2001-2002 Winners

Level 1 Grants

With My Own Hands
Daniel Brenig, Charlottesville Alternative Education
Students develop self-confidence and improve math, science, technical, and artistic abilities as they learn woodworking skills in a positive, hands-on environment.

Leap Frog
Ann Parks, Greenbrier Elementary
High quality audio and print book sets make literature come alive and help improve language and reading skills for English as a Second Language students and their families.

Weather Wizards' Weather Station
Mary Plank, Greenbrier Elementary
An ongoing weather station provides students with daily opportunities to observe, predict, investigate, measure, and record weather patterns throughout the changing seasons.

Books for At-Risk Students
Barbara Rood/Kathleen Gragg, Venable Elementary
Engaging take-home books and activities help struggling readers master the word recognition and comprehension skills they need to become successful readers.

The Extended Day Café: A year-long project in math and science
Tracey Jones Saxon/BradleyTaylor, Walker Upper Elementary
Students acquire valuable business skills as they use math and science concepts to plan, organize, run, evaluate, and sustain a working café for after-school students.

Kite Design and Construction
Peggy Boutilier, Venable Elementary
Third graders find a fun application for the research, geometry, and measurement skills they have learned as they plan, design, construct, and FLY their own kites.

Success Can Be a Picnic
Patricia Bottom Delany, Venable Elementary
Peaceful coexistence and honorable behavior are the goals of a yearlong program that uses character picnic plates and a real picnic to graph and reward character-building progress.

Backpack Buddy and Books
Sue Davies, Greenbrier Elementary
Entering students take home weekend backpacks filled with fun activities designed to target early reading skills.

Butterflies Are Free
Patricia Wilson, Greenbrier Elementary
Creating and maintaining a perennial butterfly garden illustrates the importance of habitat and the concept of life cycles to kindergarten and first grade students.

From Rainbow Crow to Rainbow Bridge: Looking at North America Through the Eyes of Native Americans
Mary Plank, Greenbrier Elementary
By focusing on Native American folk tales from different regions of North America, students learn how much folk tales can tell us about our country's earliest people.

STAR Paks
Patricia Wilson, Greenbrier Elementary
Families learn together as they use take-home books, activities, puzzles, and games to get kindergarten and first grade students reading for fun and knowledge.

Art Kit Library
Ellen Taylor, Murray Elementary
A lending library of painting, drawing, and craft kits provides students the materials they need to continue work at home on the masterpieces they have begun in art class.

Techno Geckos
Debbie Shelor, Greer Elementary
Fifth graders use their computer savvy in a productive way when they serve as technology helpers for their school building.

After School Science Club
Jackie Bailey, Brownsville Elementary
Fascinating tools, instruments, and experiments spark junior scientists' enthusiasm for physics, astronomy, and more when they attend these sessions covering advanced science topics.

Age-Appropriate Literacy Tool Bags
Deborah Anas Stolling, Agnor-Hurt Elementary
Extra reading opportunities for students, teachers, and families enrich literacy experiences for kindergarteners through fourth graders.

Silk Cells
Diane Clark, Monticello High
Science and the arts come together beautifully as students produce their own silk scarves to represent a particular type of cell they have studied in class.

Amazing Science Outreach Program
Michael Farabaugh, Monticello High
High school students encourage elementary and middle school counterparts to become interested in science by performing exciting demonstrations involving color and explosions.

Controlled Text Lending Library
Ann Galione, Woodbrook Elementary
Supplemental practice with controlled vocabulary books improves fluency, reduces guessing, and promotes self-confidence and independence for struggling readers.

Civil Rights: From Reconstruction to Today and Beyond
Jeffry Myers, Murray Elementary
Students learn the value of civil rights for all as they study primary source documents, educational videos, and books about the Civil Rights Movement and its lasting legacy.

Level 2 Grants

Let's Hit the Trail
Edith Wheeler, Venable Elementary
Learning becomes meaningful and relevant to children's lives when they benefit from hands-on experiences during an educational camping program. Engaging cooperative exercises will teach students what is necessary to camp in the wilderness. Lessons in equipment use, meal planning and preparation, and map and compass reading will stay with children for a lifetime.

Drop by Drop -- You Can Prevent Water Pollution
Malcolm Jarrell, Venable Elementary
An entire elementary school uses hands-on materials to learn about soil erosion, pollution, and conservation of water and soil. Students will first use a 3-D model to see how our daily activities impact soil and water. Then each class will study a portion of the schoolyard, identify sources of water pollution, develop a conservation plan, and present their findings to local government representatives.

Weather Kids!
Linda Hutson, Cheryl Thomasen, and Keith Hammon, Woodbrook Elementary
Kindergarteners through fifth graders intertwine math, science, language arts, and technology as they use a weather station and accompanying software to hone their meteorological skills. Students will monitor weather conditions on a daily basis and use that data to study weather patterns and phenomena throughout the year.

Underwater World Mural
Susan Pott and Barbara Edwards, Broadus Wood Elementary
A stark white cafeteria is transformed into a huge underwater world as students, teachers, and volunteers work together to depict the living connection between freshwater stream and saltwater ocean. A large mural, hand painted wall tiles, papier-mâché fish, and hanging fabric waves enhance learning and ambience both during and after the project.