2013 Annual Grant Award Recipients

2013
Annual Grant
Award Recipients
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C on g r
atulations!
The Naperville Education Foundation’s (NEF) mission is to “encourage creativity,
innovation and excellence in our students.” Since its founding in 1992, NEF
has served as Naperville Community Unit School District 203’s charitable
fundraising and grant-making arm, financially supporting district programming
through community contributions. We are inspired by the potential inherent in
all children to thrive and be enriched by their experiences in school.
The Naperville Education Foundation is pleased to announce that this year we
awarded more than $50,000 in grants for thirty-nine projects. Recipients of
this year’s grants are giving invaluable educational experiences to District 203
students, and the Foundation proudly recognizes them for their outstanding
innovation, creativity and excellence. Together, we are providing exceptional
opportunities for our children.
Proud Tradition
NEF’s Annual Grant Award Program has been in existence since 1993 and has
funded numerous projects, some of which have become district-wide. We
support projects that correlate with District 203 curriculum, including, but not
limited to, the following areas: Cultural Studies, Fine Arts, General, Health &
Physical Development, Literacy, and Math & Science. Projects are initiated by
students, faculty, staff, parents and community members in District 203.
This year, a total of 67 impressive proposals were reviewed by six Grant
Evaluation Committees, each chaired by a Trustee or former Trustee, and
consisting of NEF Trustees, District 203 faculty, staff and administration,
community members and District retirees. The committee members individually
read, reviewed and scored each of the proposals for their category prior to
one face-to-face committee meeting. Once the evaluation committees all met,
the six chairs convened as a team to discuss their decisions and recommend
funding levels to the Board of Trustees.
The Board of Trustees, Grant Evaluation Committee members, and staff
are committed to the highest level of professional grant-making. By virtue
of its mission, the Foundation is entrusted with generous contributions
from donors and with the responsibility of allocating those resources in
accordance with the donors’ intent and District 203 needs.
NEF wishes to thank all of our grant applicants, the Grant Evaluation
Committee members, and especially our grant recipients for their
dedication to District 203 students.
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Adult ESL Classes
Tamara Rae Kohout
Steeple Run Elementary School
Offering English as a second language
class for newcomer parents to help
them achieve an academic level of
proficiency and enable them to be more
involved in their children’s education.
Building Confident and
Talented Public Speakers at
the Middle School Level
Leslie Viscioni, Jessica Markelz
Jefferson, Kennedy, Lincoln, Madison,
and Washington Junior High Schools
Increasing the confidence and talent of
public speakers through participation
in the school’s speech team and
enhancing cohesion of speech
programs by supporting a district-wide
parent night providing an opportunity
to view performances from a wide
variety of speaking genres.
Around the World in 180 Books
Katherine Barr
Kennedy Junior High School
Challenging and cultivating gifted
learners’ reading experiences through
advanced texts and innovative
instruction in the modern language
arts classroom.
Building Foundations For
Social Success (BFFs)
Rebecca Horwath
Mill Street Elementary School
Focusing on teaching students
with Individual Education Plans to
communicate more effectively in both
school and community settings through
meal planning and preparation, games,
reading performances and crafts.
The Art of Physics and The
Physics of Art
Mark Rowzee, Shay Gallagher
Naperville North High School
Carving out time and resources to
inspire art and physics students to
explore rotational motion beyond their
normal educational sphere of comfort
by putting actual experience and
rigor together.
Chamber Music Program
Dana Green
Naperville North High School
Meeting the musical needs of student
performers and the listening needs of
audiences, while also creating skills
that encourage social and musical
interaction and team techniques all in a
largely student directed setting.
A Building Block Toward
Creative Intelligence
David Liszka, Sue Rohner
Ellsworth Elementary School
Promoting team problem solving,
incorporating hands-on solutions
and inventions, and tapping into
reasoning in order to build students’
“creative intelligence.”
Community Classroom Club
Lauren Ewanic, Elizabeth Walsh
Lincoln Junior High School
Connecting struggling readers with
community members who, through
real-life experiences, share their passion
for reading in an effort to motivate the
students to read new material.
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Decrease Summer Reading Loss
Sharyl Damhorst
Naper Elementary School
Promoting the importance of summer
reading practice by choosing books
for students entering first through fifth
grade who are receiving special reading
services and their parents.
ELL Family Dinner Meetings
Cynthia Wood
Naperville North High School
Encouraging the families of English
Language Learners to become actively
involved as advocates for their students’
education and to understand the
school’s parental expectations through
dinner meetings.
Dress for Success:
Become an American Idol
Suzy Flack
Naper Elementary School
Developing students’ love of reading
and improving their literacy skills
while bringing American history to life
through the performance of skits.
Ending the Silence
Aileen Caravelli, Renee Billish
Naperville North High School
Providing knowledge about early signs
and symptoms, treatment options and
community resources regarding mental
illness. Available to students, parents,
teachers and schools through materials,
video and personal testimony.
