zones for different activities, collaborative group work, small group learning with adults, reading, creative learning, experiments and testing, and dramatic play. Funds would be used to purchase picnic tables, a shade sail, raised planting beds, outdoor storage containers, an ant farm, a worm farm, a weather station, and various gardening supplies.
Drumroll Please: Electronic Drums
Nicole Guimaraes
Two electronic drum sets and auxiliary equipment for the students at Mount Daniel. These electronic drum sets will be used in the current school year as a means to enhance our modern band instruction and spring music performances. They will continue to be a part of our music instruction and curriculum for years to come... The addition of electronic drum sets will be an innovative step forward in our music program that builds on our existing curriculum with ukulele, keyboard, and drum pad instruction. Besides that, electronic drums are incredibly useful and valuable for classroom settings because they offer a quiet way to practice drum skills. They serve as a means to continue to modernize our music program.
Oak Street Elementary School
Flexible Seating
Ellie Reynolds
FCCPS funds will be used to purchase various types of flexible seating for Ms. Reynolds third grade class.
Tom Tom Percussion Sets
Connor Burke
Funds will be used to purchase a 14-inch and a 16-inch concert tom set for the elementary school music room and resources for both teaching and learning percussion.
Video Creation and Editing
Daniel Israelsson
This grant will benefit 200 fifth grade students who will make a commercial as part of a project for an elective unit and will be able to engage in video creating projects throughout the year - including for Exhibition if they choose to do so. “This will allow student's creativity to flourish - they will be able to create new and engaging video and print media to share with our school. It will also give them real-world, practical experience with video creating and editing, including with green screen software.” Funds will be used to purchase three of each of the following: green screen, lighting equipment, wireless microphone system, camera, USB card, Tripod; and video editing software.
Global Adventures in Engineering
Nila Nash-Jackson
This grant will benefit all fourth and fifth grade students. “Engineering is Elementary (EiE), the award-winning curricula division of the Museum of Science, Boston, develops research-based, classroom-tested programs that empower children to become lifelong STEM learners and passionate problem solvers. EiE's curriculum encourages all children, including those from underrepresented groups, to see themselves as engineers. The global and diverse topics fall in line with our district's international mindedness division”. Funds will be used to purchase two units and materials. The fourth grade EIE , “Earthquake Engineering”, will allow students to “explore natural phenomena and its impact on human survival.” The fifth grade EIE , “Light Up the Night: An Electrical Engineering Challenge” will allow students to “learn and use their creativity and knowledge of electrical engineering to design a light display that replicates the floors and patterns of the Northern Lights.”
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Artist in Residence Program: Containing Multitudes
Marc Robarge/ Maddy Miller
This would be the third AIR project in FCCPS. “This school-wide art project, lead by artist Marc Robarge, will result in a large ceramic installation along the ramp wall of MEH just outside the cafetorium...the idea of evolving identity was selected as a theme common across grades 6-8, as well as being a key concept in the IB curriculum...The title is inspired by a line in Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”...”I am large, I contain multitudes. This line is often interpreted to speak to our complex identity, our expanding sense of self, and our relationship to others and the world.” Each participant (everyone at MEH) will create a “house” shape to represent their self and these will be arrayed in a tessellating design inspired by a spiral aloe plant. “An array of these ‘pods” will flow across the wall, creating movement and implying relationships.” This project will reach out to every student, as well as faculty and staff to participate, giving each person a “chance to benefit from a hands-on ceramic workshop while contributing to a school wide art project.”
ELL Nonfiction Resources
Karina Avila
FCCPS will fund nonfiction books in other languages and at a lower academic level of English to help students in school projects and in learning.
Chew and Chat Kindness Projects
Andrea Chew
This club “is a student-led initiative designed to spread kindness throughout our school and community...Our mission is to foster a positive environment to counter bullying, racism, and hate, with a focus on promoting acts of kindness.” Fully funded by the MEH PTA.
MEH Poster Maker and Supplies
Steve Pickering
“We would like a poster maker specifically for Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School. This will allow teachers to make posters with their own materials. It will allow us to have students make posters that beautify our building. It will allow our library’s makerspace to grow.” The request includes a printer, cartridges, and a 36” by 100” roll of paper.
Meridian High School
Seeing the Unseen
Megan Rerucha
FCCPS will purchase 20 new microscopes, benefitting 175 biology students. FCEF will buy additional equipment (i.e., one UltraRocker Rocking Platform, two mini-centrifuges, two countertop distillers, and four water baths.)
Unlocking Genetic Mysteries
Megan Rerucha
“After winter break, students in freshman biology (175+) create a DNA fingerprint to solve a mystery using a process called gel electrophoresis. Through a partnership with Virginia Tech, we get cat DNA to use for this experiment. Students practice scientific skills such as micropipetting and centrifuging in order to conduct this complex lab. Although we are able to get the cat DNA for no cost, the tools that we use to conduct the electrophoresis are very expensive and some of the tools for this extensive lab need to be replaced.” Grant funds will be used to purchase new equipment allowing students to work in smaller groups to obtain more hands-on experience,
Regenerative Sports Physical Therapy
Vicki Galliher
This grant will benefit almost 80% of the student population, especially athletes and students in the CTE Sports Medicine courses. “This Super Grant application addresses the goal of enhancing the treatment & recovery services available to our athletes & students by targeting the acquisition of the latest evidence-based therapeutic modalities. The application also addresses the need to accommodate an expanding number of sports teams/programs being offered at Meridian High School and the continued growth of our CTE Sports Medicine courses.” Grant funds will be used to purchase three therapeutic therapy devices (Lympatouch 3.0 Pro/Rapid Reboot Complete Recovery System/Iron Neck Pro 3.0 System), which are “considered among the leading innovative devices in the field of regenerative medicine and sports physical therapy” and various accessories.
Adaptive Ceramics Wheelchair Accessible Pottery Wheel
Christina Leigh
“At present the MHS Ceramics classroom has a handbuilding table that is ADA compliant and is the proper height for wheelchair access. However, our pottery wheels in the wheel room are not ADA compliant which would leave wheelchair bound or otherwise disabled students at a disadvantage in the wheel throwing. Purchase of this adaptive wheel allows students with disabilities to throw on the wheel. The wheel is adjustable for use with a mobility device, standing or with a stool. Arm rests allow students with balance issues to use the wheel. When not in use by a student with needs, it can also be used by the general population. The addition of this adaptive pottery wheel will make the wheel throwing program completely available to all students and assure access, equity and fairness in the Ceramics classroom.”
Anatomy Models Continued
Kish Rafique
This grant request is for additional skeletal models and clay to allow for smaller groups of students to work on each model to provide more hands-on experience for each student. The models give students the ability to take their book learning and apply it to models where they can build muscle with clay and learn how they work.
Camera Upgrades for Film Studies
Shawn Northrip
This grant will benefit the 27 students currently enrolled in Film Studies and all students who take the course in the future. Grant funds will be used to purchase six video cameras that will allow students to shoot high quality videos to make films.
Compost and Food Rescue
Tosin Adetoro
Compostable cafeteria “waste” alone makes up ~70% of what is currently going into landfill from schools. Several school districts in the DC Metro area currently operate comprehensive waste management programs with composting and food student leaders have voiced that they would like FCCPS to participate. Funds from this grant would be used to implement a division-wide composting program that has the potential to impact every student in FCCPS. Eight to 10 student leaders at MHS will run the program that will expand to student teams at each of the other schools next year... The initiative will redirect organic waste from the kitchen and cafeteria to create compost that can be then used to improve soil quality on campus or elsewhere. FCCPS will fund contract with composting company; FCEF will fund $1000 towards program supplies and signage.
2023-2024 Super Grant Award Winners
Mount Daniel Elementary
Wellness, Equity and Belonging: Learning Adventure, Creativity, and Friendship Await At Every Turn!
Second Grade Team
Grant funds will purchase materials for each classroom that will directly impact all current and future second grade students. “The skills learned, by engaging with these materials, will provide a basis for students to gain understanding and knowledge of positive, productive interactions among peers that will stay with them for years to come. The students will gain educational and social emotional skills that will enhance learning, adventure, creativity and friendship at every turn throughout their years to come!” Materials are differentiated and tied to Virginia SOL’s. The materials will help students make social connections, heighten their sense of community in the classroom and grade, and provide differentiated educational support, all of which are needed after the pandemic with online and hybrid learning.
Piano Stars
Nicole Guimaraes
“I would like to purchase a set of (14 full size) Casio keyboards and the necessary equipment so that all of the students at Mount Daniel can participate in a keyboarding unit and incorporate these skills into our music classes…During the (keyboard) unit, we will cover K, 1st, and 2nd grade SOL’s and make connections with our PYP units of inquiry and learner profile traits…Adding a keyboarding unit to our curriculum will immediately bring (students’) learning to a new level as they explore new ways to make and create music…I have already seen what an impact learning the ukulele has had on the 2nd grade class, and I am excited to extend that impact with an instrument that will reach even more students. This will be yet another means of reaching all students.”
