2017-18 MCCRTA MIni-Grant Awarded to Grant Middle School Teachers
The Marion City/County Retired Teachers Association is proud to announce Eric McChesney and Elizabeth Ratliff, teachers in the 6-9 Advanced English Programat Baker Middle School as the winners of the 2017-18 Mini-Grant Award. The $500.00 grant was awarded for a project titled, “Applications of Digital
Video in English and Coaching.” The funds will be used to purchase a portable IPad with video editing applications and necessary peripherals. Students will make strategic use of the technology in collaboration with peers. Exercises using the technology will benefit the study of symbolism, archetypes, tone, pacing and characterization.
Enhancing students’ ability to construct compelling arguments and narratives is the central goal of the project. Following a timetable submitted for the grant, teams of students will work collaboratively to research a topic, gather evidence for their positions and use the technology to enhance arguments using digital images as appropriate.
Students will also benefit indirectly through this technology as teachers make use of it to observe one another. Recordings of class sessions will afford teachers the opportunity of working collaboratively to identify and improve upon best practices that are productive for the middle school student population. The teachers will share their inspiration for and outcomes of the project at the May dinner meeting of the Marion City/County Retired Teachers Association.
The Marion City/County Retired Teachers Association is proud to announce Eric McChesney and Elizabeth Ratliff, teachers in the 6-9 Advanced English Programat Baker Middle School as the winners of the 2017-18 Mini-Grant Award. The $500.00 grant was awarded for a project titled, “Applications of Digital
Video in English and Coaching.” The funds will be used to purchase a portable IPad with video editing applications and necessary peripherals. Students will make strategic use of the technology in collaboration with peers. Exercises using the technology will benefit the study of symbolism, archetypes, tone, pacing and characterization.
Enhancing students’ ability to construct compelling arguments and narratives is the central goal of the project. Following a timetable submitted for the grant, teams of students will work collaboratively to research a topic, gather evidence for their positions and use the technology to enhance arguments using digital images as appropriate.
Students will also benefit indirectly through this technology as teachers make use of it to observe one another. Recordings of class sessions will afford teachers the opportunity of working collaboratively to identify and improve upon best practices that are productive for the middle school student population. The teachers will share their inspiration for and outcomes of the project at the May dinner meeting of the Marion City/County Retired Teachers Association.
MCKINLEY SCHOOL TEACHER WINS 2016 MCCRTA MINI-GRANT
Amanda Baumgartner, second grade teacher at McKinley Elementary (Marion City Schools), holds the letter announcing her success in being chosen as the 2016 recipient of a $500.00 mini-grant awarded by the Marion City/County Retired Teachers Association. Mrs. Baumgartner’s grant application outlined a plan to organize a photography club in which students will learn to use the features available on a digital camera. They will take photos of school events and landscape features around the school to use in learning basic photo editing skills.
By saving the photos to Google drive accounts, students will be able to create
slide shows to be shared at parent events. A “Habits in Action” photography
show highlighting the seven Leader in Me Habits and an “All About Me” project
showing off students’ talents and hobbies are two of the planned projects.
Photographs taken will also serve as inspiration for writing instruction helping
students to create thougthful and meaningful assignments to meet the writing
standards of the district’s curriculum.
The mini-grant project of the Marion City/County Retired Teachers Association is
open to PreK through 12 grade teachers in any Marion city or county school.
The purpose of the project is to support innovative teachers in funding projects
that cost more than is comfortable for an individual teacher’s “out of pocket”
spending.
Followup
Recognition at May General Meeting
MCCRTA AWARDS FIRST ACTIVE TEACHER MINI-GRANT
The Marion City County Retired Teachers Association (MCCRTA) awarded the first $500.00 Active Teacher MIni-Grant to Mrs. Sarah Pilsner, Reading Recovery teacher at Taft Elementary School. Linda Aufdencamp, chairman of the MCCRTA Active Teacher Mini-Grant Committee, visited Taft on Wednesday, October 21st to notify Mrs. Pilsner of her selection. Adam Mowery, principal of Taft, arranged a special gathering of primary students and their teachers in the school’s cafetorium to announce the award as a surprise for Mrs. Pilsner.
He spoke with students about the tradition at Taft Elementary of recognizing those who have achieved something special, done a really good job, or gone above and beyond expectations. Mr. Mowery announced Mrs. Pilsner’s achievement in earning the grant. He emphasized for the students that what she had achieved was going to result in books and materials for them--which produced exuberant applause and a sea of smiling faces.
The title of Mrs. Pilsner’s application was “Reading Recovery Books and Materials”. Assessors determined that of the nine applications, this one contained the best laid out plan in which needs were clearly demonstrated, books and materials to be purchased directly met the needs of targeted students, will be used more than one year and will benefit many students To conclude the requirements of the grant, Mrs. Pilsner will submit a brief report by April 15 of progress implementing the project and will be a guest at the May 2nd MCCRTA dinner meeting to share the outcomes in person.
