Innovative Ideas Classroom Grants - Fall 2005

Number of Grants Submitted: 19
Total Amount Requested: $66,653.47
Number of Grants Approved: 9 (47%)
Amount Awarded: $27,606.73

Campus: A.J. Briesemeister Middle School
Proposal: A.J. Briesemeister Probeware Lab
Amount: $5,029.00

With the influence of technology in science education it is necessary to have technology in the middle school lab. The introduction of science probeware, hardware designed to measure, record and analyze data in a portable devise, allows the learner prepare for real life and for future science related jobs. The Xplore GLX (PS-2002) can be used as a stand-alone data logger or interfaced with our current technology and will allow the learner to develop technical projects. The Probeware will encourage creativity, by allowing the student to capture, display and analyze data and provide practical experience for future learning.

Campus: Ball Elementary
Proposal: GPS Receivers for Students
Amount: $2,923.82

The purpose of this grant is to acquire Global Positioning Satellite receivers (GPS) for Ball Elementary to be used for educational purposes. Student use of GPS receivers can be applied to every academic subject, with special concentration in the areas of technology, math and science.

Campus: Ball Elementary
Proposal: Safety Patrol
Amount: $ 989.97

We would like to start a safety patrol at Ball Elementary. We will follow the AAA School Safety Patrol guidelines in conjunction with the DARE program. Students will be responsible for monitoring students in the cafeteria and gym; crossing students on busy streets, setting up cones at the parent pick up line, and keeping equipment in good shape. Safety Patrol members will also attend regular meetings, maintaining a "C" average, dressing appropriately, moving a bout the school in an appropriate manner and obeying all school rules. This patrol will lead by example the appropriate way to act as school while maintaining a positive attitude. For their dedication and hard work, the patrol will enjoy monthly luncheons and a field trip at the end of the year. This program is needed at our school to give students ownership of the school and to generate school pride.

Campus: Burges Discipline Alternative School
Proposal: Project CONNECT
Amount: $3,599.06

Research has shown that students who are involved in school or community-related extra curricular activities are less likely to get into trouble. The students who are sent to Burges Alternative School are often doing not participate in these activities. They have not learned to set and accomplish goals in areas of interest. Learning to set and accomplish goals often carries over to staying out of trouble and being successful academically. Project Connect will engage students in activities at Burges and connect them to activities on their home campuses. We will offer students activities in the arts, fitness and leadership. Grant funds will be used for equipment and supplies for the students involved in these clubs. Staff members will volunteer their time towards the project.

Campus: Burges Discipline Alternative School
Proposal: Burges Community Garden
Amount: $1,095.50

We will use funds to purchase tools, plants, seeds and gardening supplies in order to give students the opportunity to learn valuable math, science and life skills. Second through twelfth graders will perform service in the gardens. The gardens will provide community beautification as well as abundant produce to donate to local food banks. Students will take pride in their accomplishments and increased self-esteem will be reflected in positive behaviors and increased academic performance.

Campus: McQueeney Elementary
Proposal: Handwriting Without Tears
Amount: $2,532.32

The McQueeney Kindergarten Team is proposing the purchase and implementation of the "Handwriting Without Tears" handwriting program. This program will compliment the existing Seguin ISD Kindergarten balanced literacy framework. The "Handwriting Without Tears" approach beings with unique "no paper, no pencil" readiness activities centered on wooden pieces that teach basic writing size, shape, and position concepts. Students then move to tracing/rubbing handwriting activities, and ultimately begin to practice in penmanship in their individual notebooks.

Campus: Patlan Elementary
Proposal: Reading Comes Alive
Amount: $4,996.17

Many students read with their parents at home on a nightly basis. However, some of our students in the first grade classes do not have that good fortune. For these students we are proposing reading books on tape at home with small battery operated cassette tape recorders/players. We must give these students more opportunities to:

• Develop their love of reading
• Develop their reading fluency
• Develop their reading accuracy
• Develop their reading comprehension
• Develop their vocabulary and oral language

We plan to have every student in the first grade classes reading books on tape four to five nights a week by providing:

• Books on tape in English and Spanish
• Small battery operated cassette tape players/recorders with headphones
• Rechargeable batteries
• Monthly parent workshops to explain and monitor the program’s success
• Community members and leaders reading/recording books onto tapes for the students
• Reading logs to be checked each night at home by the parent and each morning by the teacher
• Weekly collaboration of the first-grade teacher to monitor, adjust, evaluate the progress of the program

Campus: Patlan Elementary
Proposal: Read Naturally
Amount: $3,869.89

Most struggling readers have fluency problems and spend little time reading. The Read Naturally program combines three powerful strategies for improving fluency: teacher modeling, repeated reading, and progress monitoring. Students become fluent readers by reading. We plan to implement the Read Naturally Program to address concerns with students' abilities to read. The program consists of books on cassettes and teacher monitored activities. The Title 1 staff will serve 5 students per lab session, with each student reading on hi/her reading level. Each teacher will have the cassettes, 1 tape player for each student, teacher guide, headphones, and rechargeable batteries with charger.

Campus: Seguin High School
Proposal: A Bound Book of Student Writing
Amount: $2,600.00

A Bound Book of Student Writing will be a collection of short, personal essays by students of Seguin High School, that reveal a variety of experiences and cultural influences and which reflect both the style of TAKS-type writing, and our students’ ability convey meaning through personal experience. The book will be produced in an education of 400 bound copies, with an appropriate title, cover art, and overall design quality which reflects the high standards of the English department at Seguin High School. All students will be eligible to submit thorough their English teachers, who will form part of the editorial board, along with students in creative writing class, and David Fleming. The book will be made available free to students, teachers, parents, and community members, both as a showcase of student ability and also as a book of models for TAKS-style writing.