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 Education Fund
| World Affairs Council – Mid Hudson Valley
Global Studies and World AffairsTeacher Award Fund |
2010 Grantees
2010 Fund for Excellence in Education Winners
Margaret Buckland
G. W. Krieger Elementary School, $2,000
“Digital Autobiography Project”
This project is intended for moderately disabled special education students that range in age from 9-11. Students will create a digital autobiography using an Apple computer equipped with iMovie and Final Cut Express. At the end of this project students will be able to produce a DVD that is an autobiographical movie of their life thus far. Parents will be invited into school for a "Movie Afternoon," to view all of the students projects.
Colleen A. Drummond
Hagan Elementary School, $1,500
“WikiCam”
4th and 5th grade students will use a collaborative wiki tool to plan a project with their classmates and then videoconference with students around the country and the world to share their wiki and teach their newly acquired knowledge. In turn, the partnering class would share their wiki about a specific topic.
Anita Estes
Charles B. Warring Academy, $2,000
“Exploring Cultures Using Kiln Fired Projects”
Students in third through fifth grade will make kiln-fired clay objects to aide them in understanding their own heritage and other cultures which they are learning about in class. These would include Native and Colonial Americans, Africans, Japanese and Spanish speaking cultures, which are all part of the social studies curriculum. Funds would be used for installation and venting, and to buy clay supplies.
Linda Olivo
Regina Coeli School, $486.05
“Japanese Story Telling (Kamishibai)”
In Japan, from the 1930's to the 1950's before the popularity of television, kamishibai men would travel to towns to tell stories. They would use wooden clappers to call the children and then present the stories from storyboards in a "paper theater". Kamishibai stories and accessories will be purchased to enrich the K-5 story time. The stories will become a part of the library curriculum and be used to expose students to a different style of storytelling. The Kamishibai method will also be used in literacy classes to create or adapt stories of our own to share with the school community during story hours.
Maribel M. Pregnall
Arlington High School, $2,000
“Students Collaborate To Save a Species”
Next year students will take a lead role in the conservation efforts of a New York state threatened species, the Blanding's turtle, an animal that lives on our school campus. They will track the movements of turtles using radio telemetry and map their distribution patterns on campus. Students will track turtles every month to get a better idea of their movements and their habitat ranges. This data will be added to an ongoing collection of data that a local environmental consulting firm started, but discontinued due to lack of funding.
Katherine Younger, Tom Blass and Scott Stiverson
Chancellor Livingston School, $780
“Wetland Data Collection of Biodiversity”
This is a collaborative interdisciplinary activity which includes a fourth grade inclusion class and a fifth grade inclusion class. Both classes currently study a grade level-specific unit devoted to ecosystems. This activity involves the creation of a scientific observatory station, designed to provide both classes with data about the biodiversity of animal and plant life found in the wetlands located on the edge of the school property.
The Dennis J. Markle Community Service Fund Awards
This award was established by the Dutchess County United Teachers’ Council in memory of Dennis Markle. These grants are awarded to public school teachers for projects involving their students in community service.
Jeanne P. Dolamore
W. W. Smith Humanities Magnet School, $1,000
“The Soup, Song, & Service Project”
The Soup, Song and Service Project is 3 projects developed in collaboration between an elementary school music ensemble and three partnering community service organizations who strive to link schools with farm, food and community. The Farm Project will include a visit and informational tour of a local farm, where students will meet the farmers and learn first hand about farming, food sources and food justice. The Farmers Market Project will include an educational visit and music performance at a local farmers market that sells food harvested through the farm visited. The Soup Kitchen Outreach Project will include a community service visit and music performance for a local soup kitchen-community lunch program.
Elyse Joy
Orville A. Todd Middle School, $1,520
“C.L.A.S.S.”
This project will provide our school community with C.L.A.S.S. - Community Leaders And Student Support. The program will be designed to train a group of students to lead professional development technology workshops for teachers, technology support for students, and free community workshops for local residents. Workshops will include Microsoft Office help, Google tools, digital cameras, scanners and document cameras, Smartboard tools, digital stories, webpage design and Comic Life software.
Barbara A. Rizzolo and Sandra Kane
Chancellor Livingston School, $1,000
“Drumming Through the Generations”
A music teacher will collaborate with a third grade classroom teacher to create an inter-generational experience involving music, research, and writing. The students will begin the school year learning about the continent of Africa and its location. They will also begin a musical journey of ethnic rhythm and song as well as learning about cultural heritages from the African continent. They will experience singing African songs and, in a drum circle, playing rhythms commonly found in African and other world music. Students will visit a local senior residential facility to share their knowledge of Africa as well as the songs and dances they have learned and present books they have written about this experience.
Katherine Younger
Chancellor Livingston School, $480
“Celebrating Oral Histories with Nursing Home”
This activity would partner a fifth grade inclusion class with local nursing home residents and retirees in the community to record and celebrate oral histories. Students would take two trips to a local nursing home; the first to read stories to the residents and interview them so they can write an oral history about the interviewee; the second to read the oral histories they wrote and present them to the residents they had interviewed. Students will then invite local retirees into their classroom and interview them, recording stories about their lives. Collaborating with community artists and volunteers, the students would write a screen play incorporating the stories they learned. The culminating activity would be a performance incorporating scenes from the stories, celebrating the lives of the community members who participated in the interviews.
Dorothy’s Marionettes and Puppets Award
The Dorothy’s Marionettes and Puppets Award was created to provide grants to public school teachers for projects which incorporate student and/or teacher-made marionettes and puppets in the curricula.
Jonathan A. Pickles and Chris Malet
Union Vale Middle School, $1,500
“Canterbury Tales Puppet Theater”
Students will perform an interdisciplinary shadow puppet unit on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The interdisciplinary unit will be a collaborative effort on the part of all team core-curriculum teachers. The social studies teacher will develop a unit on the historical period, the science teacher will explore period specific technology, the math teacher will teach period specific math concepts, and the English and Reading teacher will help the students develop grade level appropriate scripts for the performance. They will also be taught Old and Middle English literature, including Arthurian legends. All of this serves the purpose of immersing the students in Chaucer's world and challenging the teachers to develop interdisciplinary, team teaching skills and strategies. The shadow puppet performance will be the culminating team activity.
David Kennon Moody Award
The David Kennon Moody Award was established to provide grants to teachers 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.
Tracy K. Gartelmann, Catherine Kelly and Harrison Barritt
Dutchess BOCES Career & Technical Institute, $733.95
“Career Literacy/Workforce Competency Project”
Career literacy is the focus of two extensive units of instruction for students in their junior and senior years. Internships and job shadowing experiences offer students the opportunity to enter and experience the world of work, but preparing students to effectively listen, speak, solve problems, communicate and interact with professionals of all ages when they take part in these field experiences is often challenging. Two excellent resources, Stephen Lundin’s "FISH Philosophy" workplace/school training package and Bob Farrell's "Give 'Em The Pickle" training package will be purchased. These resources provide a framework for creating learning experiences focusing on teamwork, customer service, positive business and interpersonal relationships and the power of personal choice in developing a successful work ethic. These training packages will be used to develop lessons and activities for students who will create a wiki to publish their work, collaborate and share their learning across trade/content areas.
2010 Excellence in Teaching Global Studies and World Affairs AwardThis award is given to a high school teacher in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam or Ulster counties who strives toward the highest levels of personal and professional accomplishment in teaching Global Studies and World Affairs.
Mary Hoey
Brewster High School
Karen Minervini-Whelan
Roy C. Ketcham High School
2009 Grantees2008 Grantees
2007 Grantees 
