Education 2.0
A fourth-grade student presses his hand on a green apple hooked up to a laptop with an alligator clip. Music begins to play on the screen. A few minutes later, he and a fellow classmate are using the same apples as controllers for a video game called Minecraft.
These Trace Crossings Elementary students are using a device called “MaKey MaKey,” which fourth-grade teacher Dana Joyner found through research. The students also played music on the computer using play dough and graphite. The children were encouraged to document their work through Twitter, which allowed them to learn grammar and social media skills as well.
This unique project was made possible by the grant writing of Joyner and Assistant Principal Amanda Stone. The grant was given by the Hoover City Schools Foundation.
“The students are learning about electricity, force and motion, while also learning reading, writing and grammar,” Joyner said. “It really elevates my job and makes teaching fun. The same goes for the students, they don’t want to leave.”
During the 2014-15 school year, the Hoover City Schools Foundation gave out 15 teacher grants, affecting more than 40 different classrooms in the system.
“Our grants are essential to the schools because they give teachers the opportunity to try innovative and sometimes revolutionary projects or programs with their students,” HCSF Executive Director Kara Walker said. “Without our funding, teachers may not be able to experiment or take a project to the next level without spending their own personal money on their classrooms.”
The Hoover City Schools Foundation is a nonprofit organization created to support Hoover City Schools by funding innovative academic projects through grants and scholarships.
“Essentially, we want to help support those teachers and programs that are new and groundbreaking that might need extra funding,” Walker said. “We also find it extremely important to invest in the futures of students by supporting career preparedness in every facet, which is why we also provide two scholarships per year to students attending community college, junior college or vocational school.”
The HCSF recently launched a student board program. Ten students were selected from each high school (Hoover and Spain Park) to serve on the board and will be helping to promote the foundation, as well as support the schools and local businesses through community service.
“They’ll bring a fresh, young perspective to our table about how we can best support Hoover City Schools,” said Walker. “These kids had to go through a rigorous essay and interview process, and the ones we selected are absolutely outstanding young folks.”
HCSF is also hoping to a launch a new program in 2015 with the goal of connecting local businesses with high school academies.
“Some academies are already successfully partnering with local businesses, but we want to help further facilitate that relationship, and we think both parties will really benefit from having input from each other,” Walker said. “We hope to begin hosting regular breakfast events to bring these groups together for networking opportunities and speaking engagements.”
Donations to HCSF can be mailed to Hoover City Schools Foundation c/o Kara Walker at 2810 Metropolitan Way, Hoover, Alabama, 35243. For more information, visit facebook.com/hoovercityschoolsfoundation.
Marine Discovery Lab
Three years ago, Simmons Middle School seventh-grade science teacher Robert Abernathy was awarded a $2,000 grant, and this past fall, the efforts came to fruition with the Simmons Discovery Lab.
The Simmons Discovery Lab features a variety of exhibits including a desert, rain forest and saltwater habitat. Each exhibit houses creatures such as pythons, clownfish and crawfish. Several of the creatures were donated from local areas, and one of the aquarium tanks came all the way from the Caribbean. Abernathy said that the students have been active in taking care of the creatures, and some students even had the opportunity to take them home for a few days.
“This lab was a vision of mine when I applied for the grant several years ago,” Abernathy said. “It’s been exciting to see the children become so involved.”
Stability balls
Deer Valley Elementary School teachers Brittany Cobern and Shelby Hutson recently took on a project with their Foundation grant called “Bouncing Towards Success.” They replaced the chairs in their classrooms with stability balls (also referred to as yoga balls), which promote better concentration, posture and focus. Hutson is using them particularly with special needs children and Walker said both teachers are having great success.
Robotics/engineering
Nancy McGowan at Bluff Park Elementary is also teaching her students to build and program robots. McGowan received a grant from the HCSF for VEX robotics kits, and the children hope to use their robot in an upcoming robotics competition.
“When I visit these classrooms, I can tell the kids absolutely love computers and technology, and that the robotics equipment is just fostering that love through hands-on educational experiences,” Kara Walker said.
Other grant projects throughout Hoover City Schools include a bird watching program at Greystone Elementary School, robotics equipment for the Engineering Academy at Spain Park and a program called “Growing Girl Engineers” at Trace Crossings.