Follow-up
FIRST MINI-GRANT AWARDED BY THE MCCRTA NEARS COMPLETION
Sarah Pilsner, Marion City Schools Reading Recovery Teacher at Taft Elementary has submitted the MCCRTA (Marion City County Retired Teachers Association) Mini-Grant Report. She will be attending the dinner meeting of the organization on May 2nd to share a summary of the project. Mrs. Pilsner was the first person awarded the grant of $500.00 presented by the MCCRTA. She was selected from applications submitted by city and county teachers of elementary, middle and high school students. The final report and accompanying photographs of materials purchased with the grant are included below.
Teacher: Sarah Pilsner, Taft Elementary, Reading Recovery
Title of Project: Reading Recovery Books and Materials
Tell us a little about how the implementation of the grant actually rolled out— receiving the money, ordering and beginning the use of materials with students. Did you have to problem solve any challenges in acquiring or using the materials you listed in the grant proposal? If so, please describe how you met the challenges.
The implementation of the grant was perfect on your end. Our end had some confusion. We have a new person in charge of ordering, a new secretary at the school, and new guidelines for grants. The teacher (me) is not allowed to have any involvement with the process. I was just to give the information to my school secretary. I couldnʼt do any of the ordering at all. She had to go through someone at the District Service Center. I kept asking why I hadnʼt received any of my grant materials yet, I was just getting the run around. Luckily, in December, one of the vendors called the school and asked for me. They had said that they had the shipment sitting ready to deliver for weeks, but had no idea where to send it. They had my name only. They did an internet search to find that I worked for Marion City Schools. They then called every Marion City School until they got me. After talking to that vendor, I decided to skip the order of command and I called the other vendors myself. Sure enough, they also had my materials sitting there waiting to be delivered, but didnʼt know how to deliver it. So long story short, I received all my grant materials by January.
It was so exciting when I received the grant materials. I quickly separated them into 3 piles. The other two Reading Recovery teachers and I began using the materials that day. We no longer have to share magnetic letters between teachers or between students. Our students love the black markers. The students use them daily to write in their writing booklets. They do not bleed and are easy to use. They are crisp and dark. The books are engaging. The students enjoy them.
Several curriculum standards were targeted in your application that you hoped to meet using materials purchased with the grant. Did you experience any surprises along the way in regards to meeting the standards?
I did not experience any surprises along the way in regards to meeting the standards. Standards RI10 and RL10 state that with prompting and support, students are to read books that are appropriately complex for grade one. The books provided by your grant helped and will continue to help the Reading Recovery students at Taft Elementary meet those standards. The books provided by your grant also helps us meet the Reading Foundational standards RF1, RF1a, RF2, RF3, and RF4. The lower level books that were provided by your grant allows the students to learn the organization and basic features of print and of a sentence. We used the books to teach 1st word in a sentence, capitalization, ending punctuation, syllables, etc. The books also helped students grasp word analysis skills in decoding words as they read and to read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support their comprehension. The magnetic letters provided hands-on manipulatives for the students. This helped us and continues to help us teach left to right across a word, sight words, and other phonics based lessons. The homework baggies provide a structured way for our students to carry the books from school to home to school again. Bringing the books home to read provides that additional practice at reading books at each childʼs instructional and independent reading level.
What suggestions might you have to improve the mini-grant program on another year? (Possible areas of comment: Amount of the grant, timing of the publicity, due dates, application form requirements, budget requirements, etc.)
I personally feel that the amount of your grant was the perfect amount for my situation. I want to thank the teachers of the Retired Teachers Association for continuing to provide support for the students of Marion. You are proof that teachers are teachers for life. You continue to help even in your retirement. You are making a difference for the next generation of Marionites.
The timing of the grant, the due dates, the application form and the budget requirements were all appropriate. I specifically like that the timing of the grant is at the beginning of a school year. Under normal situations, the grant materials would have been delivered earlier and the materials could have been used the entire school year. I also like that you are asking for the standards that the grant will help meet.
As for the publicity of the grant, I only heard about the grant from word of mouth. Vicky Bell had told Cheryl Palm about the grant. Cheryl Palm then came to me and asked if I would be interested in trying for it. Our principal was so excited for us when Ms. Linda Aufdencamp came to our school to deliver the news that we were selected as the firstrecipient of your grant. I say we, because your grant provides materials for three teachers and several students. The materials will continue to be used with the Reading Recovery students at Taft for many years.
Mrs. Sarah Pilsner
Taft Elementary RR/LLI Teacher