MD Thinking Classroom Book Club
Meg Flajser, Amanda Morey, Meaghan Barrett, Jean Schumacher
Funds will be used to purchase 71 tabletop whiteboards, 18 mounted boards, paper for cabinets, and markers.
“Many Mount Daniel teachers are engaging in a Building Thinking Classrooms book club this year. This is a year long book study which involves learning and implementing small pieces at a time and meeting as a group as thought partners and collaborators…One of the main findings of the research behind this book is that student engagement and thinking is the highest when they are standing and working at non-permanent vertical spaces (whiteboards). By getting students up at white boards constantly collaborating in small groups around thinking tasks in all content areas, students learn how to communicate their thinking, ask thought provoking questions and how to become problem solvers and independent thinkers not reliant on the teacher.”
From Jen Fessenden, who is implementing this approach in a few secondary and MD classrooms: ”I’ve never witnessed anything like this. Nothing has been more transformational and has made such an impact on student thinking and achievement. It takes students from (sitting, taking notes and being bored) to standing and engaging in the content in a naturally differentiated way which allows students to push their thinking to such high levels.”
Oak Street Elementary
Artist in Residence
This grant would fund an Artist in Residence who would work at Oak Street Elementary. “The creation of a work for permanent exhibition at Oak Street will be related to the PYP Transdisciplinary theme of ‘Who We Are’ which relates to the connection of students to the local and global communities. All grade levels at Oak St explore this theme as part of their PYP curriculum. Teachers from across the grade level and Encore team are positive about this theme, as is the PYP Coordinator and principal.”
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Mindfulness in the Middle
Casey Maco and Susan Jinks
“FCCPS has chosen to focus on Wellness, Equity, and Belonging as the district goal this year. Mindfulness in the Middle is centered on the goal of wellness for MEH teachers, paraprofessionals and staff. (It) is aimed at retaining teachers by focusing on their wellness as a part of their daily work schedule instead of another task for teachers after the school day is over…Mindfulness in the Middle aims to create a (room) within the school that (all staff) can access during their planning period, before school, during lunch, or after school. Instead of…feeling burned out when they leave school, our goal is to provide an opportunity to recharge while in school.” The room will have soft lighting, a plush carpet on the floor, walls covered in soft fabric where staff can do yoga, stretch, color, do puzzles or sit in a massage chair” in a spa-like atmosphere. “Teachers value and are expected to teach kids different ways to practice self-care and socio-emotional skills, and what better way to teach it, than to practice it themselves?”
Funded with help from MEH PTA.
Meridian High School
Zoom Pars and Moving Lights for the Black Box
Shawn Northrip
“The students’ growth in light design this year has been exponential. The lighting lab in the Black Box is a powerful tool that many students are excited to utilize across all of my classes. However, the obstacle we ran into last school year was the size of our lighting inventory did not meet the demands of the number of different projects being performed at any one time…with the addition of eight more zoom pars (controllable theatrical flood lights) we’d be able to increase the possibilities for different classes to use the space simultaneously, by having enough instruments to meet the needs of the students’ disparate and inventive staging demands, and the inclusion of four moving lights…would allow each class to meet their needs for specials (single spotlights that serve a specific purpose).
CROW: Extrusion, Pelletizing, and Injecting (Complete Setup)
Kenny George
“The project began last year with the idea of recycling 3D printer filament. Out of this concept came the seed of an idea to scale up recycling to include other forms of plastics and the procurement of additional equipment that would allow for different varieties of post-consumer recycling.”
Last year, FCEF provided a grant to purchase equipment to begin a student-centered effort around recycling waste produced during the design process, primarily by breaking down 3D prints that were no longer needed and project byproducts with the hope of reconstituting the waste into filament that could be used. They were able to break down the filaments, but the results were too inconsistent to replace professionally manufactured options. Also, because MHS is a LEED building, they could not vent out the windows”. The current grant requests equipment to correct these issues.
The second request is to purchase equipment to allow students to create products from the recycled waste. “…we hope to produce a variety of post-consumer recycled products in house…we will be launching this program with implementation of an injection molding system.” (The four items produced will be) rock climbing holds for use on playground equipment, small planters to use with plants from the vivarium, custom carabiners with a logo embossed, custom coasters with a logo embossed.
Meridian Maker Club
Logan Russo
“I am starting a Maker Club at Meridian High School. It takes place during Mustang Block and possibly after school, depending on student interest. With this grant money, I would purchase materials…The Maker Club allows students to take brain breaks from their academics, connect with other students in collaborative creative efforts, and even learn new skills…One of the tenets of the FCCPS Strategic Plan is Wellness, Equity, and Belonging. Students will benefit from the Maker Club because having a screen-free break will reduce their stress levels and help them relax, making them more ready to learn in the classroom. Additionally, they can form connections with other students, helping form a sense of belonging. The Makers Club is open to all students who choose to participate…The grant would allow the library to be a space where students can come to innovate and create, as well as to study. All of the students in the school are able to participate…including those who are multilingual learners.” Funded with help from PTSA.
Resistance Training for Adolescents & Youth Athletes
Patrick Anderson, Courtney Gibbons, Vicki Galliher
Grant funds would purchase six 300 lb York International Olympic Sets, six York Olympic Hex 45 lb. Weight Bars, two Safety Squat Bars, and one each of 5-50, 55-100, 105-225 Rubber Hex Dumbbell Sets.
“We are seeking a Super Grant for the purchase of additional resistance/strength equipment and accessories to supplement the current equipment available within the Meridian High School Weight Room/Fitness Center.” The additional equipment would allow for expansion of MHS PE and after-school programming, expansion of adaptive PE classes expansion of the training programming for athletes, and expansion of rehabilitation protocols for athletes. Resistance training has extensive proven benefits for all these purposes. Funded with help from Athletic Boosters and Athletic Department.
Digitalization Within the Special Needs/Special Education Setting: Virtual Reality Therapy
Vicki Galliher and Sasha Thomas
This grant would benefit students with special needs and students receiving physical and occupational
therapy. Funds would be used to purchase 10 Meta Quest 2 – Advanced All-In -One Virtual Reality
Headsets with straps and a charging station, along with eight games.
“Virtual Reality (VR) can be viewed as an assistive technology, due to its potential to minimize or offset
the effects of a disability, and provide an alternative means for an individual to accomplish a particular task. VR learning environments can be personalized to allow a student to focus on their unique strengths and abilities…and work toward mastery of a task or skill. VR can provide a safe and supportive simulated environment that allows a student to practice or enhance various skills that can be transferred to the real world. An advantage to VR includes the use of repetition and the capability to increase the difficulty of the task to measure progress… Virtual reality is making its way into special education classrooms, where it provides students with opportunities to work towards mastery of their target skills, …IEP goals, and engage taught coping strategies within a controlled environment for social settings.”
Living Anatomy Labs: Experiential Learning through Art and Movement
Kish Rafique
Building anatomy and physiology in clay deepens the student’s spatial and relational understanding of anatomy, and thus, results in a better educated student ready to apply their knowledge to reality (3-dimensions and a living human). Experiential learning is an excellent method for students to retain information because the use of their own bodies moving will access the students’ kinesthetic intelligence.
The five “50-minute clay-building sculpting labs will use half-bodied models …to integrate the anatomical learning in 3-dimensions. The oil-based clay never dries out and can be reused indefinitely.” In these labs, students will use clay to build muscles. “The students will leave the muscles they build in previous modules on the model and can build the successive model right on top of their last module. At the end of the course, the student will have a comprehensively sculpted model of a human body and its major muscles from the inner most core to the head, fingers, and toes.”
Music Artist in Residence
Mary Jo West
“Falls Church resident, Stephen Gorbos, is interested in becoming our first composer in residence at MHS. (He) composes concert music for a range of ensembles and soloists, as well as music for film, theatre, and dance. His music… navigates a wide palette of genres and influences, creating a synthesis between styles as diverse as American rhythm & blues, western classical music, and Javanese gamelan.”
Commission Project: Dr. Gorbos would create an original composition five to six minutes long with the City of Falls Church as the inspiration. Students will be part of the creative process from the start, providing ideas of spaces in Falls Church to inspire the piece. The Meridian High School Wind Ensemble will premiere the composition, perhaps at its Carnegie Hall appearance in the spring. Dr. Gorbos would come in for two rehearsals and work with the ensemble on performing the piece.
