Archive: Around Town

The Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) has awarded $64,000 in grants as of Dec. 7 for 2012-13 school year activities, announced President Terry Byrnes. “We are very grateful to our generous donors who support IPEI’s efforts to enhance learning in our district,” she said.

Included are 31 Teacher Grants totaling $39,840.  “These grants feature excellent teacher-initiated projects that give Ithaca City School District (ICSD) students exciting chances to expand their imaginations and knowledge while strengthening their engagement with school and community,” said Teacher Grants Review Committee Chair Sandy True after presenting the grants at the IPEI board’s monthly meeting.

Teacher Grants fund classroom projects that are linked with specific grade level New York State learning standards and/or Common Core Standards and enhance the district’s curricular opportunities for students and teachers. Proposals for a maximum grant amount of $1500 are made by teachers. In keeping with IPEI’s mission of “connecting school and community,” they always include a community partner.

Three Teacher Grant projects were selected to be funded through the Charles E. Treman Jr. Teacher Grants of the Tompkins Charitable Gift Fund in memory of the late Tompkins Trust Company president.

IPEI thanks Gary Weissbrot and Buffalo Street Books for offering grantees a discount on books needed for their grants. These books will feature a bookplate with Buffalo Street Books and IPEI’s logos.

IPEI has also provided $17,500 through the first two of four cycles of its Red and Gold Grants program by funding a total of 40 grants requests for $500 or less each. Teachers, administrators, students, and community members may apply for these one-time grants that assist with projects that strengthen and enrich the schools and fall outside the Teacher Grants program criteria.

The Fine Arts Booster Group (FABG), an affiliate of IPEI, awarded 14 grants totaling $5,575 during the first semester of 2012-13, including four Drama Fund awards that supported productions at I.H.S., Lehman Alternative Community School, and at Boynton and DeWitt Middle Schools.

For 2012-13, ICSD Teacher Librarians requested funds from the Phyllis B. Brodhead Library Media Technology Fund to purchase Playaways that will be housed at Boynton and available for loan to other ICSD libraries.  Playaways are digital audio books in a self-contained, portable unit.

Other IPEI programs include Kids Discover the Trail!, a collaboration with ICSD and the Discovery Trail that brings elementary school students to the seven local museums and public library. IPEI and FABG present several awards made at the end of the school year recognizing teachers, students, and a student organization. Ithaca High’s Code Red Robotics Team is another affiliate of IPEI.

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