Fund for Excellence in Education Grants are awarded to recognize the important contributions that teachers make in our community; support the personal and professional enhancement of teachers; and champion teacher initiatives to improve learning opportunities for teachers and students.  The following Funds contribute to the Fund for Excellence in Education.  We gratefully acknowledge their generous support.

Bank of New York Fund	Dennis J. Markle Community Service Fund
Dorothy's Marionettes and Puppets Fund	Mildred McManus Fund
Irene G. Gatanis Fund	David Kennon Moody Fund
HSBC Donor Advised Fund	John J. and Margaret M. Mulvey Fund
Roy C. Ketcham Fund	Robert Polhill Fund
Donald P. and E. Lorraine Love Fund	Poughkeepsie Savings Bank Fund
Margaret W. Mair Education Fund	Premier National Bank Endowment Fund
Marine Midland Bank Fund for Education

2008 Grantees

2008 Fund for Excellence in Education Grant Winners

Donna Bolner
LaGrange Middle School - 8th grade Earth Science/General Science
“Communicating Science Ideas, Trivia and Concepts”

Approximately three hundred 8th grade science students will engage in a writing program specially designed for communicating science ideas, trivia, and concepts.  This program will produce five 20-minute videos for Arlington elementary students.  Unlike some English classes, where focus is placed on grammar or mechanical techniques and rules, this reflective writing program will emphasize correctness of information, clarity of description, and specificity in writing.  Through good reflective writing, students become more aware of their content growth and pose questions that lead to inquiry-based learning rather than textbook driven learning. 

Marianne DeRise and Victoria Mueller
Poughkeepsie Middle School - 6th grade ELA and Social Studies
“Harlem Renaissance”

Through learning about the history, literature and art of the Harlem Renaissance, inner city 6th grade students will gain a greater appreciation of this important time in African American history.   They will read and analyze poetry from the period; read a fiction novel Keisha Discovers Harlem; adapt the story into a play that will be presented to their parents, community members and other sixth graders in the school; and keep a journal/scrapbook of materials and projects they complete.  This project will promote students’ active engagement in the “arts,” a method educational researchers have proven raises student performance in core academic areas. 

Colleen Drummond, Betsy Marchesona and Lisa Minogue
Hagan Elementary School - K-5 Technology, Physical Education and Library
“GREAT USA”

By introducing GREAT USA (Girls Reading Enthusiastically Across The USA), 5th grade girls will have an opportunity to work with Marist athletes.  They will read books from different genres that are set in various states across the USA and complete a GREAT USA passport that will identify specific states "visited" through these books. Students will share these passports with their Marist College female role models who will celebrate each girl's accomplishments and offer encouragement and motivation to continue reading by sharing their own personal academic successes and also share anecdotes on how reading has enriched their lives as student-athletes. After participating in the GREAT USA, it is hoped that the girls will be more inclined to make reading an activity of choice. 

Anita Estes
C.B. Warring Magnet Academy of Science and Technology - K-5 Art
“90 Years of Education in the Community - A Mural”

Students will work with mural artist Nestor Madalengoitia to create a mural for their school that celebrates 90 years of Education in the Community.  The artist will work with three 4th grade and three 5th grade classes to paint a mural showing the diversity of students educated at the school.  Students will learn how to draw, make sketches, mix colors and paint on canvas.  The mural will be installed in the cafeteria for all students to enjoy and will be transportable.

Maribel Pregnall
Arlington High School - 11th and 12th grade AP Biology

Next fall biology classes will measure important cardiovascular health parameters using precision medical equipment.  They will measure blood pressure and pulse rate while standing and while resting and then they will measure the change in blood pressure and pulse rate when they move from reclining to standing.  It is becoming more important that every person needs to be more accountable and responsible for his or her own health issues.  Knowing their own vital statistics will empower students as they face their own future health issues.  Communicating their knowledge will solidify what they learned and will spread the importance of cardiovascular health. 