Electronic Music Project: “Dr. Gorbos will work with IB Music Students (IBHL2), students in the Electronic Music Club, and English Department students in composing and production using Abelton Live (four workstations were funded by FCEF in a prior grant cycle).…in three to four classes. We will solicit original poetry from students in the creative writing program…and Dr. Gorbos will record readings of these poems, and will then mentor the students in composing a soundscape that illustrates these texts…Students will get a thorough introduction to using Ableton Live for music production, working with arranging various sound sources into a coherent audio mix and dramatic expression of the poetry.”
Music Technology
Mary Jo West and Steve Knight
“This is a continued project for the grant received in 2021 for four electronic music production workstations for the music production lab at MHS. The Music Technology classroom now has 4 music production stations due to the generous grant from 2021. We would like to add six more stations…to continue to teach the technical side of music recording, notation, and production. The ultimate goal is to eventually have 10-15 music student stations with headphones and one teacher station…Workstations include standalone MACS with Abelton music production software, monitors, audio interface, keyboard speakers, headphone, cables, microphones, mic stands…This would make it possible for our students to fulfill IB requirements as well as create music technology pieces if we could slowly begin to outfit the lab with student and teacher workstations”.
The lab is used by IB students who need to submit music technology work as part of the assessment in the new IB Music curriculum and the Electronic Music Club that works in the room twice a week. Guitar students would like to use the lab if there were more stations.
Wheel Room Recording and Broadcast Technology
Christina Leigh
Grant funds will purchase a GoPro camera, a Samsung 50” Smart TV and accessories. The project entails mounting a large format flatscreen television to the wall above a selected throwing wheel in the ceramics wheel room. The screen will project an enlarged image and amplified audio of the instruction as captured by a head mounted GoPro camera worn by the instructor during demonstrations.
The wheel room technology requested will allow real time and recorded capture of point of view wheel throwing instruction. By using a head mounted GoPro with cable connection to a wall mounted screen, the video of the instruction will be enlarged and presented in a manner that will be visible to all students. This is a distinct advantage compared to the present situation, which requires students to rely on verbal descriptions and strained, obstructed viewing of the wheel throwing demonstrations.”
2022-2023 Super Grant Award Winners
Jessie Thackrey Preschool
PreK Jam Band (Oudheusden-Adelman)
Access to a musical arts program and materials that are developmentally appropriate, engaging and aligned to state standards.
Family Engagement (Rosenberger)
Purchase the Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) curriculum and provide the “My Big World” magazine for each student
Flexible Seating (Saaty)
Provide various types of flexible seating (scoop rockers, floor table and four chairs, moon seats, concentration rocker, vidgets, peanut balls, wiggle cushions) for our youngest students.
Mount Daniel Elementary
Kimochis Schoolwide (Reyes)
Fund a “Mixed Bag of Feelings” for every classroom (24) and for each administrator. Purchase one set in Spanish and additional characters that were not part of the Educator Kit purchased last year.
Oak Street Elementary
A Nugget of Learning (Wiles)
This grant will provide innovative flexible seating and equipment for special needs students by funding an Outdoor Nugget, lap desks and a mobile white board to be used indoors or out.
Revitalizing the Third Grade Courtyard (Lands/Third Grade Team)
To bring JOY into the courtyard space by purchasing two coated picnic tables with attached seating (one is handicapped accessible), benches, wind chimes, wooden signs, standing wooden planters, paint, and other supplies for planting.
Global Adventures in Engineering (Adetoro)
For 4th grade students, purchase an EiE unit called Earthquake Engineering, which will give students additional opportunities to explore natural phenomena and it impact on human survival. For 3rd grade students, grant funds will purchase “Hop to It”, a unit through which “students learn about invasive animals around the world and how to help protect that region.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Theater Archiving Equipment (Gross)
Fund equipment to archive after-school rehearsals, productions and in-class summative performances, take production photos at dress rehearsals, headshots of actors and production photos to use in marketing and lobby displays, and enable students and families to access previous performances.
Meridian High School
Magic with Black Lights (Northrip/Sample)
Purchase black light equipment for use in the fall musical, Pippin, and then to use in the Black Box Theater and in the new Technical Theater class.
Pinball! Creating, Designing & Programming Games (George/Snyder)
Fund the purchase of “a Multimorphic P3 Pinball cabinet, one game module and a kit of basic components and circuitry that will allow students to learn about game programming, basic circuit design, and mechanical engineering through working with an open-source pinball cabinet that is intended to encourage users to build their own games.”
3D Printer Recycling (George)
Fund to establish an experimental 3D recycling center in the Fab Lab at Meridian High School. The equipment will allow students to grind, melt, extrude and respool 3D printer waste so that it can be reused
Hands-on Learning and Real-World Problem-Solving Through Spheros (Rerucha)
Funding this grant will benefit 25-50 students each year in the environmental science course or the sheltered EL biology course, many of whom receive special education or English language services. They will use the Spheros for two tasks-to collect trash on land and then to collect trash in water.
Comprehensive Physical Education Program (Moore)
Provide a “more individualized approach while enhancing the educational experience offered to students” and “to develop physically literate students by providing experiences outside of the norm of common team sports” by purchasing additional types of PE equipment to supplement current program offerings, like recreational games, archery, CPR, and outdoor pursuits.
Biking Around the Block (McCarthy/Block)
Fund the purchase of two adaptive tricycles for 20 special education students to use to learn how to ride bicycles.
Virtual Reality Therapy (Galliher)
Fund the purchase of VR headsets to to be used with athletes recovering from acute/chronic injuries, students with special needs, and athletes recovering from concussions.
Sonic Journey! (West)
Fund the replacement of our 25-year-old synthesizers, since synthesizers have changed significantly in the power and the sounds that they produce. The grant will fund two synthesizers and two amps.
Aquaria 414 (Pollack/Wu-Rorrer)
Purchase and development of an ecosystem-based series of aquaria to outfit a newly designed aquatics room.
2021-2022 Super Grant Awards
FCEF was pleased to announce the approval and award of $51,341.82 in our eighth round of FCEF Super Grants.
Jessie Thackrey Preschool
Tinker Space Lab for STEM (Meghan Barrett)
The Tinker Space Outdoor Lab will “enhance our inquiry-based Curriculum. Items would enhance units such as Tubes and Tunnels, Balls, Simple Machines, Trees, Garden, Insects, and Building Units (plus many more). Our children learn best with hands on/kinesthetic activities. These materials enhance student centered learning materials for children to build and discover.”
Mount Daniel Elementary School
Tools for Big Feelings (Lisa Murphy)
“Kimochis is a social and emotional learning program designed to give children the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to recognize and manage their emotions, demonstrate caring and concern for others, establish positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and handle challenging situations constructively.” This program will be used with students in Kindergarten. “With the COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout, all kids are having to deal with some very big emotions.” This program gives young students the ability to deal with these emotions through play. “The Kimochis lessons use stuffed characters and little feelings pillows to teach children to get in touch with their emotions in a fun and comfortable way…Kimochis allows children to have a third-party to safely role play and express emotions.”
Electrify the Beat! (Nicole Guimaraes/Kayondra Reid (OS)/Lauren Carpel(MEHMS))
This grant will benefit all MDES and all OSES students, and choral students at MEHMS. The grant will fund two events. The first, in December 2022, will be a three-day workshop, “Electrify Your Choir”, conducted by two professionals, singer/songwriter, Laura Kay, and choreographer/dancer, Nathan Blake. All students will work in small groups and will cover vocal techniques, tips for vocal health, how to “own the stage”, songwriting exercises to explore creativity, and more. The workshop will culminate in a dress rehearsal during the day and a rock concert in the Meridian auditorium that night open to parents and the community. In addition to the concert, it will feature a mid-concert talent show.
The second event, “Beat Goes On”, in May 2023, will feature five days of workshops and a sixth day of performances with famed percussionist and former STOMP member, Ollie Turner. “He is a leading body percussion instructor and promotes the use of music as a means of encouraging well-being for individuals and communities.” He will work with every student at MD and OS and with music students at MEH. He will work with MD students for two days, OS students for two days, and MEH students on the fifth day. “The final day of Ollie’s stay will include a huge community workshop and event, where community members will have a chance to participate…It will be a joyful day full of music-making, laughter, and community building through music.” He will also present a staff development workshop for FCCPS employees that will offer an opportunity for team building that highlights positivity and risk-taking.
