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Reminder Assistant Editor LONGMEADOW The Longmeadow Educational Excellence Foundation (LEEF) continued on its mission to enrich, enhance and support the quality of education in the Longmeadow public schools on Thursday by awarding 16 new grants to teachers and administrators throughout the system. The grants totaled $88,157. With the awarding of the grants, LEEF brings its total number of projects funded to 144 and its total amount of money given to $561,000 since the foundation's inception in 2002. "LEEF truly is a partner to the Longmeadow Public Schools," Superintendent E. Jahn Hart said. She described the foundation as professional, exemplary and caring. "As a partner, we thank you for helping us do what we do." The projects that received grant funds this year ran the gamut from biology, social studies and music to art, technology and emotional learning. Heather Wagner, an earth science teacher at Williams Middle School, received a grant to place a seismograph in her classroom. A seismograph is an instrument used for measuring and recording the vibrations of earthquakes. "It helps me teach about plate boundaries and the way they shift," Wagner said. She added that last Tuesday, it recorded an earthquake of about magnitude 6 on the Richter scale off the coast of Mexico. Wagner believes having the seismograph in the classroom makes the science more visible to her students. "I'm trying to get them interested in real world science," she stated. "I'm very excited about the topic and I hope to get the kids excited too." Lori Snyder and Eric Howard of from the high school received a grant for the Longmeadow -- Takikawa, Japan Exchange Program. The Junior Ambassador Delegation from Takikawa, a city located on the island of Hokkaido, visited LHS for the second time during the previous school year. The grant will help fund the exchange program this year. Sara Brennan, a Blueberry Hill School reading teacher, received a grant last year to establish a book closet at the school; she received another this year to expand on the project. "This has been a wonderful opportunity," Brennan said. "I can't tell you how much the kids love it." High school art teacher Cara Taylor, who received a grant last school year for the Empty Bowl Project, will be working on a professional artists series this year. "The students made 95 ceramic bowls and raised $1,100 for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts [with the Empty Bowl Project]," Taylor noted. "This kind of thing could be done on a yearly basis. The money from LEEF got [the project] up and running. We couldn t have done it without LEEF." The district wide project to be implement is to include the Renzulli Learning System in every school. The system provides differentiated instruction for students through the use of computers, and can be accessed from school or at home at any time. To learn more, visit www.renzullilearning.com. LEEF president Chris Halista said, "This is really about what the teachers have done for our kids. They've taken $88,157 worth of grants and turned it into $88,157 worth of innovation and excellence." Joe Aberdale, a LEEF board member, reminds Longmeadow residents that a major source of the contributions the foundation receives is the LEEF Gala, this year slated for Nov. 15 at the Longmeadow Country Club. Tickets for the gala are now available at www.longmeadowleef.org. | ||||||