William Yager, Jr.
Alden Place Elementary - 5th grade
“Living History - Revolutionary Period”

In the spring of 2009, the entire 3rd through 5th grade classes will experience the "Living History" approach to social studies instruction first-hand.  All students will immerse themselves in this historical time period through kinesthetic exploration of skills, trades, tasks, games and dress representative of colonial life.  On that special day in May, students will go back in time of the continental soldier and experience fire starting, butter churning, cooking authentic foods, book making, quill writing, playing colonial games, sewing, quilting, fascine building, tin and blacksmithing and candle making just to name a few activities. 

Dennis J. Markle Community Service Fund Awards

Dutchess County United Teachers’ Community Service Grants are awarded to public school teachers for projects involving their students in community service.  These community service awards are made in memory of Dennis Markle. 

Stephanie Ljutich and Cynthia Starr
Mill Road Elementary School - Kindergarten and 2nd grade
“Big Books for Little People”

“Big Books for Little People” connects second grade students with kindergarten students to create an A-Z Big Book about the K-2 school for preschools in the local community.  Preschool staff will be able to use the book to help ease the transition of local preschoolers to their new school environment.  This project will enhance the literacy program by giving student authors the opportunity to expand their language skills in a novel and fun way and nurture a love for reading. 

Barbara Rizzolo and Sandra Kane
Chancellor Livingston School - Grade 3 and Music
“The Prowling Puppets”

A third grade class will partner with a kindergarten class to make puppets, learn the script and music and construct a portable puppet stage to "take on the road" in the fall to community members of all ages. The musical play to be performed, “Welcome to the Jungle,” has a theme of promises kept and friendships made. The kindergarten students will join with their older buddies to sing in performances at a nursing home, a nursery school, a community center and a school where other classes will be invited to attend.  This project will help strengthen the school-community relationship as students learn they can and do have a positive impact on others around them.   

Erin Scott
Dutchess County BOCES - High School Special Education
“Birthday Bags”

Students will create age and gender appropriate “birthday bags” for children whose parents are financially unable to give their children a birthday present and birthday party.  Students will learn about and discuss how there are families who are unable to make ends meet and who do not have the ability to provide the “extras” that most families can provide.  Students will learn about programs that assist families in need, including food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters.  Students will develop vocabulary skills, work on budgeting and money management, increase their awareness of poverty and have greater appreciation for their families and the lives they live. 

Dorothy’s Marionettes and Puppets Award

Grants are awarded to public school teachers for projects which incorporate student and/or teacher-made marionettes and puppets in the curricula. 

Cynthia Ramsey
Hyde Park Elementary School - 4th grade
“Puppets and Habitats”

Herbivores and habitats, food chains and food webs, camouflage and carnivores… how do we keep all of these science terms straight?  Students will build a puppet theater and design and create animal puppets to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts they are exploring.  Students will join together to develop a realistic food chain that would exist in the same habitat and then link their food chains to form food webs.  Students will then perform a puppet show demonstrating a “day in the life” of their habitat.  The show will illustrate how the food chains and food webs intertwine and how the adaptations of each animal allow it to survive. 

David Kennon Moody Award

Grants are awarded for either professional development in the field of teaching writing or for a specific program designed to enhance the writing abilities of a teacher’s students.

Margaret Strickler
Dutchess County BOCES Career and Technical Institute - 12th grade Culinary English
“Dutchess County Food Essays and Recipes”

As a senior writing project, Culinary English students will produce a professionally bound collection of food essays and recipes that will focus on Dutchess County specialties and the utilization of locally grown, raised and produced food.  During this year-long project, students will investigate local food sources and write essays on sustainable agriculture; take a field trip to a local cheese producer; research and write about the history, production, uses and sources of specific locally produced ingredients; write reflectively about food in a variety of genres; and develop original recipes based on local ingredients.  Through this project students will develop an appreciation for all the culinary virtues of the Hudson Valley region.  At the same time, they will gain an understanding of how writing can be an effective tool to persuade, inform, entertain and instruct the public.