Oak Street Elementary School
Drum Fit (Julie Huber, Kayondra Reid)
“DrumFIT is a cardio drumming program that combines the mental health benefits of drumming with the overall health benefits of physical fitness for a full body workout. Teachers can use the online video library in class, or you can have student directed groups or come up with your own choreography from scratch. The project is a collaboration between Physical Education and Music. In both classes they will be exploring rhythm and patterning and how these intertwine with fitness and music”. DrumFIT will benefit all students at MD and OS. “DrumFIT is a non-competitive program that allows everyone to get fit together. It promotes physical literacy, (social-emotional literacy), and personal fitness”. There is a $500 licensing fee per school per year (we may be able to do one), which provides access to 900+ videos, divided by grade level, which can be used in both PE and Music.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Sustainability in Action
(Ray Wu-Rorrer, Carey Pollack, Kenny George, Jason Perkins, Steve Knight)
This grant would fund the installation of an assortment of planters throughout the Secondary campus
with an emphasis on the cafeteria and common areas. This is a multidisciplinary project. For example, plant propagation will take place in MHS. Environmental Science classes and MEH Sustainable Design and Engineering Classes. Plants will be maintained by the 9th grade Environmental Science class and the Lighthouse Program students (MEH). MHS design classes will convert used pallets into planter boxes. Students in MHS Environmental Science classes, MHS Design classes, MEH Lighthouse Program and the MEH Sustainable Design and Engineering Classes will all work to put the planters in place. Dr. Wu-Rorrer will provide the plant materials. As the plants grow, they might be able to be sold in a holiday indoor plant sale. “This project will focus on multiple sustainability initiatives such as interior scaping, urban gardening, air quality, horticultural therapy, etc. It will also provide real-world experiences for the students involved.”
The Math Space (Clare Bournigal)
This is a request for a second grant to continue “to develop a space that is inviting and engaging and where students will practice math. I am asking for two large dry erase tables so students can show their thinking in collaborative groups. Closing the gap is currently a main priority for FCCPS and the students who will benefit from the grant are the current gap students.”
Meridian High School
3D Printing 2.0 (Kenny George)
This grant will “fund the purchase of a high- grade 3D printer, HEPA filtration system, and a starter pack of supplies to aid students in the fabrication of design prototypes and parts.” Although MHS has 3D printers, this model represents a major advancement in the technology, which will allow Mr. George to integrate it into his more advanced curriculum “where accuracy, repeatability and durability are key to the success of a prototype. Up until recently, consumer grade 3D printers did not offer this. The 3D printer I am requesting, the Makerbot Method, is the first affordable model to provide speed, accuracy, and the ability to print in more durable materials…By having this as an option, students will be more encouraged to prototype using solid modeling applications…instead of relying solely on …technologies which only produce things in 2 dimensional forms…Having printers in a range of performance capabilities will truly support the interactive process and allow students to build up from experimentation stages to the final production stage of a process.”
Low-Level Laser Therapy (Vicki Galliher)
“Low level laser therapy (LLLT) is a form of phototherapy that involves the application of low power monochromatic and coherent light to injuries and lesions. It has been used successfully to induce wound healing, reduce short-term inflammation, accelerate pain relief, reduce the formation of scar tissue adhesions during the health process of soft tissue injuries…and enables athletes to experience a quick return to participation…LLLT reduces short-term inflammation (and) significantly lowers the risk of arthritis frequently resulting from sports injuries. Laser therapy is utilized by sports medicine healthcare professionals responsible for secondary, collegiate, and professional and sports teams and athletes to treat inflammation, provide deep-tissue therapy, and accelerate pain relief to help athletes minimize downtime. For the past decade, LLLT has revolutionized treatment in the professional sports world.” In addition to having the ability to shorten injury healing time, the LLLT will be used as a teaching device for students in the Sports Medicine/Athletic Training courses.
Mobile Workshop-Continued (Kenny George)
“During the previous two grant cycles, I began outfitting a mobile fabrication lab with Festool products. These tools are user friendly, highly mobile and modular, and integrate well with the top of the line dust extraction system which makes them an obvious choice for use in a classroom environment. For the proposed grant, I am seeking to complete the outfitting of this mobile fab lab with a few additional tools: a vacuum clamp system with accessories and a mobile HEPA dust extractor.” With these pieces of equipment, MHS “will have a fully functioning mobile lab that can easily be moved to different spaces including classrooms, collaborative hall spaces and the makerspace and provide a clean and safe working environment.”
Art Display Panels (Marc Robarge/Sarah Gurgo)
This grant seeks funding for new student art display panels that “will beautifully fit the architectural character of the new school, and provide display for our annual IB art show. They are self contained movable units that could be used throughout the year, around the building in different configurations.”
Ceramic Slab Roller (Marc Robarge)
“Currently, we have homemade rolling pins and wooden slats to roll out small slabs of clay. The slab roller quoted here has the capacity to produce larger slabs of clay at a variety of thicknesses depending on the nature of the project. The addition of the slab roller would allow more ambitious projects to be realized, and more sophisticated techniques to be applied. The addition of a slab roller is a good investment in our ceramics program…This new equipment will enable more sophisticated approaches and application of clay techniques for our students.” Students who will benefit from this span the diverse current and future ceramic students.
Native Pollinator Gardens (Carey Pollack)
These grant funds will be used “for the development and maintenance of a native pollinator garden on the campus of Meridian High School. The project would begin with a small, 10x10 foot plot that will contain native flowering perennials, native ornamental grasses, and native shrubs. The plants selected will bloom at different times of year…and will attract a wide range of native pollinators…Educational signage will also be developed and placed around the garden…The lessons learned from the first year of the pollinator garden program will be used to inform additional habitat development projects on the campus, including rain gardens, edible gardens, and other ecosystem projects. The garden will provide a unique learning environment for the students where they will be able to see firsthand the importance of native plants as a source of food for pollinators in our area…The project is a priority for the school system…because of our goal of becoming a sustainability academy and governor’s school…We will incorporate garden care into many MHS and MEHMS courses, as well as club activities, and in the past we have used projects like these to engage members of special populations that may otherwise struggle to engage in learning experiences.”
Unity Walk (Tricia Minson, Jen Santiago, William Bates)
This grant will fund a Spring Unity Walk, which will be “an extension of the “our History Matters” work in equity and inclusion. We are hoping to solicit involvement across schools and departments, and have ideas for various reflection points along the walk for students to share who they are and what matters to them. We see this as a great opportunity to focus on students (& staff and community members) social emotional learning and want to work with school counselors, art teachers, physical education teachers, and others to come up with creative activities at various stops.” Staff, students and community members will be involved in planning the walk with the hope of having students build community and their relationships with their teachers and across schools. The hope is that the walk will help to build a caring culture and encourage students to learn more about themselves and their community.
2019-2020 Super Grant Awards
JESSIE THACKREY PRESCHOOL
Wild Walk Hallway Path (Drechsler/Baroody)
This hallway or outside set of large stickers includes a sensory path and multi-sensory approach to learning – in math and early literacy in particular to address different learning styles for ALL (sic).” The path will benefit all students, but especially those who are at risk and who have IEPs. It will be labeled in English and Spanish.
MOUNT DANIEL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Ukulele! (Sweterlitsch)
“I would like to initiate a ukulele unit with 2nd grade music students. This unit would last from about March until June so students have sufficient time to truly gain musical skills on the instrument. During the unit we will continue to cover 2nd grade music SOLs and connect with the 2nd grade PYP planners…1st and 2nd graders really want to play instruments that are not just used in elementary music classes. The ukulele is a great instrument to meet this need. It is being used by many mainstream bands but is also being used in general music classes throughout the country to provide developmentally appropriate instruction. In my experience nothing works better to help solidity a student’s sense of rhythm than playing in an ensemble.” The grant will fund a class set of 25 ukuleles, a ukulele rack, tuners and ukulele “Essential Elements” instruction books.
THOMAS JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
3D Print Your World (Adetoro)
“3D printing is impacting almost every major industry in the world…FCCPS is a district that is dedicated to providing safe and engaging learning environments that allow students to explore and innovate the world around them…For the 2019-2020 school year, all 5th graders will be introduced to technical drawing, CAD, and 3D printing and showcase their projects at STEAM night. For the years after that all three grade levels will complete 3d printing units…Being awarded this Super Grant will mean that over 600 students will have more authentic exploration of objects and their world…It is also important that as a district, our departments align themselves vertically to provide a learning continuum for all students. 3d printing is taught in the middle and high schools and it makes perfect sense to introduce our students to it at the elementary level as well.” The grant will fund two MakerBot Replicator+ 3D Printers, Filament, MakerBot Educators Guidebook, an online certification course, MakerCare for one year and a small extruder.
MARY ELLEN HENDERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Digital Theatre Portfolios
Gross
This grant will fund an IPad Pro with Apple Care ($1200) and a Macbook Pro with Apple Care ($2700) to allow students to “learn the importance of documenting the creative process through digital portfolios. Throughout the entire school year, students will document their brainstorming sessions, take photographs of stage pictures or blocked scenes, record rehearsals and performances to review for critique. Students will also create individual portfolios to document their growth in theatre.”
