Award Recipients
The CMS PTSA offers grants to CMS staff members to help enhance the learning
environment at Community Middle School. Financial assistance is provided to
staff members with ideas for projects that would benefit their students. The
grants cover many different educational areas and usually range from $200 to
$500 per project.
So far, the PTSA has awarded 4 Mini Grants for the 2009-2010 school year
totaling $1,168.55. Mini Grant recipients are as follows:
Anna Stein – Communicator Clearboard Classroom Kit - $121.99
The mini grant funds will be used to purchase a kit of 30 clearboards with
related accessories. The clearboard provides benefits over traditional dry-
erase boards such as the ability to instantly access student progress and
change templates.
Theresa LaManna – Special needs classroom materials - $316.02
The mini grant funds will be used to purchase materials that cognitively
target the vast abilities found in inclusion classrooms, as well as appeal to
the special education population. Items to be purchased will be a set of
illustrated classic novels such as A Tale of Two Cities, The Swiss Family
Robinson and The Time Machine. Also purchased will be science related
materials related to the respiratory & digestive systems and a human body
flip chart.
Katharine Malec – Sexuality education materials for the 7th grade health
curriculum and Stars - $230.54
The mini grant funds will be used to purchase materials that will allow
students with learning disabilities have a better understanding of what
changes occur during puberty by giving them the ability to visually see the
changes rather than get a verbal description.
Cheryl Ciaranca - Hands Across the Water Club funding of micro-loans to
entrepeneurs in impoverished nations - $500
The mini grant funds will be used to set up a start-up account with Kiva
micro-finance. Students will be involved in the selection of small
entrepreneurs in impoverished nations to receive micro-loans.
For 2008-2009, the PTSA awarded 4 Mini Grants totaling $1,472 as follows:
Faith Scibienski for Be The Change Wrist Bands - $342
The mini grant funds were used to purchase “Be The Change” wristbands which
were given to students and teachers by club members who witnessed random acts
of kindness at CMS.
CMS Counselors, Lynn Fisher, Colleen Pederson, Faith Scibienski & Ellen
Burgess for The Career Game - $500
The mini grant funds awarded to the CMS counselors provided the necessary
funds to update the software for the “The Career Game”. The Career Game is a
workbook that matches 8th grade students’ hobbies, heroes, and personal
favorites to the universe of job possibilities.
Patrick Lepore for lighting equipment for the television studio - $500
The mini grant awarded to the TV Production department provided for updated
lighting equipment which enables the studio to have multiple sets at one
time. This greatly enhances the look of the “Wake Up Community” broadcasts
and expands the capability of the studio space for more types of in-house
video broadcast.
Karen Rosnick for Food for the Hunger Banquet – RISK PRISM - $130
The seventh grade group RISK (Reducing Instances of Starvation in Kids)
sponsored a Hunger Banquet to allow banquet guests to simulate a food
distribution scenario related to problems of food insecurity. Mini grant
funds were used to purchase the food, beverages and supplies to create
teaching materials to raise awareness of the number of hungry and homeless
children in our world.
Internet Links
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
http://www.actsofkindness.org/
The Career Game
http://www.careergame.com/
The World Food Programme
http://beta.wfp.org/
Kiva Microfiance
http://www.kiva.org/
Other Resources