2016 Recipients

Project Name

Description

# Students

Grant

Tech for Interdisciplinary Experiences

Through this project, we want our students to experience the following:
-connections between the subjects that they study in school;
-connections between school and the real world;
-how to apply their skills gained in 7th grade to real world issues;
-how to use technology as a study tool and learning aid;
-a capstone experience that ties together their 7th grade learning.

45

$2,400

Model U.N.

Model UN promotes students' and teachers' interest in the world around them and a students knowledge in a variety of subjects. Model UN also teaches vital skills in problem solving, conflict resolution, research and communication. Model UN also gives students and teachers the opportunity to meet interesting people and make new friends. Model UN not only involves young people in the study and discussion of global issues, but also encourages the development of skills useful throughout their lives, such as research, writing, public speaking, problem solving, consensus building, conflict resolution, compromise, and cooperation.

16

$1,275

Center/Pepin Student Leadership Club

The objectives of the Center/Pepin Student Leadership Club are: to encourage student input regarding decisions that affect students at Center/Pepin; to create a positive social experience for members of the club; to build a positive school environment for the students at Center/Pepin; and to promote positive action that will better the school, city, and world.

50

$600

The History Exchange

Students will increase content knowledge by working with college students and professors both at EHS and UMass to engage in college level historical inquiry. Students will be exposed to and increase interest in attending college by visiting UMass in 9th and 10th grade and engaging with historical archives, history majors and history professors. History teachers will increase academic knowledge by working with UMass professors on Native American history to enhance student lessons. UMass professors and teaching assistants will gain knowledge about high school level history instruction through a presentation at UMass by EHS teachers.

150

$1,975

Chemistry Olympiad

- Stimulate students to achieve excellence in understanding chemistry concepts.
- Challenge the chemical knowledge and skills of students as they prepare for the competition.
- Recognize outstanding chemistry students and encourage additional learning of science concepts.

12

$320

Jazz Band

The Easthampton Public Schools Jazz Band will be committed
towards instilling a broader understanding of the rich
canon of jazz music and providing educational opportunities
for students to explore the music of Count Basie and Duke
Ellington. Ellington and Basie represent the very heart
of American 20th Century musical heritage. Students will
learn about the cultural significance of these important
African American musicians through study and performance of
their music. Knowledge of this music teaches the building
blocks of jazz which help prepare students to play any
music. Besides offering a much needed opportunity for our
student population to study music that tells an important
story of African American History, we will be able to
create important mentoring relationships between high
school and middle school ages students.

25

$4,500

Arts Festival

The tenth annual Easthampton High School Arts Festival, an art exhibition for Easthampton High School students, will take place at Big Red Frame Art Gallery and the ECA+ Gallery at Easthampton’s Old Town Hall.  The Jazz Combo will perform in the beautifully renovated lobby of the building.  This exhibit will highlight the arts at the high school for students, their families and the community.  Students in visual arts classes, including studio art and media arts: as well as music students, will have the opportunity to showcase their work in a professional manner.  A related exhibit at the thigh school will also showcase multimedia work, miscellaneous artwork and the spring concert.  The Arts Festival will allow students to experience all aspects of exhibition preparation.  Art students at Easthampton High School will be involved in planning the festival.  They will assist in creating, organizing, and distributing information about the Arts Festival to student s and families, and assisting in the choosing, collecting, and organizing of artwork, documenting work and assisting in framing, labeling the show and helping to set up the opening.  Selected students will frame their work with the assistance of Jean-Pierre Pasche of the Big Red Frame.  This entails learning all aspects of framing in order to prepare their work professionally for the exhibition.

150

$1,365

Garden Project

1. The garden classrooms will provide outdoor learning labs where children can explore and apply their studies in a hands-on manner.
2. The garden classrooms will provide and experience that connect students to health and nutrition through learning about the journey from seed to vegetable and encouraging the enjoyment of eating fresh food. 3. The gardens will be integrated into the curriculum at each grade level.
4. The gardens will enhance parent engagement through volunteer opportunities. 5. Students will experience their own capacity for creating change, resolving conflict, and teamwork as they work cooperatively in the gardens.

1,000

$10,700

3^rd and Fourth Grade Chorus

The students will be able to learn a diverse curriculum of music. They will learn the components of vocal techniques: posture /alignment, breathing motion and breath management, phonation, resonance, diction, and expression. Each of these techniques are the foundation for the essential singer. The reasons students have an inability to match pitch is due to their inexperience, lack of exposure to music, cultural differences, attitude, lack of connecting ear to voice, and lack of placement skills. Chorus will provide the students to sing alone, without accompaniment, sing softly, match teacher's pitch, have other students model high pitch, and evaluate pitch accuracy. They will learn the components of choral techniques: Choral tone; Blend; Balance; Diction; Intonation; Rhythmic accuracy; Interpretation; Stage presence/deportment. Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and melody find their way into the inward places of the heart.

50

$1,600

TOTALS:

$1,348

$24,735