2012-13 CEF Activities including Innovation and Professional Development Grant Award Recipients, funded in part by the Davida Fox-Melanson Fund:
Minds Matter Campaign
Over $150,000 was raised from April 2011-June 2012 in a massive campaign to equip the new Science and Engineering Lab and Multi-Purpose Music Room. All of the funds raised are being used for technology, software, equipment, specialized furnishings, instruments and professional development to create state-of-the-art learning spaces for students.
Engineering Consultant
Funded 1-year position to assess the teachers professional development needs and provide guidance within the discipline of engineering. Consultant will also review and provide recommendations for equipment purchases for the engineering room and organize STEM program.
NCTE Annual Convention
CEF awarded $9,100 for 30 faculty members to attend the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention on November 22, 2013 in Boston. The theme of this conference was (Re)Inventing the Future of English. With the increasing use of technology in teaching and in personal use, the art of writing is changing, so it is hard to predict exactly how teachers will refine their practice and, therefore, how to evaluate it. New standards in reading and writing permeate every curriculum area. Experts in the field presented cutting edge research that will help our teachers stay abreast what is current and how to infuse it into the curriculum.
KnowAtom
Teachers Emily King, Kendra Katz, Caryl McCabe, Jason Naroff, Chris Denaro and Liz Perry were awarded a grant of $3,000 to invite KnowAtom trainers in-house to model lessons to 4th and 5th grade students then debrief with teachers. Carlisle Public Schools began implementing KnowAtom curriculum in 2012 and teachers feel it most beneficial to see best practices modeled by those who created and developed this curriculum to implement it most successfully.
Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project Summer Reading Institute
Mimi Gleason, fifth grade teacher, was awarded $1,600 to participate in the Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project Summer Reading Institute from July 1-6, 2013 in New York City. The summer institutes are designed for educators, classroom teachers, school/district administrators, and curriculum specialists who are committed to turning classrooms into richly literate reading and writing workshops. Together with Project leaders and staff developers, participants study methods, plan curricula, revitalize their thinking, and create rigorous models of best practices.
National Art Convention
Art teachers Courtney Longaker and Rachel Levy were awarded $2,862 to attend the 2013 National Art Educators Association Convention from March 7-10 in Fort Worth, Texas. This conference provided ways to learn and identify new strategies and opportunities to advance the fine arts and visual art instruction in our school; update our curriculum, lesson plans and materials; and increase awareness, understanding and appreciation of local arts and culture and the corresponding beneficial impact on our community.
Teachers College Coaching Institute
Sue Bober and Dennet Siddell were awarded $4,700 to attend The Teacher’s College Coaching Institute in October 2013. Their goal in attending was to learn effective techniques to coach teachers to help accelerate their students’ reading development and to teach them to use performance assessments to lift the level of comprehension and rigor in reading workshop. This will help us to more fully achieve the expectations of the new Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.
Council for Exceptional Children Conference
CEF awarded $1,579.14 for Steven Peck and Lori Jackson to attend and present at the Georgia State Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) state conference on February 22 and 23, 2013. Peck and Jackson presented “A new method to educate students with ASD/ related disabilities,” sharing their philosophy in recognizing, understanding and educating students who present with multiple disabilities with other educators, psychologists and professionals in the field of special education.
Leveled Literacy Intervention System
CEF awarded the elementary school teachers a grant for $9,600 for to have a Heinemann consultant come to our school to provide three days of training in the Leveled Literacy Intervention system. They are currently using the program with some students and have had success; however they feel that training in the program would increase their skill with the program and help students make greater gains in their reading skills.
American Association of School Librarians Conference
Librarian Maya Bery was awarded $614.50 to attend the American Association of School Librarians Conference. The AASL National Conference & Exhibition is the the only national conference devoted solely to the needs of school librarians. Held every two years, AASL is the primary continuing education activity of the division and a leading professional development event for school librarians, as well as an excellent educational and business forum for the entire library community.
American Choral Directors Conference
Choral Director Tara Callahan was awarded $1000 to attend the regional American Choral Directors Conference in Baltimore in March 2013 which included workshops, clinics, performances, networking opportunities, and advocacy to promote excellence in choral music.