To support summer learning, the New Bedford Education Foundation has announced the award of $25,000 in Summer Grants for a total of 11 nonprofit organizations who plan to work with nearly 3,500 New Bedford Public School children throughout the city this summer.

This story was first published in the Standard-Times on June 8, 2018 – HERE

“We are pleased to award this critical funding to organizations that will engage thousands of New Bedford Public Schools’ students in innovative, interactive, inter-disciplinary learning programs that provide experiential learning opportunities,” said Gig Lang, committee chair for the New Bedford Education Foundation’s Summer Grants program, in a news release.

2018 Summer Grants awardees include:

• $1,500 for the SeaLab Marine Science Education Center Scholarship Fund
• $750 to the Sharing the Harvest Summer Education Program of YMCA Southcoast
• $4,500 for the YWCA of Southeastern MA YWKids School Age Program
• $2,000 to fund the New Bedford Art Museum/Artworks! Artmobile
• $500 for The Kids on the Block program of The ARC of Greater New Bedford
• $3,500 to the Community Boating Center for its Summer Youth Sailing Program
• $1,500 to fund the KoolDays initiative of the City of New Bedford Department of Community Services
• $2,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater New Bedford TRIPLE Play program
• $3,000 to Youth Opportunities Unlimited for its Explore Your Environment: GEAR program
• $3,750 to fund the Creative Careers Summer Program from Dream Out Loud
• $2,000 for the Culture*Park Theater and its Stories to Stage program

The New Bedford Education Foundation (NBEF) supports educational opportunities for New Bedford public schools’ students beyond what is funded through the school budget. NBEF solicits and channels funds used to enhance and expand the educational opportunities provided to students of New Bedford public schools. NBEF is independent of the School Committee and public revenue sources, and it is a fund of the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts.

This story was first published in the Standard-Times on June 8, 2018 – HERE

The De Valles’  biggest initiative this year is to get students to write and the staff has struggled to encourage them to like writing.  In reviewing school needs the biggest challenge is technology.  DeValles has been awarded two Chromebook carts with 30 Chromebooks each.  The school will develop an online newspaper to be published at least twice a month.  The students will be fully responsible for the development and content of the newspaper with facilitation by staff.

The hope is that students will become more interested in writing if they are able to choose content and publish it to show family and friends.  The project will culminate with all students choosing one piece of writing to be published in an anthology of DeValles student work.

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NEW BEDFORD — New Bedford history is about to get the “Hamilton” treatment.

“HipHistory NB” will be the theme of a youth engagement program in three New Bedford schools — Roosevelt Middle School, Nativity Preparatory School, and Global Learning Charter Public School — thanks to grants awarded to AHA!, 3rd EyE Unlimited and the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts from MassHumanities and the New Bedford Education Foundation.

“Working with AHA!, the schools and local cultural institutions on the HipHistory NB project is an amazing opportunity for 3rd EyE Unlimited,” said Keri Cox, board president of 3rd EyE. “Continuing the work from the Youth Ambassador Program with the Park Service, the HipHistory program could be the first step to meeting local youth who will use hip hop and spoken word as a vehicle to connect with the New Bedford community.”

This story first appeared in the Standard TImes – HERE

The first phase will include an interactive assembly program at the three schools that will reinterpret historical narratives using spoken and musical performance.

These performances are based upon the model developed by YAP! (Youth Ambassador Program), a collaborative program between 3rd EyE and the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. These interactive performances will be facilitated by members of the 3rd EyE team that developed the content.

“This is such an exciting opportunity to engage the schools and community in a common goal that will impact the students in a positive way,” said Lynn Souza, director of Fine Arts for the New Bedford Public Schools. “Not only will students be learning about their community, but they will be working together with students from different schools. There is so much investment in the students from all partners and I can’t wait to see the culminating performance!”

A grant of $7,500 from MassHumanities and $1,000 from the New Bedford Education Foundation were awarded for the program, which has three primary goals:

• To introduce middle school students to their local history in an engaging and meaningful way.

• To give interested students the opportunity to participate in a primary research process in which they can discover information, reflect on the process, and create their own interpretations of the histories

• To connect middle school students from different school environments through a working project.

“We’re thrilled to be able to launch a project that will connect local students with the identity of their city and the evolving nature of civic engagement,” said AHA! Director Lee Heald. “HipHistory NB will share the resources of the community with local schools, connect kids from different schools and culminate in performances which give back to the community.”

Phase Two is a pilot after-school group for students from all three middle schools. Meeting once a week for 10 weeks, students will be introduced to local scholars and institutions which support the cultural collection of materials and interpretation and will have a chance to showcase what they are learning through spoken word, lyrics and poetry.

HipHistory NB will culminate in public performances in local libraries and AHA! nights in the participating institutions, as well as a video for local cable access TV.

The project will partner with local historians from the New Bedford Historical Society, the Fishing Heritage Center, New Bedford Whaling Museum, the Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum, and New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.

These scholars will connect the students with the identity of their city and the evolving nature of civic engagement, a press release about the initiative stated.

The weekly themes include whaling as an industry, abolition and the Underground Railroad focusing on Frederick Douglass, and maritime work and fishing, among others.