Edible School Garden and
Outdoor Classroom
Jerry Kedziora, Katie Genovesi, Jay
Wachtel, Chuck Koch, Cathy Clarkin
Naperville North High School
Establishing an edible school garden
and outdoor classroom that enriches
student learning in subjects ranging
from nutrition and agriculture
to art and design. Multi-needs,
career and technical education, and
science students will be able to work
throughout the year growing food to
be used in classes as well as donated to
those in need.
Engineering Girls to Success
Laura Golebiewski
Kennedy Junior High School
Introducing sixth grade girls to
chemical, electrical, mechanical, civil and
plastics engineering disciplines in a fun
and positive atmosphere.
EYE (Explore Your
Environment) on ELLS
Jenn Nekolny, Debbie Sternecky
Jefferson Junior High School
Conducting American tradition field
trips for English Language Learning
students helping them acclimate to our
area and culture.
El Club de Español
Nancy Voise, John Myers
Jefferson Junior High School
Increasing opportunities for students at
the middle school level to speak Spanish
with one another and celebrate diversity
while serving in a leadership role.
Flipping the Classroom
David Sladkey, Scott Miller
Naperville Central High School
Reversing instruction by delivering it
at home through online interactive,
teacher-created videos and moving
homework to the classroom.
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From Stressed Out to Chilled
Out: A Social/Emotional
Regulation Kit for Classrooms
Tara Bradbury
Elmwood Elementary School
Providing third grade students with an
“in the classroom” kit to use when they
are feeling anxious, stressed out, upset
or experiencing any emotion that is
making them unavailable for learning.
Improvisation Workshops
Andrew Simon
Naperville North High School
Conducting four improv workshops
in collaboration with Comedy Sportz
culminating with a competitive
student performance.
International Friends
Jean Abbott
Ann Reid Early Childhood Center
Teaching early childhood students
about different cultures and languages
using costumed stuffed animals from
various countries.
Fun, Fine-tuning of Fine
Motor Development Skills:
Practice Makes Better
Sharon Ferrari
Meadow Glens Elementary School
Creating multi-level fine motor kits
for use at school or at home, with
fun activities, manipulatives, and
handwriting aids to help develop
students’ fine motor skills so that
associated learning skills may be
performed automatically with focus
on content and outcome.
Junior High Video Masters:
Unleashing Imagination
David Carroll
Madison Junior High School
Funding industry-standard video
production software knowing that
no matter what career a student may
choose, they will very likely be involved
in some type of video production. For
initial use by the Audio-Visual Tech
Club with subsequent use in academic
classes by trained AV Tech Club
members and their crews.
Helping All Children Run
for Fun
Chuck Hoff
Beebe, Ellsworth, Elmwood,
Meadow Glens, Mill Street, Naper,
Ranch View, Scott, and Steeple Run
Elementary Schools
Volunteer teachers throughout
District 203, passionate about running,
encourage the spirit of running with
club activities for students. The end
of the season Cross-Town event
showcases student improvement.
Let MY Words Tell the Story!
Dale Kasha
Scott Elementary School
Wordless books will come to life with
children’s words when writers in grades
kindergarten through fifth provide them
with their personal twists, creativity
and verbiage.
Home/School Math
Literacy Connection
Mary Baum
Mill Street Elementary School
Innovative methods will engage
families in academic support activities
at home, particularly reaching out
to a population that is not involved
at school.
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Mind Movers: Teaching the
Mind Body Connection
Kim Castner, Nancy Banach,
Carol Vasich
Scott Elementary School
School-wide effort to enhance daily
performance within the classroom
and before tests, as well as to supply
a “motor exercise room” for those
students who need more rigorous
activity to prepare their minds and
bodies for academic tasks.
Scribing with the Mac Shack
Barb Hunt
Meadow Glens Elementary School
Revolutionizing the way students
of all ages create presentations
by enabling them to construct
communications utilizing critical
thinking and collaboration.
Service Learning: Connecting
the Common Core with
Authentic Writing
Paula Helberg, Jennifer Reible,
Shana Smith, Meredith Kline
Steeple Run Elementary School
Creating opportunities for students to
write authentic, non-fiction texts that
will be shared with students in Uganda
who are learning English and in need of
reading texts.
Non-fiction “Text”-ing =
Instamath Success
Lisa Forsythe Gardner,
Tiffany Papafotopoulos
Madison Junior High School
Math and literacy will unite to answer
students’ age-old question, “When
are we going to use math in real life?”
Students will engage with appealing,
relevant non-fiction text laced with
math queries to explore and apply
a variety of math skills in realworld scenarios.
SPARK (Social Skills Promoting
Awareness and Relationships
at Kennedy)
Lauren Story, Shannon Harper,
Sharon Merel
Kennedy Junior High School
Opportunities for students needing
functional practice with communication,
behavior, and cooperative learning
outside the structure of the classroom
with an emphasis on real world
activities and targeted skills.
