Below are the 2017-2018 first semester grant recipients and a description of the projects being funded.

 

The Painesville City Schools Educational Foundation gives grants to teachers each year to fund challenging, innovative academic projects for students in the Painesville City Local Schools. Funding for the grants comes from Educational Foundation fundraising events. The Educational Foundation is pleased to have provided these unique experiences for the PCLS students.

 

1st Grade students from Chestnut Elementary will visit the Burton Century Village Museum to see and experience life as a child long ago. The visit is a two hour journey in which they will visit five specific buildings (School House, Hickox Brick Home, Umberfield Cabin, Bainbridge Store and Auburn Church) to will learn facts and new information about each location. Students will be given the opportunity to ask questions, they will be encouraged to compare and contrast life long ago to their lives today, they will get to make their own historic craft to take home as well as a gift bag from the Village. Prior to the trip, students will discuss and explore the concept of “long ago” in language arts and social studies. After the trip, students will have a assignment reflecting on the trip and writing about their favorite place from the Village.

 

Every year, Harvey High School celebrates the efforts of those students earning a 3.5 cumulative GPA for grading periods 1, 2and 3. A guest speaker who is a Harvey graduate that has been highly successful in their personal and professional lives is invited to speak about that the students can achieve through perseverance and hard work and serve as role models for attaining success. Such speaker receives a very special award from Harvey High School administration.

 

During classroom discovery/play-based opportunities, Kindergarten students will be able to explore and investigate transparent manipulatives and materials. During this project, students will integrate multiple subject areas including STEM, math, science, fine motor, creative expressions, and social-emotional development. Light tables are great teaching tools that can enhance visual intrigue, collaboration and enthusiasm for learning in the classroom as the students explore, observe, talks and write about their experiences. Students can use the light tables to develop their five senses while learning about the world around them using different manipulatives while at these light tables.

 

The Harvey High School Guidance Department will be holding a College Fair at Harvey High School this fall to provide information and guidance in regards to higher education opportunities for the senior class. Seniors will have an assembly where the colleges that attend the fair will be introduced and will visit with the college admissions representatives who will be set up in the gym. The representatives will introduce the application and admissions process, programs offered, tuition and housing costs, financial aid process, etc. 149 colleges from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan were invited. Aside from students gaining social skills needed to interact professionally with college representatives, they will also expand their knowledge of what options await them after graduation and they will also have a better understanding of what is expected of them by institutions of higher learning. Hoping that the College Fair motivates them to complete all of the requirements needed for graduation and success in their future endeavors.

 

This project is to engouge 4th and 5th grade students to develop a passion for writing within a writing center area that may be utilized during their balanced-literacy block throughout the entire school year. The writing center will be set up as an inviting environment where students can meet the demands and expectations of writing like fourth and fifth grade students encouraging them to become more independent writers. The materials that will be available to the students will allow them to follow the research-based process approach to writing instruction - planning/prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. The students will attend a ‘Writing LIVE!’ assembly lead by award-winning “Random House” author House author Shelley Pearsall. Shelley will lead the students through a variety of exercises in brainstorming, creative thinking, descriptive language, and using a writer's vision.

 

In this cross-curricular project between Social Studies and Language Arts, the 4th Grade students will research one person who has made a significant impact on our society, either from past or present times, using a book from the “Who Was/Who Is?” book series and internet resources. An informative writing piece will be written by each student containing facts about the person’s childhood, obstacles they faced, contributions they have made to society and other interesting facts. Students will then turn this writing report into a presentation. Parents and families will be invited to participate as audience during the Living Wax Museum Day.

 

Kindergarten students will be visiting the Lake Farmpark “Apples!” where they may make and taste apple cider, explore and apple orchard and learn how apple products get from the farm to the table, discover how flowers become apples through pollination and study the history of John Appleseed and Ohio’s apples. This trip will be beneficial to all students in developing skills in the classroom and in life.

 

The Educational Foundation gives an average of $8,000 to teachers each year to provide financial assistance for challenging, innovative academic projects for students in the Painesville City Local Schools. The Foundation distributes funds twice each year through its grant review program. Funding for the grants comes from Educational Foundation fundraising events.

 

To learn more about the Educational Foundation, please click here: Educational Foundation