Ridley Teachers' Grant Writing Pays Off September 16, 2015
REA Members were very busy during the last school year and over the summer of 2015 writing grants to benefit the students of Ridley. This process is a daunting one, but has paid off in a huge way for three High School teachers. All told, they’ve been awarded $117,500 in grant money to be used in their respective classroom. These are only a few examples of the many grants earned by the hard-working teachers of Ridley School District. Jim McCusker teaches science at the High School. He was concerned about the negative impact absences were having on his students. They were missing important information and were faced with double the workload when they returned, making it more difficult for them to catch up. Wouldn’t it be great, he thought, if the kids could still be part of the class even when they couldn’t physically be there? From there, Jim started thinking about how that could look in a classroom and what resources he and the students would need to make it happen. He realized that he’d need several laptops with video camera capabilities, an interactive scope, and the ability to wirelessly connect to all of these devices. So he wrote a grant entitled “Cease Absences Now Video Advantage System” or CANVAS for short. With this system, students are able to FaceTime in to class from home so they don’t miss a minute of instructional time. Parents, guidance counselors and administrators are also able to use FaceTime to visit the classroom. In addition to helping with absences, the students are able to use the technology to generate content driven videos that revolve around class labs and demos. Giving students a more authentic way to express their learning has paid dividends in Jim’s classroom. He noted that some of his most reluctant learners are the first to get involved with these new projects. In total, Jim was awarded $5000 from Canvas Instructure to purchase the materials needed to turn his dream into a reality. Amy Pickett is the High School librarian and she is always looking for new ways to get the kids interested in reading. This year, she’s teamed up with The Dollar General Literacy Fund who supplied her with a $4,000 grant to purchase books in the running for the Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award. Every year, fifteen of the very best books are nominated. These books are all written by North American authors and have been published within the last five years. They really are among the best of the best, but the winning book will need readers' votes to win! The grant from Dollar General will fund multiple copies of each nominated book for both the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school years.
Students grew lettuce, radishes, and basil on the grow light carts that were used to make salads and pesto for them to enjoy!
Amy has been getting the word out about these books by visiting 9th and 10th grade classrooms and doing book talks. In order to participate in determining the winner of this year’s contest, students must read (or listen to) at least three of the nominees. Voting will be in March and once the votes are counted, Amy will be hosting a Reveal Party to unveil this year’s winner! Students are genuinely excited about reading due in no small way to Amy’s passion and enthusiasm for YA literature. Chrissy Wilson is another science teacher at the High School and the recipient of several large grants for Ridley’s horticulture classes, horticulture club, and Gang Green. The Ridley Education Foundation (REF) has renewed a “Healthy Sprouts” grant for $350 that allows students to grow and try sprouts in new recipes. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has awarded Ridley an Environmental Education and Stewardship grant for $3,000 to construct six new raised beds and removable cold frames that will allow students to extend the life of their crops in an outdoor classroom. RHS was also chosen to participate in Seed Change, and initiative of the National Farm to School Network funded by the Walmart Foundation. This grant for $5,000 will help to build the garden program, allow the purchase of food processing equipment for Foods classes, and will also allow students to try local food. Finally, State Farm has awarded RHS a whopping $99, 800 for Gang Green Growing Leaders. This generous grant will enable Gang Green to put a large greenhouse in the garden courtyard allowing Ridley students to grow food and donate it to the local community.