The Math Space
Leahey
This grant will create a Math Space where 40-50 students who need math intervention can come to an inviting and engaging space where they want to receive math support. The grant will fund two large dry erase tables for students to show their thinking in collaborative groups, wobble stools and stability balls, and a large standing desk. “The flexible seating and standing options will support students in engaging their brains at the end of the day by allowing their bodies to be more active. Sixth and seventh grade students who receive math intervention will receive it at the end of the day…By this point in the day many students are checked out or close to it. I’m hopeful that the ability to move will help to keep their blood flowing so that their minds can stay active…Ultimately, I have a vision of developing a Math Space where students can also choose to come during Husky Flex, lunch, etc. to engage in mathematical problem solving, puzzles and discussions or to ask for help when they need it.”
iSing for iPads
Carpel/Sample-MEH and GM
This grant will fund an iPad Pro and Accessories, an AirTurn DUO 200 Bluetooth Pedal and the forScore App for the choral departments in the middle school and the high school, which will enhance vertical alignment of the curriculum. The equipment will benefit all students by enabling the teachers to implement best practices in the classroom, but especially those “with executive functioning needs”. A principal benefit of the iPad Pro and the app is allowing the teacher to walk around the classroom and troubleshoot parts of music during rehearsal. “Additionally, students will be able to interact with this tool and demonstrate their understanding of concepts in the class, allowing the teacher to give immediate feedback on formative assessments. Being able to scan in music and annotate it in real time on a projector will not only assist students’ in honing their music literacy skills, but it will help them learn to identify visual cues within a larger context.” The teachers also will use the equipment to highlight sections of music and different students’ parts in the score, record rehearsals allowing students to reflect on their practice, and create tracks for students to allow them to get extra practice on difficult sections of the music.
Upcycled Making for All
Jinks
“Upcycled Making for All is focused on teaching students how to reuse materials in a way that brings new life to what we would typically recycle or throw in the trash, while giving access to engineering and computer science to all students during their time at Henderson will take on this challenge with all 6th grade flex students and 8th graders enrolled in programming and/or design this year…6th graders will upcycle cardboard from delivery boxes in order to make a working pinball machine…(which) will be available to students during recess, during the 5th graders’ visit to MEH, and other school events…8th graders will upcycle t-shirts (or other clothing) by adding an original vinyl design and programming a light show on the shirt.” The project will reach 260 students this year and more in the future. “The project will allow students to see how computer science is in every aspect of their life. Through upcycling projects, students will see themselves as engineers and computer scientists…this could mean more students in the makerspaces, ..enrolled in engineering classes,…signing up for computer science classes,…more minority and female students enrolled in engineering and computer science classes, and a variety of students signing up for a sustainability academy at the new high school.”
MEHMS PE Ninja Warriors
Coffren, Johnson, Nottingham/PE Staff
“We hope to renovate the Auxiliary Gym/Rock Room (built in 2005) into a 2020 state-of-the-art Ninja Warrior training facility” that will benefit all 665 MEH students, special needs students at MEH and GM, MEH staff, students enrolled in ASAP and GMHS athletes (after school). “By overcoming both physical and mental obstacles, students will increase strength, improve flexibility and agility, and enhance their balance. Their focus and concentration will also improve as they confront each obstacle…The challenges these new ninjas will face will help them grow more resilient, which in today’s world may be the most important skill of all.” With the increase in the student population, new PE requirements, and the reduction in outdoor space due to GM construction, space for physical activity is severely limited. “This grant will provide the much-needed physical outlet our students need to make their academic day successful.” Some items in the extensive list the grant covers include: the Master Ninja System, Ninja Angled Step, Safari Climbing Obstacles, Peg-board Climbers, Ninja Teeter Totter, Soft Fat Landing Mats, Stealth Ninja Ledgerboard, Warp Wall, Warped Wall, the Beast Climber, Scaler Nets and Frames, along with a Fitness Equipment Installer/Technician who will visit twice a year.
GEORGE MASON HIGH SCHOOL
IB Film Studies Equipment
Gurgo
This grant will fund state-of-the-art film equipment, including A Canon EOS C100MK2 24-105 24-105 Kit, a Sennheiser MKE-600 Shotgun Mic, Sennheiser HD-65 TV/Headphone Listening System, LIBEC THX Head/THX Tripod/THX Carrying Case, and will benefit the 26 current and all future film students. “Film students are currently using DSLR Cameras or their Cell Phones to record their films. As a premiere K-12 Continuum School Division, our students need the proper equipment to create the same quality film production work as other IB Film students around the world. This new equipment will allow our students to learn the proper techniques of filming, recording and editing sound for high quality production work. Purchasing this new equipment for our Film students will allow the students to take their knowledge of film production to the next level…This is what the industry calls for and I would like to give our budding film students that same experience and opportunity.”
Ceramic Pottery Wheels
Robarge/Gurgo
This grant will fund “two Ceramic Pottery Wheels in order to make this important ceramic process and technique available to our students. This will dovetail nicely with the planned move to the new high school, as there will be a dedicated ceramic space in the new building…The addition of wheel thrown pottery will take the ceramic techniques available to students to a new and exciting level... (The wheels) will provide “seeding” for the transition to the new ceramics space…the ceramics part of the art program provides a hands-on learning experience that students find rewarding, unique, calming and ends with a product they are often very proud of. Approximately 160-170 art students will benefit from this addition, as well as art teachers from across the school system who will be trained in throwing techniques” through an FCEF Advanced Training Grant that will train K-12 teachers this fall in wheel throwing techniques.
Guest Speaker: Nils Ahbel, Presenting: The Dangers of Alcohol and THC
Jayson
This grant will fund Nils Ahbel for two days and will include an auditorium talk for juniors and seniors (400 students) in the morning and then small group breakout sessions in the afternoon and the next day to “dig deeper into questions that students and community members have…I have watched Nils’ presentation and he is a dynamic, engaging, and very passionate speaker. He is also a high school teacher and understands how to hook an audience full of teenagers. His talk incorporates the mathematics of how THC and Alcohol leave a body over time, and he impresses upon the participants how important it is to understand this reaction (especially when it may be happening in your body or the body of a friend)…the metabolism of the THC in marijuana and ethanol in alcoholic drinks are surprisingly different and understanding the process of how each is metabolized can save lives and prevent brain damage, especially in teenagers. The key is to learn the mathematical models that drive these processes and fortunately, most students who are taking or have taken Algebra II are quite familiar with the models…after students attain a clear understanding of how THC and ethanol at metabolized, they will hopefully make better decisions about their use.”
Mobile Workshop Supplies
George
“I am seeking a (Super Grant) to outfit a mobile fabrication shop for both the current and future George Mason High Schools. This mobile fabrication shop will consist of a suite of hand tools, and storage and travel compartments for these tools. I began to build this catalog of tools last year…and am seeking additional funding to further expand the resources available…We have many students across various disciplines in our building who have both a need and interest in fabricating individually designed products. (The GM fabrication shop) is not always available to all students as it is in an instructional space. The mobile fabrication shop will allow tools to be easily packed up, transported to different classrooms, or project locations, and allow students to work efficiently and safely.” The shop currently consists of a portable dust collection system, hand drills, a palm sander and a circular track saw. I am seeking funding to add a storage system for hand tools and hardware, jigsaw, router, air compressor, cabinets and dollies for storage and transportation and a mobile workspace.” This grant will benefit 150 students directly and ultimately the entire GMHS population.
Hispanic Book Festival at George Mason HS
Garcia
The Hispanic Book Festival of Virginia will take place in the first week of April 2020 and this grant will fund a GM Hispanic Book Festival that piggybacks on the VA Festival. Sr. Garcia will invite 10 writers from different Spanish-speaking countries for a “celebration of writing and Hispanic Culture”. All students at GM and MEH who want to participate “will benefit because they will be immersed in a unique experience: they will meet published authors, they will receive a free book, and also will see the authors reading their work. In addition, students from Spanish 3 and up will be encouraged to write an essay or interview a writer. The best works will receive an award.” The grant will fund the festival for two years.
Independent Reading Books for Our LIEP Students
Zelnik
“I am looking to buy independent reading books for our LIEP students so they can increase their language development and build their reading stamina and background knowledge…The books will be on the students’ reading levels and the pictures in the books will further reinforce what they are reading, helping to increase their comprehension….This (grant) will benefit our LIEP students by providing them opportunities to have access to choice books on their level in order to increase their background knowledge, language development and reading stamina.”
