Educational foundation names grant recipients

MARLBORO — Expressing gratitude and appreciation for all the hard work of Marlboro Educational Foundation members so that grants can be awarded for innovative and creative ventures by the district’s instructional staff, the Board of Education accepted $19,844 at its November 2005 regular meeting.

According to a press release from the Marlboro K-8 School District, these monies permit a record 19 grant proposals to be funded in the 2005-06 school year, as follows:

• Emergent Literacy and Technology, $1,500, Madelyn Kalb and Karen Halpern, Marlboro Early Learning Center. Provide opportunities to all kindergartners to improve their comprehension and expression by including technology-based literacy activities

• All Around the World, Kindergarten, $1,500, Marlboro Early Learning Center staff. Each teacher has chosen a country to study through music, art, dance, story and customs. Children will make their own “passports” that will be stamped as they travel the world within their school.

• Poetry in Motion, $1,495, Dawn Tyliczka, Kristi Silva, and Paula Weiner, Asher Holmes Elementary School. Fifth-grade students will participate in a two-day poetry workshop.

• Quilting Through Six Cultures, $1,030, Vicki Svensson, Christina Brown, Michele Carnevale, Frank Defino Central Elementary School. First-grade pupils will be creating several quilts that demonstrate results of the language arts curriculum’s development, implantation, and integration of multicultural lessons through the use of disciplined-based art and technology.

• Caterpillars in Transition, $1,500, Linda Morrill and Joanne VanDagna, Frank J. Dugan Elementary School. First-, second-, and third-grade children will experience the metamorphosis of a caterpillar to a butterfly.

• Literacy Resource Carts, $1,500, Deborah Gullo, Mara Knobloch, Andrea Bloom, Tami Guberman, Norma Cervinka, Courtney DosSantos and Deborah Schademan, Marlboro Elementary School. Authentic copies of children’s literature will be purchased to explore the proficient reader strategies through read-alouds, think-alouds and self-selected reading in first- and second-grade classrooms that can also be reinforced at home.

• 3P, $1,050, Michael Bowman, Barbara Nalitt and Virginia McDonald, Robertsville, Asher Holmes and Marlboro Elementary schools. Enable fourth-grade REACH students in the gifted and talented program to design and undertake an Internet-based research project tailored to each student’s personal interests and preferred learning styles.

• Prejudice Prevention, $1,699, Dana Pinelli, Dr. Shoshana Baskind, Marlboro Memorial Middle School. Dr. Mykee Fowlin will present an assembly to the seventh and eighth grades that challenges the students’ assumptions and preconceived notions.

• Different Lives, $1,500, John Lissaris and Jennifer Stein, Marlboro Memorial Middle School. Produce an original musical for students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

• Steel Drum Band, $1,500, Nicole Monte and Matt Goley, Marlboro Memorial Middle School. Purchase two lead C pans as the start of a steel drum band so that it can be integrated into the concert band setting for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.

• Let’s Read en Espanol, $1,500, Gracia Delgado-Lavallee, Lina Cifuenes and Elizabeth Soto, Marlboro Middle School. Introduce sixth-grade pupils to the literature of the Spanish speaking world through three authentic texts.

• Spaghetti Book Club, $630, Jaime Forte, Christine Zanga, Christel Lopez, Samara Mark, Terry Gross and Sharon Thomas, Asher Holmes Elementary School. Third-graders will participate in a program that integrates writing, art and technology by teaching students how to write and illustrate book reviews.

• Children and Parents Reading, $650, Judith Freilich, Asher Holmes Elementary School. Students in all grades will create literacy bags that will be available for parents to borrow from the media center to help encourage families to read together.

• Penguin Pointers, $550, Susan Goodelman and Judi Myones, Frank Defino Central Elementary School. First and second grade pupils will learn about penguin biology, geography, care, feeding and conservation by observing a live penguin in a small group setting.

• New Jersey – Celebrate Your State, $400, Frank Defino Central Elementary School. Fourth-graders will view a media presentation of the geology, history and geography of New Jersey

• Family Math Night, $500, Marguerite Romano and Carol Krimko, Frank J. Dugan Elementary School. Fourth-graders will view a media presentation on math with their families.

• Shakespeare in the Classroom, $475, Kim Lorentzen, Marlboro Elementary School. A fourth-grade class will give a puppet performance of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” to other third- and fourth-grade students.

• Teaching for the Future, $500, Lina Cifuentes, Marlboro Middle School. Seventh and eighth-grade Spanish lessons will include Web-based and CD-ROM-based work.

• Chinese Watercolor, $365, Gail Sanderson, Marlboro Memorial Middle School. Artist Shu Jen Wei will demonstrate Chinese watercolor techniques for students to emulate.

The Marlboro Educational Foundation, founded in January 2000, is a private, nonprofit organization that operates independently from the school district. It comprises Marlboro residents and business people dedicated to raising funds for innovative and creative programs not covered in the general school budget. Money is awarded to K-8 teachers via small and large grants offered each school year. A peer review committee screens each application to determine eligibility for receipt of these grants.

Including these newest grants, since its inception, the foundation has raised more than $70,000 and has awarded more than 50 grants to teachers throughout the district, enabling them to bring guest speakers, artists and programs related to all subject areas to the students.

The Marlboro Educational Foundation is a 501(c) (3) organization. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. All residents and business people in the community may become members of the foundation.

For additional information, contact MEF Chairman Teja Anderson or MEF Vice Chairman Barbara Spilken at (732) 817-1482.