Author: Missy Billsborough
This grant funded the purchase and installation of a 16′ gazebo with built in benches at Memorial School which will create a new outdoor learning environment to be used by all students and faculty at the school in many different ways tied to the curriculum. The students will use the outdoor space for science, reading, writing, math, music, art, movement breaks, yoga and others applications and observations of nature. The gazebo is vinyl with composite decking.

Author: Missy Billsborough
This grant funded nine computer tables and chairs to replace old-fashioned carrels. The mobile nature of these tables provides opportunities for configurations that encourage cooperative learning and collaboration.

Authors: Lesley Scier and Stefanie Elrick
This grant funded a wide range of makerspace materials from Legos, puzzles and blocks to pipe cleaners, wiki sticks and beads to be stored in makerspace tubs which will be rotated around between all the first grade classrooms. Each classroom will have 4 tubs at any given time. The materials will be used to encourage students to create and tinker during a less structured time. Added benefits inlude thinking creatively, problem solving and working collaboratively with peers.

Author: Missy Billsborough
This grant funded 96 student headphones with boom microphones for students to use with iPads at Memorial School. These were special headphones for young children’s ears – with volume control and a more comfortable fit. They improve hearing and concentration and allow individual instruction with the iPads. The microphone feature allows children to interact with programs like RAZ kids and the Envisions math program. It helps with fluency practice, voice to text applications and transitioning from an iPad user to a creator.

This grant funded a MyFamilyBuilders game for every classroom at Wheelock School (16 total). This handcrafted toy set strives to demonstrate that a family is based on relationships and love regardless of its makeup.

This grant funded 102 lap desks which together with a school funded pilot and a grant from the PTO will provide every Wheelock classroom six lap desks to be available to students as a flexible seating alternative.

This grant funded a return visit by muralist Bren Bataclan to Wheelock School. He has a unique style and encourages students to contribute to his mural ideas. He holds assemblies of small groups of students to work together to create drawings based on 2nd and 3rd grade curricula. These drawings provide the basis for his wall mural which he will spend four days painting on the second floor hallway. 

This grant funded books which will create an area in the Wheelock library focused on Diversity, Mindfulness and Empathy.  Ten books will also go into each classroom to expand each class’ resources on these important topics.

This grant funded 20 Play-Aways and their accompanying texts (a total of 28 stories) for the Ralph Wheelock Library. Play-Aways are small battery operated devices that are preloaded with audio files of popular childrens’ books. When students are freed from using their energy to decode the printed text, they are able to focus their cognitive energy on the meaning of the text – which is the ultimate goal of reading.

This grant funded a Makerspace at the Dale Street School Library. It included furniture (mobile stack chairs and Yogibos), 10 sets of Makey Makey, 10 Chrome Books, 10 iPad Minis, K’NEX Classic sets and Bridge, Lego Education Sets, Keva Planks, scales that measure grams, as well as other “creating” materials.

Author: Kerry Cowell
This grant funded 3 Breakout EDU starter kits to be used by all Dale St. School teachers and students. Breakout EDU is based on the escapist room challenge, except instead of being locked in a room and needing to solve problems to find your way out, it is a locked box that you need to open. It presents a unique way to challenge students and teachers to use 21st century thinking skills to solve problems. Each kit comes with a collection of locks, hidden contraptions, timers, keys and other “diversion hardware” that can be used to play the Breakout challenges and games.

Author: Steve Grenham and Donna Olson 
This grant funded Urban Improv, a Boston Theatre group, to present six, one-hour workshops (two at Wheelock for third graders and four at Dale for fourth and fifth graders). Urban Improv is a professional acting ensemble with experience in education, psychology, and theater for young people.  The lessons can be generalized throughout the social emotional learning curriculum.  At Wheelock, the performance troupe will address important topics and issues pertinent to the environment, child development and health and safety, while weaving the subjects of diversity, mindfulness and empathy into the skits.  At Dale, the theme will be treating others with respect and/or with empathy while also addressing impulse control, conflict resolution and decision making.

This grant funded 10 Dash and Dots, codeable robots, to the Dale Street Library Media Center for the use of all 4th and 5th graders. The Dash and Dots provide students with the opportunity to build upon skills they learned at Wheelock and will continue to reinforce as they progress to Blake.

Author: Sophia Gustafson
This grant funded seeds and soil to be part of an Earth Day Initiative with the 4th graders at Dale St. School on April 24, 2017. The students participated in a presentation about what it means to be environmentally friendly and why it is important. They planted tomato and pea plants in recycled egg cartons to bring home

Author: Dorothy Vancura
This grant funded 183 noise reducing headphone sets to all 4th and 5th grade classrooms as well as special educators and reading and math specialists.

Author: Kerry Cowell
This grant funded a one-year Brain Pop subscription for all teachers and students at Dale St. School. Brain Pop is a digital resource which aligns with the Common Core and offers many resources for Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Engineering/Tech, Health, Arts and Music

Author: Steve Grenham
This grant funded a pilot of 15 standing desks for individual classrooms at Dale Street School. The desks will be available to any student who wishes to try an alternative to traditional desks.

This grant funded tools for each cluster that will improve the production quality of presentations. The tools included iOgrapher cases, wireless speakers, and adapters for the speakers. The cases and microphones are for filming and recording, and the speakers/adapters are for presentations. These tools provide opportunities for students to create and colaborate in their learning, essential transferable skills for their current and future endeavors.

Authors: Mairi Nawrocki and Susan Cowell
This grant requested 62 Polar M200 Sports Watches to be used this year in all 6th grade physical education classes. The goal of the project is to increase student fitness as well as an understanding of personal fitness.

