LEEF awarded 16grants, totaling $50,664, this year across the Longmeadow school district.
Longmeadow Superintendent of Schools Marie Doyle, center holding check, and LEEF grant award recipients gather in the high school library following the award ceremony. Sixteen grants, totaling $50,664, were awarded this year across the school district.
LONGMEADOW - The Longmeadow Educational Excellence Foundation, known as LEEF, recently presented its annual grant awards at a ceremony held in the Longmeadow High School library.
Sixteen new grants, totalling $50,664, were awarded. The total number of grants LEEF has awarded since its inception in 2002 is 252. The total amount of money it has given away is $871,000.
In addressing the recipients, Joseph Aberdale, a member of the foundation's board of directors stated, "Today is a very special day for us at LEEF. It is the culmination of a year's work with an opportunity for us to show our gratitude to you, and to present you with these grant awards. You have accepted our challenge, risen to the occasion, and submitted a variety of creative and wonderful ideas and lessons."
Two past grant recipients explained how the awards have helped them and their students become better educated.
Daniel Albert, music teacher at both Glenbrook and Williams middle schools, used his grant award money to institute Band Day.
One day each year, experts from the Community Music School of Springfield, as well as Michael Mucci, the head of the Longmeadow High School Orchestra, work with the students to improve their musicianship.
Justin Dion, left, and Evan Robinson, right, co-chairs of the Longmeadow Educational Excellence Foundation, present a ceremonial check representing the total amount of grant awards made by LEEF across the school district, to Superintendent Marie Doyle, center.
Albert said the grant has improved the band program overall. By providing master classes by grade and instrument, the initiative has made his students better players. By giving them an opportunity to work with Maestro Mucci, Band Day has also made his students better ensemble players. And by bringing together the two middle schools, Band Day has fostered a camaraderie among musicians that spills over into the high school years.
Middle school science teacher, Heather Wagner, talked about the benefits of one of her grants - Seismograph in the Classroom.
The seismograph records all earthquakes of a magnitude of five and greater worldwide. Each time there is an earthquake somewhere in the world, the students record that data on a map, creating a their own picture of the earth's tectonic plates.
She described how after the recent earthquakes in our area, students were lined up at her classroom door the next morning excited about what they had felt and whether the data had been recorded. She said even her fellow teachers stop by from time to time to see what new information has been recorded.
"I am very thankful to LEEF," Wagner said. "It's been an amazing experience for me and for the students."
Longmeadow Public Schools superintendent Marie Doyle echoed that sentiment. "We need to prepare students for their future, not ours," she said. "And how do we do that? Through innovation. That's what LEEF grants are all about."
She went on to say that thanks to Longmeadow's innovative teachers and generous donors, LEEF is making a huge difference in the lives of the town's children.
Here is a list of this year's grant recipients:
• Wolf Swamp Road School, Janet Aronson, Math Enrichment, Nancy Moriarty, Grade 5;
• Blueberry Hill School, Sara Brennan, Using iPads for Reading Intervention
• Glenbrook Middle School, Tim Symington, Standard CPR/AED/FirstAid Training for Educators;
• Longmeadow High School, Blueberry Hill School, Wolf Swamp Road School and Williams Middle School, Beth Renola, International Dyslexia Conference;
• Wolf Swamp Road School, Krishna Longanecker, Providing High Interest Non-Fiction Reading to Low Level Readers;
• Center School, Correna Roberts, Cell Microscopes;
• Williams Middle School, Kathleen Lawson, Drama and Talent Show Support;
• Wolf Swamp Road School,Christopher Pratt, Outdoor Classroom;
• Glenbrook Middle School, Caitlin Dugre, Winter Cross Country Ski Program;
• Glenbrook Middle School and Williams Middle School, Daniel Albert, Band Day;
• Wolf Swamp Road School, Rebecca Powell, Engineering is Elementary;
• Center School, Donna Hutton, 21st Century Community Space;
• Blueberry Hill School, Ann Linehan Lexia Reading,Beth Renola;
• Williams Middle School, Chris Collins, iPad Cart;
• Wolf Swamp Road School, Krishna Longanecker Ebooks: Expanding the School Library; and
• Blueberry Hill School Beth Renola Literacy and Math Recipe Plan.