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Date: 9/26/2023
BELCHERTOWN — The Belchertown Education Foundation has awarded five Student Success grants for the 2023-24 school year, totaling nearly $16,000.
The Belchertown Education Foundation added that this makes 36 grants of nearly $86,000 awarded by the nonprofit organization in the last six years.
“We couldn’t do it without our amazing community of donors, the innovative teachers and other grant applicants, and the support of superintendents, administrators and staff over the years,” founding board member Jennifer Faulkner said.
The first Student Success Grants went to Belchertown Spanish teacher and world language department Chair Christine Holesovsky to help more students become proficient in multiple languages.
The world language department has been awarded a grant to help more students in the district achieve the Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy for being proficient in both English and another language.
If achieved, a seal appears on the transcript or diploma of the graduating senior.
“What we are working on is helping more students achieve the Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy. It’s both to encourage the study of another language other than English and to recognize those students who achieve a high proficiency but it’s also to recognize the many students throughout the state whose first language is not English but develop an academic proficiency in their first language and English,” Holesovsky said.
She added that her department has participated in the Seal of Biliteracy since the state started it in 2019.
According to Holesovsky, since 2019 there have been 70 students from Ludlow who have earned the Seal of Biliteracy.
Grant funding will support assessment costs for state exams which are not paid for by the school district.
Exams can be taken as diagnostic tools in junior year to help teachers focus learning to help students achieve proficiency as seniors.
“I am super grateful for the Belchertown Education Foundation for funding this grant which is going to be used in a variety of ways. Some is to be able to do some of this progress testing for our younger students and see where they are at and help us develop our curriculum,” Holesovsky said.
She added, “The other is we don’t want, even for our seniors who are trying to take this test to earn the state seal, we don’t finance to be a problem that may keep them from taking the test. If there are students who can’t afford it, we want to be able to cover that cost for them too.”
Another grant receipt includes Swift River Elementary School Special Education teacher Kelly Fulmer for the social, emotional and self-regulation learning resources for pathways program.
The grant for the Pathways Program will fund wobble stools, bean bag chairs, floor pillows, noise canceling headphones and other materials to improve upon the physical space and resources supporting students’ social, emotional and learning needs.
The Pathways Program is a self-contained or partial-inclusion special education classroom for students in grades 1-3.
The third grant recipient includes Belchertown High School special education teacher Maia Lustbader and paraprofessional Daniel McCarthy for therapeutic tools to maximize learning in the ORIOLES classroom.
The grant will continue to improve upon the physical space of the ORIOLES Program classroom through flexible seating options, alternative lighting, and sensory/therapeutic tools to maximize learning potential and meet social-emotional needs.
“What we wanted to do was try and provide a nurturing and comfortable environment for our crowd. Traditionally our students have had a rough go with their school experiences, and we are looking to grow a healthy relationship with school,” Lustbader added.
The ORIOLES program is a sub separate program within the special education department which includes a social emotional classroom for students in grades 9-12.
The ORIOLES classroom has received a previous year’s grant and have added dry erase tables, alternate lighting, bean bag chairs, pillows, weighted blankets and lap desks.
“This comes with expectations that these things are used at appropriate times. We found that all these items that have been implemented in the classroom have grown our classroom and grown confidence within our classroom,” she added.
Lustbader said that students will be actively involved in the process of creating the enhanced environment.
She added, “We want students to be a part of this process and not just have it thrown at them but rather they are doing the research. What is going to work best for them. For example, we had a student who really wanted an oil diffuser, so I told them to do their research on why aroma therapy is successful and sure enough she did.”
The fourth grant was awarded to Patricia Lavigne, Giseal Leven and Heather Benedetti from Chestnut Hill Community School for enriching STEM curriculum through a creative collaboration workshop.
An estimated 200 fourth graders at Chestnut Hill will participate in a two-day workshop and experience a hands-on building program that enriches the STEM curriculum.
Activities will include creating objects with numerous kinds of building materials, students working collaboratively in small groups to explore, innovate and create solutions together.
The final grant was awarded to Corrina Smith and Sarah Hartmann from Jabish Brook Middle School to help with marching band drum harness replacement.
This grant funds the purchase of 25 ergonomically correct marching drum harnesses for Jabish Brook Middle School marching band.
The previous harnesses are over 20 years old and passed down from the high school.
The new carriers are described as lightweight, adjustable and more suited to the size and abilities of a middle school percussionist and will be in use at parades and other events.
Donations may be made to support the continuation of the Student Success Grants Program at belchertowneducationfoundation.org.