Author: Nat Vaughn
This grant funded 7 educators from Blake Middle School to attend the Learning and the Brain organization’s annual conference “Engaged, Empowered Minds: Using Brain Science To Education Ethical 21st Century Citizens And Problem Solvers”. The national conference is being held in Boston from November 17-19th, 2016.

Authors: Thomas Woods and Susan Cowell
This grant funded nine disc-golf baskets to begin a disc golf course on the Blake Middle School property. Baskets are situated in and along the woods abutting the baseball, softball and football practice fields. With the new course, disc golf will be an official 4-week unit within the Wellness department and available for intramurals and community use.

This grant funded the professional development for a cohort of representative educators from each of the five schools (Memorial, Wheelock, Dale Street, Blake and MHS) to attend and participate in three face-to-face workshops on the topics of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Project Based Learning (PBL).  These are foundation principles for effective curriculum development, design and implementation. 

Author: Nat Vaughn
This grant funded Colby Swettberg, a consultant to speak to the Blake community on the topic of acceptance and fostering a safe learning environment at school.  The separate presentations will be given to the Blake Staff, Blake Site Council, an evening parent discussion and to all students at Blake Middle School in March/April 2017.  Swettberg previously presented to the Blake staff on the topic of “Working Effectively with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) Youth.”

Author: Orla Berry, Jason Heim, Mike Gibbs, Jillian Shaw, Phil Brown and Diane Horvath
This grant funded three Lego Mindstorm kits to be used in a small pilot robotics club in spring 2017 at Blake Middle School. If the pilot is successful, the goal would be to seek additional funding for a full set of kits in order to create an engineering robotics unit in 8th grade science classes for the 2017-2018 school year.

Author: Heather Gonzalez
This grant funded Rosalba Solis, a native Spanish speaker and public school music teacher, to visit the eighth grade Spanish classes at Blake Middle School over two consecutive days. She conducted workshops exposing the students to examples of traditional crafts made in various parts of Latin America, interactive songs/games in Spanish and salsa or bachata dance steps.

Author: Nat Vaughn and Jeff Marsden
This grant funded 7 educators to attend the Learning and the Brain annual conference in November 2017 in Boston. The topic is “Merging Minds and Technology: Transforming Classrooms with Robotics, Brain Science, and Virtual/Maker Spaces”.

Author: Tracy Allen
This grant funded a new sound system for the Blake Middle School auditorium. This grant was co-funded with the district and the Blake PTO.

Author: Jason Heim, Bailey Burke, Orla Berry
This grant funded one Thames and Kosmos Happy Atoms Magnetic Molecular Modeling Set and Educator’s Bundle to be used in 8th grade and 11th grade science classes. They are a hands-on way for students to discover, create and explore how atoms interact and form compounds through inquiry. The students are able to utilize their iOS device to scan molecules they have created to further the learning experience.

Author: Marissa Gumas, Amy Reynolds, Greg Keohan, Juli Dalzell, Sam Cowell
This grant funded the 7th grade red cluster teachers at Blake Middle School to develop small “book clubs” during SSR (Silent and Sustained Reading). The grant funded up to $1,000 to purchase 10 copies of 10 pre-selected books. The intent is that this will foster a love of reading and increase the time that students are choosing to read independently.

Author: Susan Bycoff
This grant funded 40 stability balls for Blake Middle School math classrooms (3 in each). Stability balls have been shown to decrease stress and anxiety, while increasing concentration and focus in the classroom.

Author: Doug Olson
This grant funded an experienced and awarded Latin musician to visit Medfield classrooms and give the students authentic musical training, performance feedback and cultural insight. This “artist in residence” would spend time in several different ensembles including jazz band, concert band, orchestra and general music classes and also perform at the proposed “Latin Night” event being planned later in the year

This grant funded a 3D printer for the High School math department for use by all the geometry students. Traditionally, students work with concepts of 3D objects on 2-dimensional paper (i.e. pictures of cylinders vs. actual cylinders). This 3D printer allows students to take risks, play with proportionality and measurement, collaborate and learn from each other and experience a technology makerspace in their geometry math class.

Author: Kathleen Emerson
This grant funded a program for 10th and 11th graders who study World War II to hear a presentation from a Holocaust Survivor, Mrs. Marion Blumenthal Lazen. She stresses the importance of positive thinking to overcome adversity. She spreads a message of tolerance and urges students to reject stereotyping based on religious belief, skin color, race or national origin. 

This grant funded $10,000 (and MHS PTO funded $15,000) to provide a new microphone/audio system at the new turf field at Medfield High School.  The system will enrich the student-athlete experience and be used by Blake Middle School (athletics, band, wellness classes) and Medfield High School (athletics, marching band, wellness classes, graduation) as well as community events and use by outside organizations.

Author: Doug Olson and Eric Scott

This grant funded new furniture in the High School library – six new soft seats with a tablet arm for laptops, chrome books, or other electronic devices and six high top tables with stools for collaborative work. School libraries are transitioning to a Learning Commons model which allows the students to work collaboratively in small groups. Medfield High School is now a 1:1 school; every student has an electronic device. Libraries must reinvent themselves as content becomes more accessible online and their role changes. It is important for a library to be a place that encourages participatory learning. 

Author: Susan Cowell
This grant funded 13 wellness teachers representing all five schools to attend the SHAPE America National Convention for Health and Physical Educators, was held in Boston in March 2017.

Author: Ellen Toubman
This grant funded 14 educators from Wheelock, Dale, Blake and the High School to attend a national conference for ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) in Boston from November 17-20th, 2016.