A Picture is Worth a
Thousand Words
Jean Abbott
Ann Reid Early Childhood Center
Using real-life pictures to enrich the
vocabulary and language development
in our young students and English
Language Learner population.
The Bilingual Family
Literacy Program
Gina Baumgartner, Marta Arandia
Steeple Run Elementary School
Promoting literacy development in
Spanish and English by using bilingual
books appropriate for elementary
grades and establishing a family
reading routine in order to foster a
primary and/or secondary language.
Science Under the Sea
Mark Rowzee, Geoff Schmit,
Josh Louis
Jefferson Junior High School,
Naperville North High School
Middle and high school students
collaborate to design and build a
remotely operated vehicle that will
service an underwater ficticious seabase observatory by completing a set of
mission-critical tasks.
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Thematic Team Teaching
Jean Abbott, Kim O’Neill
Ann Reid Early Childhood Center
Piloting a team teaching model
between the English Language Learner
and Learning Resource Center staff
that integrates speaking, listening,
literacy, math and science for the early
childhood program.
Welcoming Committee and
Tours at Registration
Jessica Jozwiak, Carolyn Wenig
Naperville North High School
Providing incoming freshmen and
students new to the district with tours,
support services and resource materials
on high school registration days.
Your Digital Footprint Matters!
IdaLynn Wenhold, John David Son,
Commander Ken Parcel, Mike Skarr,
Kamala Martinez, Mark Kreiter
Jefferson, Kennedy, Lincoln, Madison,
and Washington Junior High Schools;
Naperville Central and Naperville North
High Schools
Offering students the opportunity to
paricipate in a Digital Footprint Video
and Logo Project, as well as a major
event focused on promoting strong
cyber citizens and internet safety in our
global community.
Using IdeaPaint to Motivate
and Engage
Jenny Hodonicky
Ellsworth Elementary School
Improving student achievement in
literacy and increasing engagement
in learning activities by turning any
surface into a whiteboard.
Using Math Readers to Support
Real-life Mathematics
Kate Krenek
Lincoln Junior High School
Intriguing, non-fiction mathematical
reading books will be used in Strategic
Math classes to boost understanding
and meet the demand of using nonfictional text across subjects.
The Jeanine Nicarico Memorial Fund
for Literacy 2013 Grant Awards will
be announced in May. The JNMFL,
under the auspices of NEF, supports
grants to individual educators,
or entire schools, in an effort to
promote a deeper understanding
and teaching of literacy, to enrich
instructional programs, to provide
opportunities to link literacy
between the home and the school,
and to lay foundations that will
develop life-long readers.
For more information, please visit
www.nicaricoliteracyfund.org.
VEGGIE Project
(Very Eager Gardeners Growing
Increasingly Educated)
Barbara Mittelstadt, Barbara Stuart
Scott Elementary School
Providing students with a connection
to agriculture, nutrition and nature
through the creation of a school garden
and calling upon their observation skills,
critical and independent thought and
the achievement of life skills, as well
as providing opportunities to relate
those skills to core curriculum across all
academic areas.
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NEF believes that helping children,
enriching student learning, and funding
creative programs ensure that the
quality of each child’s education is the
best it can possibly be. We recognize
that over 90% of District 203’s
budget is allocated to costs such as
salaries, transportation, supplies and
maintenance, much of which increases
annually. As a result, discretionary
spending is squeezed and there is little
to support new programs. Our purpose
is to support programs that can’t be
funded within the district’s budget. By
supplementing public funds with private
philanthropy, we offer support so that
District 203 continues to be a place for
unparalleled learning.
NEF funds the following District 203
programs: Annual Grant Awards,
Trustee Award, Study Skills Academy,
Kid Booster Anonymous Fund,
Breakfast Program and Math Camp.
2012-2013 Board of Trustees
Debbie Shipley, Chair
Dawn Newman, Vice Chair
Dennise Vaughn, Secretary; Chair, Governance
Colin Shaw, Treasurer
Tabassum Haleem, Chair, Programs
Lisa Hartenberger, Chair, Marketing &
Communications
Tom McGee, Chair, Resource Development
Bill Mitchell, Chair, Finance
Dan Bridges, Superintendent of Schools
Jill Baer • Julie Beehler • Shirley Brockman
Susan Crotty • John Gallagher
Rajesh Gupta • Neil Kelleher
Karen Lindflott • Pat Merryweather
Geoff Roehll • Rachel Weiss • Beth Whittingham
__________________________________
Cameron Snyders, NNHS Student Representative
Steven Trainor, NCHS Student Representative
Julie Carlsen, Director of Community
Relations, District Liaison
Kitty Ryan, Assistant Superintendent for
Elementary Education, District Liaison
__________________________________
Andi Pevitz, Administrative Assistant
Ann E. Spehar, Executive Director
Naperville Education Foundation
203 W. Hillside Road
Naperville, Illinois 60540-6589
(630) 420-3086
nef@naperville203.org
Attend an event, get involved,
and contribute!
Thank you for supporting NEF!
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