2018-2019 Super Grant Awards
Jessie Thackrey Preschool
Playground Additions and Beyond
(Mary Manzione)
“As JTP has grown so has our need for a variety of play equipment.” This grant will fund a four-seat adapted teeter totter, two free-standing mud kitchens, and a free-standing art easel to support social communication and play, develop fine and gross motor skills, and support the STEAM program through outdoor art and sensory exploration for all JTP students.
Mount Daniel Elementary School
Outdoor Classroom (Mila Fesler)
This project will benefit all students, especially special education students, at MD. It will make the Discovery Woods outdoor classroom more accessible. Troop 349 and an Eagle Scout leader will provide the labor to create a mulch path, build a small footbridge over a portion of the trail, lay gravel in low- lying sections of the path, build a ramp over a curb and build signs to designate the area. The grant will pay for materials and the purchase of five weather-resistant chairs.
Flexible Seating (First Grade Team)
This grant will benefit all first-grade classrooms by allowing them to purchase some flexible seating for each classroom. Teachers have seen the benefit in this type of seating for some students because some teachers have experimented with it in the trailers. “A flexible seating model allows for the incorporation of sensory input in seating options. This type of input aids in focus and processing of information. Sensory input is particularly beneficial to students with ASD, ADD, and/or ADHD.”
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School
On the Ball
Using Spheros to Teach Coding! (Gifted, 5th Grade) $1907.99 “Spheros jump, record sound, pulsate, light, roll, turn and more. They can create artwork, navigate obstacle courses, and swim across bodies of water! Spheros can be programmed to do all of these amazing things in a variety of ways.” They will be used in an 8-9 week unit for 150 third, fourth and fifth grade gifted students to learn a “progression of coding skills”.
Moving with Math (K. Wiles and A. Klink)
“The goal of this project is to provide students with special needs with multisensory math instruction. The Moving with Math Learning system is a research-based program that teaches the concepts of math using a multisensory approach...Moving with Math moves students from conceptual to representational to abstract engagement with math” by moving students from manipulative objects to pictures and communication of ideas (e.g., drawing pictures, writing and talking about math) to connecting the objects and pictures to abstract numbers and signs of arithmetic and algebra. The grant will also fund one $50 Amazon gift card for each grade to purchase supplementary books.
TJ Stage Enhancement
FCEF partnered with the FCEPTA to enhance the TJ stage. This grant was funded out-of-cycle so that TJ could purchase the equipment during the summer.
Padcaster Studio Equipment (Megan Torpey)
This grant will be used to purchase a Padcaster Ultimate studio and an IPad Wifi 128G with Apple Care to “start a video news program where students can work on all aspects of television production and multimedia equipment. This includes writing, filming editing and being in front of the camera. Students will create weekly news shows for the entire school to view. The equipment will also be available to other staff members and students who want to create multimedia presentations.” The grant will benefit all TJ students.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Face the Kids – Math Tablet (Claire Bournigal)
This grant will pay to purchase a smart board to use to “present lessons, have students interact with lessons, and generally help students learn.” In addition, it will be used to create formative assessments, encourage innovation and collaboration, create a fun way for students to be involved with learning and “keep pace with the fast and ever-changing technology while still sticking with the fundamentals of learning”. It will benefit at least 100 students per year and impact the learning of a variety of students from at-risk to special needs to advanced math learners.
Drummin’ Up the Band (Jonathan Mills)
“This grant aims to revamp and restructure the organization and management of performance-based percussion equipment. Currently the MEH Band is missing essential pieces of equipment...The grant includes basic equipment that enables the teacher the ability to accommodate students who choose to play percussion, but may be in a financial situation unable to purchase equipment...The equipment will also enable the band to diversify its music literature selection and explore different genres of music with various cultural themes.” The grant will also be used to purchase a “Percussion Workstation”, which is a flexible unit for storage that can be moved around for on-site school performances. The grant will benefit 250 students, including special population students and those with financial needs.
Standing Up (and Pedaling) for Learning (Joel Block/Math Dept.)
“The request is to purchase 14 standing stations that can be used on our current tables @$180 each...and 12 under desk pedal sets @$40 each.” Mr. Block has been using four music stands/lecterns for over a decade and they have been very successful in allowing students to stand and move while working. All math classes will have some of these standers and pedals for student use, so the grant will benefit all MEH students “with a more profound effect on special education students, and students with attention issues.”
Craft Design and Enhancement (Christina Leigh)
This grant will help complete the “start-up phase” of this popular course that MEH initiated last year with the help of a Hitt grant. This grant will be used to expand and enhance the course through the purchase of 20 wooden frame looms, two glass grinders, a large drying rack, assorted ceramic stains,
glazes and underglazes, updated ceramics tools and high fire and low fire clay. All 6th graders, 200+ 7th graders and enrolled 8th graders (75+) will benefit from this new equipment in a course where “the growth mindset has always been at the heart of instruction...where there are no failures, but learning opportunities...where all ideas and expression have value and relevance”.
Video and Editing Equipment for VPA (Lisa Gross)
“Theatre students have various filming projects that require camcorders, editing equipment and editing software. In Theatre 6, students film a public service announcement about why the arts are important, Theatre 7 students create their own silent movie and Theatre 8 students experience acting on camera vs. stage acting. In addition to these projects, students will also be able to film and edit all VPA events, including the musical, concerts and other extracurricular events...With the new equipment that is being requested, students will be able to film and edit high quality video and audio projects.” Equipment includes Apple iMac Desktops with an Apple Care Protection Plan and Canon VIXIA HF R800 HD flash memory camcorders.
George Mason High School
3D Printers (Steve Knight and Freddie Bruner)
FCEF approved this grant out-of-cycle so that Freddie would have the opportunity to get the printers set up and started. This is a great addition to the Maker Space at GM, as Freddie demonstrated to some members of the Board before he left for college.
Breakout of the Norm with Breakout EDU (Garcia, Mahoney, Weston)
“Breakout EDU games require students to work in teams to solve problems based on clues similar to escape rooms. The games are frequently based on curriculum content or just have a pure team building (goal). Students at all levels can enjoy them-and they force students to have a resilient, growth mindset in order to work together to solve puzzles.” This grant will benefit all GMHS students by adding six additional kits to the one kit GM already has, allowing teachers to use three-to-four kits for all of the students in one class.
PE Video Workout System (Green, Dye, Caponnola, Gibbons)
This grant will provide an electronic workout system that will benefit every student in 9th and 10th grades and special education students who take adaptive PE. The LG 65” Smart TV, rolling cart TV mount, Thunderbolt to HDMI cable, DVD/BLU Ray player and Bose TV speaker with optical cable. will allow the PE department “to incorporate a wide range of fitness, exercise and instructional activities in the gym...allow access to videos from YouTube and streaming services...and includes access to a wide variety of abdominal workout routines, cardio kickboxing videos. .and will serve as an aid for teaching specific sport skills.”
Fire Tablets for Android App Development (William Snyder)
“The grant will fund 25 Fire tablets that will enable students to upload their own code-built applications and test their coded applications on an Android Device. Android development is an extension of the Java coding many students learned in AP computer science...Teaching students to develop code on an Android device promotes a marker culture within a classroom, giving students and faculty a chance to see and share their coding projects...Students will be the designers and builders of different applications and must work through the entire system and design life cycle in order to be successful.” All 100 computer science students will benefit, as will the entire GMHS community as students share their apps with other students.
GM Bike Clinic (Kenny George)
“The grant will fund the purchase of a bicycle repair stand, wheel repair stand, and basic bicycle repair tool kit. We will be using these tools to start the George Mason High school bike clinic. This project is a partnership with the newly formed bicycle club, robotics team members, and robotics/CTE students. This bicycle clinic is designed to serve as a means to get students excited about bicycling, to teach students basic bicycling maintenance and safety, and also teach students basic mechanical skills through the process of fixing and maintaining bicycles.” Ninety students and any member of the FCC community who want to participate will benefit.
Interactive Design Toys (Kenny George)
“The grant will fund several interactive projects that will enable students to problem solve, build, and test projects that are highly interactive and promote the concept of play in design. Play is a powerful learning strategy that gets students thinking about how different audiences respond to different stimuli. Design for play also promotes a culture of community within a classroom.” The grant will fund Makerball-a DIY pinball cabinet kit that allows students to build a machine, create playfield elements and design the gameplay of the machine; Makelando-a CNC poster maker, on which students get to build, program and design their own large-scale posters that a robot will draw; Nintendo switch with Labo Kits, which allows students to design simple cardboard or lightweight wood controllers for specific parts of games. 120 students enrolled in CTE, as well as any MEH or GM students who “volunteer to interact with the process” will benefit from the grant.
