Mini Grants (under $500)

• Human Anatomy Heart Models - Kyle DeHorn – Caledonia High School - $493.00 Human Heart models were purchased to use in the Human Anatomy and Physiology Classes.  Students can hold and manipulate models while learning the structures, positions and relationships of organs in the human body.
• Weighted Products - Kimberly Pyper – Caledonia School District Occupational Therapy - $477.00 A lending library of weighted products such as vests, and lap pads was purchased.  Products can be checked out by any teacher to use with their students that might benefit from it.  These products help students pay attention and focus in class by calming anxiety, or sensitivity to stimuli around them.
• AP Language Nonfiction Book Additions - Ben Stancil – Caledonia High School -$500 Funds were used to purchase 60 copies each of 2 nonfiction books titles for the AP Language and Composition Courses.   
• Buses for Peer to Peer Whitecaps game -Jen Amorose – Middle Schools LINKS Programs - $480.00. Funding for transportation to a Whitecaps Baseball outing was provided for the LINKS Program that pairs general education students with a special education students in a mentoring role.
  

Barbara Gall Grants for Language Arts

• Articulation Placement Tools – Speech Buddies, $1350.50, Deb Gaffner SLP, Speech Language Pathologists from the Caledonia District. Speech buddies are five different tools that are specifically designed to improve speech impairments of some of the most common sound errors (/r/, /s/, /sh/, /ch/ and /l/ phonemes) through the use of tactile biofeedback.  The tool fits inside the student’s mouth much like a toothbrush.  The tool trains the tongue to make the correct shape by providing targets that the student can feel when saying the particular sound. They are an innovative, yet proven method which supplement traditional speech therapy procedures that are already used.  The tools have been clinically proven to help two to four times faster than industry standards.   This often results in less therapy sessions and less time out of the classroom.
• Duncan Lake Middle School Book Club - $2700, Jennifer Slack, Duncan Lake Middle School. The DLMS Book Club is open to any 8th grade students that would like to expand their horizons when it comes to reading.  During this after school program, students read the very best in young adult literature and hold intellectual discussions of the literature itself as well as the author’s craft, themes, connections to the world today and more.  The novels that are chosen are of high interest for all students and will increase students’ Lexile and reading levels.  Funding for books for the club is beyond the bounds of curriculum so this grant will buy needed books to add to the 8th Grade Language Arts classroom library.  When not in use, the Book Club books will be housed in this classroom library in which all students can check out the novels of interest.

Unrestricted Grants

• Sensory Lending Library  $1227.36, Michelle Cullin, OTP, Duncan Lake Early Childhood Center. Items were purchased to create a lending library of various sensory items for students at the Early Childhood Center that struggle with sensory issues such as attention and engagement.  Research has shown for example, that children showed an 18 – 25 % increase with their attention in class while wearing a weighted vest.  These items purchased with grant funds would include pressure vests, weighted items, wiggle seats, a swing and a steamroller.  The items would help students’ brains to calm and organize to allow for maximized success in their learning environment, promoting kindergarten readiness.  A library with a variety of items will help individualize for various changing needs of students.
• Pinewood Derby Track - $625.00, Tina Banning, Cub Scout Pack 3210 of Paris Ridge Elementary. Funds were used to purchase a used Pinewood Derby track for use by Cub Scout Pack 3210 and for lending to other local cub scout packs.  The Pinewood Derby is an annual event that the cub scouts participate in each March.  Scouts build their own cars from a kit consisting of a block of wood, axles, and wheels.  The goal is for each scout to experience the process of designing, assembling and racing his own pinewood derby car.  They must incorporate many areas of physical science including position, gravity, force, speed, etc. The whole event is one of the most anticipated events of the year for scouts and their parents.
• English Year Long Classes: grades 9 and 10 - $3000, Deb Fisher, Caledonia High School. The goals of the year-long English classes are to provide an alternative English Language Arts experience for students who struggle in this area.  Benefits include more preparation for standardized testing, increased comprehension, fluency and appreciation for reading literature and instruction in literary analysis.  An additional trimester of study provides more time for students to master the content.  Over the past four years since the year long classes have been established, the fail rate of students in English classes has been reduced significantly.  Due to higher than anticipated enrollment and the literacy needs of students, additional books are needed for the courses.  The grant money will fund a foundational library of appealing texts for students at appropriate reading levels, satisfy grade level requirements, and meet individual needs. 

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