Educational foundation provides annual grants
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

FREEHOLD - Students in borough schools have been the beneficiaries of more than $54,000 in grants contributed since 2001 by the Freehold Borough Educational Foundation.

This year the foundation has presented grant winners with seven grants totaling $11,500, according to foundation Chairwoman Jean Holtz. The presentation of the grants took place at the Board of Education's meeting on Jan. 8.

Holtz said foundation members are happy to fund the special projects that were proposed by school district staff members. The foundation supports programs that would not be funded in the regular school district budget.

Staff members propose the programs they want to offer to their students and apply for a grant. Holtz said the maximum amount of a grant is generally $1,500. Foundation members made an exception this year and granted $3,200 for a Freehold Intermediate School program known as "I'm Ready!" which prepares students to score better on standardized testing.

According to intermediate school Principal Nelson Ribon, "I'm Ready!" will target students who need extra help to do well on exams such as the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA) test.

Ribon said a similar program was implemented last year just for eighth-graders because budget constraints did not allow for other grades to enroll. Last year's program was funded by a different grant the district had received.

"We identified 25 to 30 students in grade eight who were borderline and who needed help to score proficiently on the GEPA," Ribon explained.

The students did so well, with some raising their score by a significant amount, that he wanted to extend the opportunity to enroll in the program to sixth- and seventh-graders.

The "I'm Ready!" program brings children to the school on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon and includes 90 minutes of study in language arts and 90 minutes of study in math.

Ribon and language arts literacy teacher Shantel Scott applied for the grant from the educational foundation.

"Imagine a Saturday morning where students enter the school building bright-eyed and ready to learn," they wrote on the application. "Imagine that these students are here because they and their parents have demonstrated a commitment to success."

The educational foundation decided to fund the initiative.

According to Ribon, about 100 students will participate.

Among other grants, Mark Hudzik, a special education teacher, received a grant for $752 which will help to support his "Ask Me a Question, Life Skills for Special Needs Students" program. Hudzik teaches multiple-disabled children in the Park Avenue Elementary School. The program is designed for students with communication difficulties.

Through the use of audio tapes, books and discussion, children will learn how to ask questions and how to recognize appropriate question words such as when, where, who and what.

Hudzik said some children do not know how to use appropriate question words and, therefore, they do not know how to answer questions properly either.

The program will be in session for four hours per week and run from January through June.

Hudzik said he is grateful to receive the grant.

"This foundation gives us an opportunity to expand on programs that are not part of our curriculum. Most of our days are spent addressing curriculum, but some things such as life skills are not addressed. The grant will allow me, through this program, to do that."

Other grants include "Prior Know-ledge Supplement Project," $1,500, for teachers Sarah Szamreta and Amanda Stankiewitz, Freehold Learning Center elementary school and Park Avenue Elementary School; a grant for $1,500 was presented to teacher Wendy Garcia-Buchanan, Park Avenue Elementary School, for her program "Digital Story-telling.

A grant in the amount of $1,500 was presented to Joan Murphy, librarian at the Freehold Learning Center, for her proposal "The 'Write' Author." A $1,500 grant was presented to Shantel Scott and Paula Desch, Freehold Intermediate School, for "Interwrite Interactive Class-room" and a $1,500 grant was presented to Christine Giunta, librarian at the Freehold Intermediate School, for her proposal, "Make Your Day With a Play-away."