The Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) has awarded $8,015 in its third quarterly round of Red and Gold Grants for the 2013-14 school year. The 19 new grants will assist teachers, administrators, students, and community members with projects that strengthen and enrich education across the Ithaca City School District (ICSD).
“We are always astounded at how teachers are able to utilize a small grant to make huge impacts in the classroom,” said IPEI Executive Director Chris Sanchirico. “For this round, IPEI grants are funding everything from practical needs like clay for artwork to a multi-school/grade level dinosaur project that integrates music, art and science. We are proud to play a role in providing such great opportunities to enhance learning in our school district and thankful for the community support that allows us to do so.”
Some of this quarter’s amazing grants include:
• Iris Milich, an art teacher at Northeast Elementary School, who will take first- and second-grade students to Cornell’s Johnson Museum, where they will learn how artists can influence others to be environmental stewards and ambassadors.
• Michelle Kirchgraber-Newton, an ESOL teacher at DeWitt Middle School, who has arranged for the Karen Refugee Dance Troupe from Utica to teach, perform, and discuss the history and cultural traditions of the Karen people. • Lita Remsen, an aide at South Hill Elementary School, who will help fifth graders build a science toy or gadget using recycled materials, batteries, magnets, and small motors, and then share their invention with their Kindergarten buddies. • Jackie Richardson, an art teacher at Ithaca High School, who has arranged for a local glass artist to show students in the Studio in Crafts course how to create artwork by fusing, casting, and slumping glass in the heat of a kiln.
As part of this round of Red and Gold Grants, IPEI awarded two in memory of Chuck Brodhead from the Charles W. and Phyllis B. Brodhead Memorial Fund. Cara Salibrici, a sixth grade Social Studies teacher at Boynton Middle School, will introduce her class to Antarctica by reading about Ernest Shackleton’s expedition and listening to the first-hand experiences of a local community member who spends part of each year in Antarctica as a tour guide. Music teacher Allison Scott who will bring dinosaurs to life for students at Beverly J. Martin, Cayuga Heights, and South Hill Elementary Schools through song, musical instruments, art, and presentations by a Museum of the Earth staff member.
Congratulations to all Red and Gold grant recipients! As always, we were blown away by your applications, and can’t wait to see your amazing ideas in action!
