Archive: Around Town

The Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) has awarded $11,729 in its third quarterly round of Red and Gold Grants for the 2012-13 school year. The 26 new grants will assist teachers, administrators, students and community members with projects that strengthen and enrich education at the Ithaca schools.

"Our Red and Gold Grants are a wonderful opportunity to provide students and teachers with hands-on projects that enhance their learning,” said IPEI President Terry Byrnes. “It is amazing what a teacher can do with a small amount of support. We are so thankful to all our donors who make these grants possible.”

The newly awarded Red and Gold Grants are listed below.  All 2012-13 grants can be found at www.ipei.org under several categories: Teacher Grants, Red and Gold Grants, Community Collaboration Grants, Phyllis B. Brodhead Library Media Technology Grants, and Fine Arts Booster Group Grants.    

Red and Gold Grant recipients this cycle include: Erik Frank, a special education teacher at Boynton Middle School, who will lead students with disabilities in writing and illustrating children’s books for Pre-K and Kindergarteners at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School; Gary Bercow, an art teacher at Lehman Alternative Community School, whose students will spend a day in professional artist Treacy Ziegler’s studio creating original artwork to be printed on one of the world’s largest printing presses; John Brooks, a fourth-grade teacher at Enfield Elementary School, who will teach students about the Revolutionary War through art, music and a field trip to Fort Stanwix; and Amalie Gorbold, an Ithaca High School (IHS) English teacher, who will purchase new books for a 9th grade sports literature project.

“IPEI is important because they granted me the funds I needed in order to print and bind the books,” said Frank.  “If not for IPEI, I probably would have [had to] front the [money] myself. I'm very thankful.”

Bercow said:  “Being able to take advantage of local resources and artists has been made possible through grants provided by IPEI.  It allows us to invite guest artists to our classroom and gives us an opportunity to visit and explore in their studios.  Without IPEI funding we would not be able to bring such exciting opportunities and experiences to our students.”

“I am excited about the opportunity to utilize IPEI grants to provide students with additional learning opportunities,” said Brooks. “This particular grant will allow the students at Enfield to explore the Revolutionary War period more. The funds will be used to purchase snare drums and fifes, and flag material to make our own flag as we head into a cross curricular thematic unit on the Revolutionary war with our music and art teacher here at Enfield.”

Gorbold said, “The IPEI grant gives our students access to more texts for our independent novel unit. The addition of these texts to our collection addresses both interests and reading levels of our diverse student body.”

IPEI Red and Gold Grants Recipients 2012-12 (Round 3):

Safe Haven
Beth Hardesty/Ithaca High

Sports Literature Independent Novel
Amalie Gorbold/Ithaca High
Boynton Children’s Book Project
Erik Frank/Boynton

IHS Goes to Ghana
Lauren McKown/ Ithaca High

Alternative Darkroom Techniques
Judy Cogan/ Ithaca High

Sizzling Science Reads!
Victoria Benson/ Boynton

Art workshop in Treacy Ziegler’s studio
Gary Bercow/LACS

Parenting Project
Marie Sadusky/ Ithaca High

Supplies for Locavores, and Foodies programs at LACS
Celia Clement/ Dan Flerlage, LACS

First Grade Readers
Patricia Levine/ South Hill

Listening to Learn
Lydia Dolch/Fall Creek

Balance Balls for Better Focus
Paula Kilts/Northeast

Listening for Engagement
Caitlin Baxter/Fall Creek

First Grade Readers
Nancy Marino/South Hill

First Grade Readers
Kathleen White/South Hill

DeWitt School Store
Trisha Porcheddu-Ion/DeWitt

Common Space Murals
Caitlyn VanderMaas/DeWitt

Co-curricular Thematic Unit for Revolutionary War
John Brooks/Enfield

Going Graphic!
Kluane Snyder/Caroline

Environmental Education Through Touring Arts Programs
Gerry Monaghan/LACS

The LACS Archery Project
Jason Zorn/LACS

Designing, Constructing and Launching Model Rockets
Emily Graber/Cayuga Heights

Designing, Constructing and Launching Model Rockets
Spencer Hill/Cayuga Heights

Designing, Constructing and Launching Model Rockets
Kimberly Snow/Cayuga Heights

From Pippi to Ripley: The Workshop Day for Middle and High School Students and Teachers
Elizabeth Bleicher

Swim Lap Counter
Paul Stover, Katherine Schrader, Ned Przezdziecki

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