Sonoma Valley teachers receive classroom grants

SVEF Classroom Grants support innovative and creative projects, which enhance student learning.|

The Sonoma Valley Education Foundation has announced the recipients of its classroom grants for the 2017-18 school year.

SVEF Classroom Grants, which average $500, support innovative and creative projects across the district.

Each fall, an awards committee - representatives from the community, SVEF, and school parents - reviews teacher proposals from all Sonoma Valley Unified school sites and selects award recipients. Grants this year were made possible from the Red & White Ball raffle proceeds.

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Lisa Bell, preschool

An art easel, a water table and a sand box to support utilizing the outdoors as a second classroom for developing skills in fine motor, vocabulary, sharing, cooperative play, experimenting, math, and more.

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Donna Candelaria, middle school special education

High interest books for 6th-8th special education classroom library, wiggle seats and therapy foot bands helping special education students stay engaged in reading and helping to remain focused in class.

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Kristen Carlson, first grade

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) manipulatives and bins for modeling, inventing and exploring math and engineering concepts for use when students finish their work early and during designated times during the week.

Nancy Cherniss, resource program

Three Levels of Read Naturally, a reading program designed to improve reading fluency, increase vocabulary skills and grammar, replacing an outdated 15-year old cassette set.

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Rachel Cisneros, kindergarten and first

Storybook STEM curriculum and materials to create STEM activities, taking students through the engineering design process and engaging them in learning, working together, and thinking creatively.

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Elisha Coon, high school

Dissection specimen of minks and squids allowing students to explore and witness the beauty and complexity of the anatomical systems such as digestive, cardiovascular, muscular, skeletal and endocrine systems, reinforcing content knowledge and curricular concepts.

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Sarah DeSmet, ninth grade

Transportation and scholarships for Freshmen Team Fuji students to attend Sonoma Challenge Ropes Course supporting team building, working together to solve challenges, and developing new friendships.

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Glendi Henion and Ally Oxenhandler, fifth grade

Transportation and scholarships for Westminster Woods Outdoor Education trip fostering the development of character, community, and science literacy through experiential learning over the course of a three-day/two-night experience.

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Margaret Jacobson, intervention kindergarten-third grade

Pilot program for multi-grade level peer mentoring with students pairing at-risk eigth grade students and at-risk third grade students. Student pairs meet to complete a monthly STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) based project from Tinker Crates.

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Anna Kelsch, ninth grade

New and exciting hardcover books for the freshman book groups, successfully increasing student engagement in the classroom and students’ abilities in reading.

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Cheryl Larson, speech-language pathologist

Social thinking curriculum and books, posters and curriculum guides for use in developing stronger social cognition (thinking) skills leading to more successful interactions and connections with others both in social and academic areas.

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Liz Liscum and Laura Hoban, seventh grade

The Motion Math Program aligns with Math 7 standards, allowing students to work independently, and encouraging and measuring the factors that contribute to learning with a strong focus on Dr. Jo Boaler’s Growth Mindset work.

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Julie MacDonald, K/1st Grade

Biome/Habitat mats and hands-on materials showcasing animal habitats, ecosystem diversity and function while including language, grammar and writing work, as well as math components.

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Catherine Markham, second grade

Leveled book sets: The Bella and Rosie Book Collection, and the “Jack and Daisy” book selection, engaging books motivate students to read independently and learn to write higher-quality opinion pieces.

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Laura Olson, K-8 resource teacher

SRA Expressive Writing 11 and supplies for resource students in 4-6th grade who experience difficulty writing, engaging them in the writing process, improving writing skills, and experience more success in general education classroom.

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Kathleen Pearl, Sallie Romer, and Cheryl Witte, kindergarten

Supplies for Kindergarten Garden Project, offering a place for hands-on learning and developing and enhancing fine motor skills, acquire science and math skills, reinforce healthy eating habits, and learn responsibility and protection of the environment.

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Kellyne Peterson, kindergarten

Wireless Bluetooth headphones for use with classroom technology to replace old and failing technology. Wireless headphones will alleviate the problem of wires breaking easily with this age group, and being damaged from movement around the technology.

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Karen Taggesell, resource program fifth grade

Rewards writing: Sentence Refinement writing program, helping fifth grade students with disabilities become better writers by teaching them to sharpen word choice, polish sentences, and edit paragraphs in preparation for middle school standards.

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Cathy Wedell, middle school

High interest books for middle school students, increasing their commitment and passion for reading, and bookmark aides for fiction and non-fiction books supporting them in asking questions of the text and how the author is presenting information.

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Alison Zuehsldorf, first grade

STEM manipulatives, challenges and supplies for expanding the classroom STEM corner, continuing the momentum and excitement of students working together, challenging themselves and presenting their ideas.

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