Digital Camera Kits (Marc Robarge and Sarah Gurgo)
“As our Visual Arts and Computer technology classes continue to grow, we ... request funding for (three Canon IOS Rebel T6 Cameras with 18-55mm and 75-300mm lens kits) to be used jointly by the Photography, Film, and Computer Graphics classes at GM.” This will provide state-of-the-art equipment for GM students and will allow GM to loan some class cameras to students to ensure every student has access to equipment needed to take the courses. This grant will benefit a total of 135 students in these classes. This grant is being funded through the Bob Morrison Fund.
LIEP Books (Susan Zernik)
This grant will fund “independent reading books for 30 LIEP students so that they can increase their language development and build their reading stamina and background knowledge.” The books will be on their reading levels and pictures in the books will reinforce what they are reading and help to increase their comprehension.
Potterbot (Kenny George, Marc Robarge, Sarah Gurgo)
“The grant will fund Potterbot...a CNC clay extruder that works very much like a 3D printer, but outputs clay rather than plastic.” The Potterbot will create “more synergy between Visual Arts and CTE classes through a device that provides experiences where these students can collaborate and exchange skills and experiences.” The Potterbot also is “a more efficient and economical way of rapid prototyping since clay can be reused and iterations of prototypes that are not successful can just be recycled and rebuilt.” The Potterbot will help to expand the skills of 300 CTE and Visual Arts students.
Farmbot Raised Bed (R. Kane, P. Mecca, S. Knight)
This grant will fund a raised garden bed, solar panels, a camera system to monitor the garden bed, gravel to fill the bed and a rain collection system for the Farmbot project. Originally, students and staff were going to build the raised bed, but it required too much expertise. In trying to outsource
construction of the bed, it was difficult to find a company because it was “out of the comfort zone of most.” There is a company that will build it for $6295. The grant will allow GM to proceed with this innovative project.
2017-2018 Super Grant Awards
TJ, MEH, GM
Music Therapy Program for Life Skills Students
Hafsa Rahman - TJ (for students at TJ, MEH and GM)
This grant request is to fund a second year (30 music therapy sessions) of a very successful music therapy program. Parents and teachers provided touching reports of the progress students made educationally, socially, emotionally and in sensory and motor skills with their high level of engagement in the program. "The primary benefit was seen in social, communication, and emotional areas. The benefits in these areas were immense for all students. Every student was fully engaged with no promptings from (the) teacher...The most apparent benefits were seen in those students who are unable to communicate verbally. (They showed) a high level of alertness and responses to the therapist's cues...that are not readily seen in typical classroom activities." As one parent wrote: "It is impossible to put into words the transformation I witnessed with the students and their love for this program and the instructor..."
JTP/MD
Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts
Jeremy Ferrera (MD) and Rachel Hamburger (JTP)
This request is to fund the Wolf Trap residency program for one class at JTP and one class at MD, which will provide "direct in-classroom services to children while emphasizing the professional development of early childhood educators enabling them to infuse the performing arts into classroom instruction." Each residency includes "5 orientation and planning sessions, 11 participatory sessions led by the teaching artist...and follow-up discussions between the teacher and the teaching artist." The program will "change the way we teach" and teachers will be able to use the techniques they learn with classes in future years.
Thomas Jefferson Elementary
Kick Wheel and Splash Pan/Expanding Ceramics at TJ
Angela Wicklund - TJ Art
This request is to expand the art ceramics program by "introducing students to the concept of wheel throwing." The kick wheel is a way for students to "make pottery quickly and effectively at a beginner-intermediate level". It will provide upper level elementary students with the opportunity to use the techniques they learned through "hand-building" ceramics in early grades and to "create bowls, vases, mugs or any type of vessel" with ease. This will give them a more well-rounded preparation for 3D visual arts.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Middle School Craft Design Class Seed and Development Fund
Christina Leigh - MEH VPA
The grant funding would support a new 8th grade elective, "Crafts Design", a one-semester course that "offers students formal instruction in skills, techniques, design, history and creative production of functional art." This include fiber arts, ceramics, glass and wood assemblage. Grant money would be used to purchase "new tools, furniture, storage, equipment and materials vital to the curriculum." The FCCPS budget for this class is $800. "Without the grant, large changes to the curriculum would need to occur, severely truncating the depth of the educational experience for the 40+ students presently enrolled."
MEH/GM
Leadership Seminars for MEH and Band Students
Grades 6-12 Music
The proposal "includes opportunities for 10 leadership empowerment sessions...designed to build capacity, growth mindset, and leadership identity in students through experiential and engaging learning modules." Each session includes two 90-minute sessions at GM and two 60 minute sessions at MEH and a leadership workbook for each student. Sessions cover the topics of Why Leadership: What is your Why? and Mission, Vision and Values; Change and Leadership: Changing YOU and Changing Others; Servant Leadership: The Value of Others; two sessions on Leadership Learning; Motivation vs. Manipulation; and two sessions on Leadership in Action.
Audio/visual Equipment, Flexible Staging and Mural in MEHMS “cafetorium”
Major rework to update and improve functionality and design of the “cafetorium” space and theater classroom at MEMHS for the school and community use. All performing arts students (theater, stage crew, chorus and band) and Falls Church City audiences and participants benefit from more professional environment to perform.
George Mason High School
Replacement of Four Wind Instruments and Replacement of Aging Percussion Instruments
Mary Jo West - Music
"In order to be a successful musician, students must start with an instrument that works...The present inventory consists of intermediate model instruments bought between the years of 2003-2010" which are showing signs of wear and tear and have parts that no longer work. The percussion instruments are used continuously, were purchased 10 years ago and need to be replaced. This grant will fund the purchase of multiple percussion instruments (e.g., bass drums, snare drums, cymbals, chimes, concert Marimba, octave bells, glock cart and stands) There have been no funds for instrument replacement in the last five years and the freeze in the past three years has resulted in instruments not being repaired.
Blackmagic Camera
Kenny George - GM CTE (Film Studies and TV/Media Production)
"Having a high speed/high definition video camera for film production will allow students a truly unique experience. Students currently film video footage with a number of different technologies including cell phones, GoPros and DSLR cameras. The Blackmagic camera...will allow students to shoot with very high resolutions and record in very high frame rates." The camera will provide "access to a new medium that is relevant to contemporary trends in industry and technology."
Epson Large Format Printer and Ink Cartridges
Kenny George - CTE (Film Studies and TV/Media Production)
"One of the most exciting things for students in a design class is seeing their project take physical form through a print or a photograph. In doing this, students are able to appreciate how their work translates as an object in space rather just a digital rendering. This also allows students to share their designs with a broader audience by displaying work in both showcases around the school, and in public venues. One specific example I am excited to introduce is challenging students to redesign spaces in Falls Church City, including George Mason High School, and display these designs in local business and government offices...the printer will allow for printing large banners and posters that students may design for community and school events, creating a new partnership between CTE classes and other community stakeholders."
Four Digital Cameras and a Digital Sound Recorder
Marc Robarge and Sarah Gurgo - Visual and Performing Arts and CTE
This grant will benefit 135 students in IB Art, Computer Graphics, Film Studies, IB Film and Photography classes. The grant will provide funds to purchase state-of-the-art equipment for students as the classes continue to grow. "By providing some class cameras (Canon EOS Rebel T6 DSLR Cameras with 18-35mm and 75-300mm lens kits) to be loaned to students, we insure that every student has access to the media required for class assignments." The digital cameras provide images that "dovetail with the digital imaging programs available through the Adobe Editing Suite that we have bought to be installed on each student's laptop." Students in Film classes will use the digital recorder for quality sound in their productions and IB Film students will use it as they prepare for their Oral Presentations for final assessment.
Support for a Quarterly Lasso Long Form Magazine
Peter Laub - English
This grant will cover software licenses and National Scholastic Press Association membership for a quarterly print form Lasso for two years. "In the crowded media landscape of 2017, good quality journalism is what stands out. Incisive and accurate reporting, exemplary storytelling, creative and engaging content. This is what we strive for every day at the Lasso. This magazine would be colorful and eye-catching and capture readers with powerful photos, graphics and student artwork...While on the surface the idea of a print magazine may not seem "innovative", it is a form of media our student body has never experienced. It is also, increasingly, a trusted form of media in the wider society."
Kiln
Marc Robarge - Art
The grant will fund a new kiln to replace the aged and broken 12-year-old kiln at GM.
Professional Development K-12
K-12 Encore / Visual and Performing Arts Team
Bringing in an a highly-regarded arts integration specialist (Rob Levitt) to provide professional development in Artful Thinking, "a researched way into combining arts and critical thinking skills." The grant would fund training for four day with sessions divided into morning arts classroom visits and afternoon professional development.
Bringing in a ceramics specialist to expand FCCPS' art teachers’ knowledge of ceramics building and glazing techniques. The training would take place in six 1 1/2 hour sessions over two months with all art teachers attending. This would allow the K-12 art teachers "to collaborate and align (their) ceramics units vertically. Ceramics is a hands-on activity in which skills can be scaffolded to be developmentally appropriate at each grade level."
