PAFE awards $147,440 in grants

SANDPOINT — A new round of innovative grants will be incorporated into the public school curriculum next fall.

The Panhandle Alliance for Education has announced the results of its 2009 grant awards following board approval at the annual meeting earlier this month. Forty nine teacher grants will enrich the lives of thousands of students in the Lake Pend Oreille School District.

Superintendent Dick Cvitanich is excited to see the creative talent of teachers put to work. “Every year our teachers surprise me with their ingenuity for out-of-the-box thinking. These unique classroom projects are a real testimony to their passion for teaching.”

Math Clubs, Book Clubs, and Poetry Workshops were popular among all schools. Before and after school tutoring is now funded at three elementary schools including Southside, Northside and Farmin Stidwell. Several grants will help support music across the district including two to the Pend Oreille Arts Council (POAC) to augment curriculum for performing and visual arts.

PAFE's President, Wendy Dunn, was particularly impressed with this year's proposals. “What I found exciting about this year's grants is the dedication on the part of our teachers. Teachers are required to put a lot of effort into obtaining and implementing a grant. The grants are a real partnership between both PAFE and teachers. PAFE provides the funds and the teachers provide the extra effort. In addition to applying for and implementing the grant, PAFE requires teacher follow-up through a self-evaluation process to insure that the grant money is spent exactly as requested.”

One of this year's most unique requests came from special education teacher Randi Koulis at Southside Elementary School. Randi was awarded $525 to purchase Franklin Spell Checkers for her class of 19 students.  The spell checkers are part of the Wilson Learning System, a program designed to teach reading and spelling to learning disabled students. She explained how the spell checkers will help.  “Having Franklin Spell Checkers available to my students and teaching them to use them appropriately and effectively will have a profound impact on their writing. Any student can turn to a dictionary when they have a few words to check. However, students with learning disabilities often have many words that are misspelled. These small, discreet, effective supports will allow my students to be completely independent in the writing process without getting frustrated or embarrassed. Their disability does not need to hold them back.”

A grant titled “Shakesperience” will enrich the lives of Sandpoint Middle School students. The grant's project director and middle school Vice Principal, Deborah McShane described her award: “The project is Shakespearience, a performance by the traveling troupe of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. ISF offers performances to middle and high schools. Middle school students are prime for developing their ear and appreciation for the wit and wisdom of Shakespeare. The troupe is composed of dynamic, young performers who will engage our students. Two months prior to the performance, teachers will receive full packets of information to share with students, from a synopsis and character studies to games and posters. At the close of each performance, the actors host an Afterword, a time to field questions from students and staff alike.”

One of the largest single awards of $8,330 went to Farmin Stidwell Elementary teacher Trudie Weiden for her after school tutoring program which was in jeopardy due to district budget constraints. “This is a tremendously successful program that has shown dramatic student progress for the last four years” explained Trudie. “The goal of the program is to offer intensive intervention in reading and math to students in grades 4, 5, and 6 who fall below the proficient level on their ISAT tests in either subject. Students are targeted for either a direct math intervention program or they participate in a technology-based reading program which stresses comprehension, writing and fluency. The results of our intervention program have been dramatic. Last year only two of the regular education students that participated in the tutoring program did not score proficient in the subject that they were tutored in and four of the students scored in the advanced range in the spring ISAT.”

Annual distributions from PAFE's Special Endowment Funds held by the Idaho Community Foundation (ICF) are awarded to teachers through PAFE's annual teacher grants cycle each year at this time. Three of the 49 grants fall into this special funds category.

The Betty Ann Diehl Fund for the Arts was awarded to Sandpoint High School teacher Aaron Gordon. The $4,418 grant will purchase a Drum Circle Kit. According to recipient Gordon, “The Drum Circle Kit will be used to incorporate multi cultural education in the classrooms of Lake Pend Oreille School District. By incorporating a variety of drums, shakers, bells, woods, and tambourines into a drum circle, students will be able to explore different cultures of Africa, South America, and the Caribbean while participating in the drum circle. Drum Circles have gained much popularity in the United States of the past 20 years. Because there is no need to read music it leaves students free to explore musical styles, sounds, grooves and become immersed in the sound and cultures that use these instrument produce.”

2009 marks the second year of special grants in the area of math and science from The Dave and Laurie Wall Fund. The purpose of The Algebra and Geometry of Wind Chimes grant is to have students apply concepts of the algebra and geometry learned in 8th grade math, to a real life project. According to grant recipient and 8th grade math teacher Patrick Lynch, “We now produce wind chimes that rival the best sold on the open market. Each student produces their own individual chime; we apply the algebra, geometry, and the mathematical communications skills we have been honing the entire year.”  Lynch will use the grant money to purchase aluminum tubing, redwood for the strikers, and other supplies for the project.

All totaled, the grants represent an investment of over $147,440 for the 2009 school year. Each grant has it's genesis from a teacher or a team of teachers who requests money for special classroom projects. All teachers in the district are invited to participate but not all requests can be funded due to budget limitations.

“The money for all PAFE grants comes from a variety of fundraising events” explained Grant Chairman Don Robson. “We've been very successful over the past six years because people in our community feel good about giving to an organization that supports our teachers and improves the learning experience for our kids.  We have fun raising the money and feel very good about supporting our public schools with worthwhile projects.”