The final project of student performances will focus on how the identity of the city is reflected in the written and spoken voices of its people and how the future will be narrated by youth.

AHA! (Art, History & Architecture) is New Bedford’s free Downtown Cultural Night and collaborative cultural organization with over 60 downtown venue partners. Its mission is to be a cooperative venture dedicated to invigorating the downtown New Bedford cultural scene using the power of the arts and cultural enterprise, creativity and collaboration to forge a new economy. This includes creating a platform for local and regional artists, cultural groups and educators to present and being a key partner in the city’s creative economy initiatives.

Since 1995, area residents have been turning to the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts to make their philanthropic giving as effective as possible. The Community Foundation is a public charity serving thousands of people who share a common concern – improving the quality of life in Southeastern Massachusetts. To date, the Community Foundation has distributed over $25 million from 200 funds to humanitarian, educational and cultural organizations in the region.

This story first appeared in the Standard TImes – HERE

Each grade K-5 will be assigned a chapter that will create a book focused on the cultural diversity of the student body at Hathaway, as well as including key curriculum topics from across school subjects. Teachers will support this project as they work with students to build their writing skills and introduce them to the full writing curriculum. Students in grades 3-5 will create a monthly school newspaper on student-friendly topics that will be posted on Hathaway’s website.

Through this grant, a set of 30 Chromebook tablets will be split among classrooms in order to provide students with access to technology at a 5 to 1 ratio in the classrooms. Students will also be teamed with students from different grade levels so that older students can support younger students’ writing skills, with teachers from different grades collaborating on curriculum.

As part of Hathaway School’s mission for all students to be proficient readers and writers, students’ progress will be measured through their writing prompts as well as performance in English Language Arts (ELA) units. In addition, at Hathaway, 60% of students are English Learners, and research indicates that increased access to nonfiction materials and visuals improve vocabulary and background for students’ in ELA.

“We are grateful for the support of the New Bedford Education Foundation to the students of Hathaway School,” said Superintendent Pia Durkin. “This focused, literacy-based program will increase time that students and teachers spend on literacy, tying in their other core subjects, which research has shown can improve their proficiency in English Language Arts.”

“In keeping with our mission to enrich education beyond what can be funded within the local school budget, we are pleased to be able to provide funding that will target one school and to help make student academic experiences exceptional and transforming. We look forward to seeing this project come to life,” said Neal Weiss, Board Co-Chair of the New Bedford Education Foundation.

Congratulations Hathaway Elementary School!

Congratulations Eileen Cassidy and Campbell Elementary School!

Congratulations Diana Grady, Director of the Buzzards Bay Writing Project!

Awarded to:
Brooks Elementary School (Christina Andreade, Megan Giammalvo – teachers)
Rodman Elementary School ((Pamela Benevides, Pamela Francis, Debbie Brejcha – teachers)
Campbell Elementary School (Nicole Brady – teacher)

Teaching Static Electricity Through the Construction of a Van de Graaff Generator.
Visit Sea Lab four times during the academic school year for instruction in Massachusetts Science Strands of Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space science and Design, and Engineering and Technology.

One aspect of the 5th grader’s visit will be to develop a rudimentary understanding of static and dynamic electricity. A Van de Graaff generator produces static electricity and this grant will allow students to build the generator to produce static electricity and provide the power to execute basic electrostatic demonstrations on an energetic, safe and dramatic scale. The unit is safe and provides a hands-on and personal introduction and appreciation to physics. 850 students.

Awarded to: Sea Lab Marine Science Education Center (Simone Bourgeois – instructor)

Keyboard Lab Completion
Continued support to complete the lab and minimize the noise in the room by having headphones for each student using keyboards. Students will be less distracted and will focus more on their own work. Also added two (2) Yamaha keyboards and (2) headphones to expand the Piano Lab. All grades. 150 students.

Awarded to: Normandin Middle School (Chris Chambers, Merrillan Melberg, Brandi Colon – teachers)

Local Ecosystems
Biomes Marine Biology Center: Introduction to Marine Animals. An introduction to local marine life featuring ten (10) of the most fascinating species with age appropriate discussion and animal petting; this program is lively and highly educational. Many marine-related concepts are presented such as habitats, predator/prey, exoskeletons, camouflage and regeneration. Sample animals include the sea star, brittle starfish, spider crab, horseshoe crab and a puffer fish demonstration. 110 students.

Awarded to: Keith Middle School (Karla Ayers Tedeschi – teacher)

Field Trip to the Lloyd Center for the Environment
This field trip provides a hands-on coastal ecology opportunity. Students will get to explore natural history exhibits as well as salt and fresh water aquaria. They will hike through the maritime forest, a saltwater marsh, and catch and observe organisms in the estuary. They will discover how organisms interact with each other, utilize scientific equipment, field guides and data sheets. 62 students.

Awarded to: Winslow Elementary School (Linda Lemieux and Donna Teixiera – teachers)

Technology for ELA and Math
Provide tablets for use in all curriculum areas such as science, social studies, as well as music and movement. The students will increase their ELA fluency scores by repetition and drill through the use of technology in the classroom in small group settings and during large group instruction and activities. 22 students.

Awarded to: Carney Academy (Karen Demers – teacher)