2015-2016 Super Grant Awards
Auditorium Lighting
The "auditorium has reached the limit of what it can accommodate in the way of older dimming systems and quartz bulb lighting instruments. (This FCEF Super Grant) will begin the process of replacing these with newer LED instruments that can be powered directly by GMHS's digital lighting board." These lights have lower power requirements and generate less heat. The instruments have a long operating life and are the types of equipment needed in the new auditorium when it is constructed. FCEF is providing funding for ETC colorsource PARs @$2400, Chauvet Rogue R2 Moving Head LED Light Fixture @$1800, and adaptors and cable @$250. In the past two years, FCEF has provided Super Grants to significantly upgrade the sound and light systems for the auditorium. The new equipment has made a major difference in the quality of productions and events. GMHS auditorium is used by and benefits the entire community.
TJ, MEH, GM
Music Program for Students in Life Skills
The FCEF Super Grant will provide funding to "create an innovative music program with assistance from a highly trained music therapist" for students in the Life Skills program "who face significant challenges to engage and participate in school activities" in a meaningful way. "Consultation and collaboration with a music therapist is an essential factor in creating this program. It will allow staff to learn how to engage students in a unique way that is not possible in their current curriculum." The grant will pay for 10 consultation sessions each at TJ and MEH-GM and instruments appropriate for these students.
JTP
Movement and Sensory Equipment
This FCEF Super Grant will fund equipment for the multi-purpose room, which JTP will use for movement groups run by the physical therapist, sensory breaks, indoor recess and small groups run by the physical, occupational and speech-language therapists. The project will benefit all students at JTP, especially those with special needs, and will allow them to practice skills that allow them to access the school environment, such as stair skills, climbing, core strengthening. The equipment also provides an opportunity to practice these skills when outdoor areas are not available. Equipment includes a platform swing, sand and water activity center, ball pit, cuddle
swing and tents.
Teachtown Social Skills Curriculum
This FCEF Super Grant provides funding for a "social skills program to help children diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and other special needs. Teachtown is the precursor to the program...that is used at Thomas Jefferson Elementary." The program uses a "character-based video-modeling curriculum" where the students follow the adventures of fun, relatable animal characters to help them learn to cooperate, listen, respect personal space, express emotions appropriately and more." The program can also be used in Spanish. Staff will assess students to demonstrate progress.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Sound System
This FCEF Super Grant funds a new portable sound system that will produce high quality sound that can be used for musical performances and in the classroom. This system will be "future-proof" in that it will have "tried and true" technology and should be durable enough to last for the next 20 years. The system will have a multi-channel mixer that can support new endeavors, such as a school musical or play. This grant will benefit all students at TJ and the community.
Social Skills Activities for Indoor/Outdoor Recess and Beyond -- $1500
This FCEF Super Grant provides funding for Teachtown training (see above) and for materials to initiate a "Positive Behavior Intervention System using board games, a social skills library and Nintendo Wii game systems for 15 students in the Life Skills Program." These items will provide opportunities for these students to practice social skills in peer-to-peer interactions that promote continued social interaction.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Outdoor Amphitheater and Foyer Furniture
This FCEF Super Grant provides funding for two nontraditional learning venues. The grant will be used to build an outdoor amphitheatre/classroom that will accommodate 60 students. Sisler's Stone is donating the materials at or below cost and MEH will use parent, staff and student "sweat equity" to build the structure. ($3400) Entry foyer furniture will not only provide a welcoming atmosphere to the school and allow students and others to sit and gather while they are waiting for events, but will be used as an additional learning space for students, especially for those who might need some time away from class or for special needs students. ($7660)
Demonstration Table for the Family Consumer Services Classroom
This FCEF Super Grant provides funding for a cooking demonstration table with electric range and mirror, which will allow the teacher to "show the necessary skills to all kids at once", so she can move around the classroom once cooking begins as opposed to breaking the groups down and showing each group individually.
Equipment for STEAM classes and Makerspace at Henderson (M@H)
This FCEF Super Grant funds new types of equipment and technology that will benefit all middle school students through the STEAM classes and M@H. New technology includes Ozobots, Bloxels, Arduinos, Glowforge laser cutter, KEVA planks. In addition to bringing new equipment to MEH, Mr. Erick, Ms. Fogle and Ms. Slifer will be holding tutorials after school to show students how to use the equipment. They will also implement a "Maker Buddy Board" where students can find peer mentors to help them with projects. This grant helps M@H and STEAM classes expand their outreach and offerings to all MEH students and parents.
Four Standup Desks, Four Balance Ball Chairs and Sensory Items for 7th Grade Special Education Students
This FCEF Super Grant funds items to provide students with movement while they are learning. Standing desks "allow for movement, which increases attention, engagement, and student learning." Students who have standing desks have health benefits, such as preventing orthopedic degradation and dysfunction, repetitive stress injuries, pelvic floor dysfunction, and knee and hip disorders. Balance ball chairs help students with ADHD engage in needed movement, help to increase alertness and attention and strengthen core muscles.
GM
Four Student Standup Desks with Chairs/Stools
This FCEF Super Grant provides seed funding for four standup desks and chairs/stools. (See the information under MEH Special Ed request for benefits of the desks.) The teacher, Ms. Weston, has a standup desk in her room and it has helped tall students, students with ADHD and others who need to move while learning. There is also more flexibility in arranging the desks to foster collaboration among students when appropriate. The FCEF is asking the teacher and students to evaluate the usefulness and benefits of these desks with an eye toward providing input into items for the new GMHS.
Cameras, Lenses and a Printer for the Art Department
This FCEF Super Grant will be used to purchase three Canon T5i Digital Cameras with 18-55MM lens kit, three Nikon D3300 Digital Cameras with 18-55mm and 55-200 lens kit, one Epson P6000 Printer, two rolls of Luster Photo paper 24" X 100' and one roll of universal bond paper 24" x 150' to outfit the 125 students in Photography, Computer Graphics and IB Art classes with state-of-the-art equipment. This funding will give all students the ability to be involved in the entire process from "image capture on camera, digital editing on their laptop, and printed image for display."
Cameras, Lenses and a Printer for the Yearbook
The yearbook has only one camera for use by 20 class students and 35 club members. FCEF Super Grant funds will be used to purchase three D3300 Cameras with lens kits, a Sigma 10-20 mm and a Nikon 55-300mm lens, and an HP color LaserJet printer that will allow students to practice photography skills and to take pictures at sporting and other events for the yearbook, instead of relying on Lifetouch. Funding will allow more students to be involved in the creative process producing the yearbook. The Bob Morrison Scholarship Fund will provide $2960 for this grant.
Purchase two Dell 1600 CPUs with HP 2240 desktop workstations
This FCEF Super Grant will replace two of the 20 PCs bought six years ago with state-of-the-art equipment for students in technical drawing, film studies, robotics and video production classes, in addition to students in after-school clubs. They will also be available to anyone in the school who needs computers compatible with PCs they have at home. Mr. Ballou states that the Macs used in the high school have provided students with many improvements, but many software programs are only available in PC formats. These two new computers will provide students with much-needed upgrades to run programs that are only available in a PC format.
2015-2016 Super Grant Awards
GMHS Auditorium Lights - spotlight replacement in GMHS auditorium; used for GMHS VPA and all community events in auditorium; will be movable to potential new HS
FIRST Robotics Team - used to purchase swerve drives for robotics team and classes
The Memory Project - art program to support international communities facing substantial challenges
Mindfulness Program Research Project - working with IB Psychology students to introduce mindfulness within classroom; evaluations throughout program from GMU graduate students
MEH Leveled Literacy Intervention - research based program for 6-8 graders focused on literacy competency for students needing intensive support
Sensory Room - sensory room for special needs and all students for a therapeutic and safe space within MEH
Strings Program - for purchase of large strings instruments for MEH strings program
Science Lab Gizmos - MEH subscription to science gizmos for use of all students
Makerspace@Henderson - expand M@H with upcycling equipment and adding 3D digitizer
TJ Makerspace - enhance STEAM offering through equipment, training and materials to expand “family” of Makerspaces to elementary students
Projekt Postcard - collaborative arts and culture exchange project
Jan Richardson Guided Reading Professional Development - training for all TJ and Mt.Daniel staff on guided reading for 2016-17 school year
Big Book Storytelling - reading materials for Thackrey Preschool
Online Mindfulness Training - Funding for training in a mindfulness curriculum (for K-12 students) that has been shown to increase empathy, in-class participation, attention, interpersonal functioning and more. Training for school social worker.
MEH Teacher Stipends - stipends for literary magazine and technology student association staff