PAFE has contributed more than $1,000,000 in grants and special programs to public education in the Lake Pend Oreille Schools since it's inception in 2003. Here is the breakdown by curriculum of how the 2009 grant funding will be spent:  Math 12%, Science 11%, Creative Arts, 21%, Language Arts and Reading 8%, Technology 5%, Behavioral Enrichment 25%, Academic Competitions 8%, Vocational 6%.

PAFE is a nonprofit organization comprised of local citizens, businesses, and educators. Their mission is to promote excellence in education and broad-based community support for the Lake Pend Oreille School District. Donations are distributed as a working pool of money used to fund local teacher grants, a district-wide reading program, career guidance opportunities for high school students and READY! for Kindergarten, an early childhood literacy program for families.  In addition, PAFE is building a permanent endowment which is managed by the Idaho Community Foundation. Local citizens are encouraged to help by making donations. To learn more about PAFE, or to make an online donation, visit PAFE’s Web site at www.panhandlealliance.com or call Marcia Wilson at 208.263 7040.

Here is a complete list of the forty nine 2009 PAFE Grant Awards:

1. The Brain Unit, Sandpoint Middle School, Jackie Crossingham - $2,050

2. Alternative Energy, Sandpoint Middle School, Perky Smith-Hagadone - $3,450

3. Mars Rover, Sagle Elementary, Ray Bird - $1,400

4. College Fair and Tour, Sandpoint High, Clarkfork High, Jeralyn Mire - $1,844

5. Geometry of Wind Chimes, Sandpoint Middle School, Patrick Lynch - $1,650

6. Geometry Sketchpad, Sandpoint High School, Lisa Cessna - $3,566

7. Book Worm Club, Kootenai Elementary, Julie Reister-Keaton - $850

8. Poetry Workshop, Sandpoint Middle School, Imogene Lyon - $2,500

9. Acadeca N.I.C.E., Sandpoint High, Clarkfork High, Mary Bird - $1,300

10. Orff For All (Music), District Wide, Tamara Gunter - $6,408

11. Project ICAN, Southside Elementary, Pat Valliant - $8,500

12. Music Equipment, Sandpoint High School, Ryan Dignan - $2,500

13. Acadeca, Sandpoint High School, Mary Bird - $5,000

14. Before School Enrichment, Northside Elementary, Jayne Sturm - $2,520

15. Spell Checkers, Southside Elementary, Randi Kulis - $525

16. Motorized Mechanisms, Sandpoint Middle School, Richard Ross - $2,450

17. Document Cameras, Sandpoint Middle School, Marcea Marine - $1,505

18. Math Counts, Sandpoint Middle School, Patrick Lynch - $1,935

19. Ovations Support (POAC), District Wide, Kim Queen - $5,000

20. Kaleidoscope Support (POAC), District Wide, Kim Queen - $2,000

21. Acadeca Support, Clarkfork High, Mike Turnland - $2,052

22. Brain POP (software), Sandpoint Middle School, Jackie Crossingham - $1,495

23. Arts, Authors, and Us, Washington Elementary, Tom Prez - $2,000

24. Graphing Calculators, Sandpoint Charter School, Peggy Lovenbury - $7,425

25. Carpentry Green House Kit, Sandpoint High School, Richard Price - $500

26. Substitute Teacher Training, District Wide, Lee Stevens - $3,669

27. Success Tracker, Washington Elementary, Susan Lee - $1,812

28. Shakesperience, Sandpoint Middle School, Deborah McShane - $1,100

29. Interwrite, Sandpoint High School, Mike Martz - $2,500

30. Friends of Rachel, Sandpoint Middle School,  Irene Adler - $850

31. Active Engagement w/ Mangione, Sandpoint Middle School, Imogene Lyon - $4,000

32. Math Club, Kootenai Elementary, Naticia Litven, $1,733

33. Science Lab Materials, Lake Pend Oreille High, Jeanett Schandelmeier - $2,500

34. Library Project, All Elementariness, Julie Smith - $3,434

35. Math Club, Sagle Elementary, Liz Gollen - $1,123

36. Management and Leadership, Southside Elementary, Pat Valliant - $1,325

37. Master Dance Class, Sandpoint High School, Cindy Smith - $4,065

38. Drum Circle Kit, Sandpoint High School, Aaron Gordon - $4,418

39. Point of Sale, Sandpoint High School, Melinda Nieman - $2,500

40. Clickers for Feedback, Southside Elementary, Mary Wells - $1,500

41. Human Skeleton, Lake Pend Oreille High, Georgina Puailoa - $366

42. Organic Gardening, Lake Pend Oreille High, Linda Spade - $1,547

43. Projection Systems, Washington Elementary, Susan Lee - $2,200

44. PE and Health Curriculum, District Wide, Pam Lippi - $687

45. Computer Tables, Farmin Stidwell, Pauline Delamarter - $1,390

46. Collegiate Medical Terminology, Sandpoint High School, Kathy Holm - $3,525

47. After School Tutoring, Farmin Stidwell Elementary, Trudie Weiden - $8,330

48. Big Idea - Seconds Anyone?, Lake Pend Oreille High, Colleen Ross - $7,000

49. Big Idea - Model United Nations, Sandpoint High, Debbie Smith - $15,440