Grants: Fall 2011
Nick Amiccucci and Dennis Harrington, BH-BL High School
“When Students attend Guitar Club, they will have an opportunity to engage in positive interactions with teachers in a non-academic setting. The teacher advisors (at this point Nick Amiccucci, Special Ed, Chris Reach, English, Dennis Harrington, English and Jim Owen BOCES Social Worker) will have an opportunity to make connections with the students and offer mentoring through the shared passion of music and the guitar. While all students are welcome, an ideal student whom we would like to engage in the club is one who is not typically drawn to after-school activities, but can flourish and succeed in their personal endeavors and find camaraderie and support from teachers and student mentors within the guitar club.”
Grant: $874 to purchase 10 guitars
David Besozzi, BH-BL High School Social Studies Department
“The topic of sleep and dreams fascinates students, but no unit explored these topics in depth. As a result, a Sleep and Dreams unit will be planned and implemented. As part of the unit, the concepts of consciousness will be examined, and in particular, the role of brain waves in sleep. Recently, new and affordable technologies have been created that utilize electroencephalography (EEG) to control the functions of machines and computer software. By incorporating the use of such technologies into the instructional activities of the Sleep and Dream unit, students will better understand the content related to those topics and the significance of these technologies in the 21st century.”
Grant: $355 for five Star Wars Science Force Trainers
Sabine Erickson, BH-BL High School Math Department
“This is a wireless system that connects the TI Nspire CX handhelds to my computer. It sets up a network within the classroom that I can use to assess my students’ understanding in real time. This tool would be invaluable in assessing student mastery. I can also send and receive data files instantly. Please see the TI website for an introduction to the TI Navigator system.”
Grant: $2,000
Paul Federoff, BH-BL High School
“Students will get hands-on work using various toys and games that demonstrate physics concepts. I want to conduct this project because I like to relate physics constantly to students’ daily lives. Rather than try to tell them physics and then show them an example in the ‘real world’, I prefer to start with the ‘real world’ and then describe and investigate that situation in depth using physics. Students will gain experience looking at situations and applying physics.”
Grant: $500
Mary Ellen Symer, BH-BL High School Leadership Training Program
“These funds will be used to support the activities planned throughout the 2011-2012 school year. Some activities include aWho Done It?’ mystery night, ‘Techno Dance’, and ‘March Madness Basketball Competition’. This year the group is also working on planning a spring activity that will provide both the LTP students and freshman class members with leadership and team building activities. These activities require financial support for supplies and materials. The team building, leadership training Project Adventure course will require a fee of approximately $800.”
Grant: $1,000
Jan Wheeler, BH-BL High School Business and Social Studies Departments
“The purchase of the Westcott uLite 3-Lite Kit/Reg will allow current initiatives to move forward and help students to fully utilize existing hardware and software investments. Student video production will consist of the following types of projects:
- Tokaido Road Video Haikus
- Cast from the Past – Historical Biography Interviews
- Production of Spartan Center—Sports Marketing News
- Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Entertainment News Show
- Home Shopping Video Production
- Creation of Advertisements for Local Businesses
- Video Editing for school events such as pep rallies and guest speakers
Additional projects will continue to be developed that will fully utilize existing and proposed equipment. Additionally, other educators will be encouraged to pursue similar activities.
The lighting, in particular, will ensure that projects are completed with a higher degree of quality than can currently be developed. The lighting units will be stored in the Business Education department where a video production studio has been established.”
Grant: $250