Grant Showcase: Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi

Blog written by Jodi Cline

I am very thankful for the Excellence in Education Foundation grant award I received in the Spring of 2015 for 10 Raspberry Pi, monitors, and keyboards. I am the district’s Gifted and Talented Education teacher and we use these credit-card sized computers every day in our classroom. Students in our classroom complete math assignments and then have the opportunity to use the Pi to access a variety of computer coding languages like Scratch and Python through games and coding websites.

Computer-science related fields have been rapidly growing throughout recent years. By 2018, the CS field is projected to represent 51% of all of the jobs in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) areas. Having access to the Raspberry Pi in our classroom has allowed students to gain experience in this growing field.

Grant Showcase: Jefferson Students Write Their Own Books

Blog submitted by Jefferson school teacher Yvonne Larson.

A sincere thanks is owed to the Charleston Excellence in Education Foundation. As a Spring 2015 Small Grant recipient, I am pleased to share that, nearly 100 Charleston students, ranging in ages 3-13, took home books that they themselves had co-authored/ illustrated. Together, we are proving that giving students the opportunity to take more pride in their writing by putting their works into actual books can only be a good thing. 

Student quotes:

"Zion is funny, is nice, and calls me dad." -Jeb

"I'm happy about the buddy book, and so is Hank!" -Imani

"I think buddy books are great because it gives your buddy something to remember you by." -Victoria

"I think it'll be something special to the buddies and their parents." -Sophie

Grant Showcase: Cuisenair Rods and Hovercam

Kaj Holm, 5th grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary, received a grant from Excellence in Education Foundation to further his classroom teaching.  He describes below how Cuisenair Rods and Hovercam, purchased from the grant, have made learning easier and a lot more fun for students.

1.       Cuisenaire Rods

The goal of this project was to get students more involved with the learning of fractions.  This mathematics manipulative certainly helped achieve a higher level of understanding then I had anticipated.  The Cuisenaire rods helped students develop a way to look at fractions and recognize that all the pieces do not have to come from the same wholes. That a fraction of something can be either the same or different depending on what the whole actually represents.  The students can try and understand this through traditional algorithms but visual hands on learning can certainly solidify that base knowledge the student needs to succeed.  This additional tool certainly proved beneficial to the learning of the 5th grade classroom.

Hovercam Solo 8:

This piece of classroom technology changed the way I did many of my hands on activities across all of my subjects.  More than just a document camera, the Hovercam is able to take screen shots as well as record what is happening under that camera.  This allows instructions to be easily repeated without wasting additional materials in the process. Student placement no longer is an issue when showing examples because of the benefit of having these examples on the SmartBoard rather than being held up in the air in my hand.  Any visual can now be shown with incredible detail.  When sharing information with colleagues, these saved visuals help aid with explanations to help come up with best practice in our teaching.  This small, easy to move piece of technology has been a blessing to have in the classroom. 

The EEF has been supporting Charleston schools, students, and teachers for over 20 years.  In that time, we have awarded more than $400,000 in grants to teachers in the school district. Learn more about our grants here.

Kaj Holm

5th Grade Teacher – Jefferson Elementary

Cross-Country Coach – Charleston Middle School

Assistant Girls Track Coach – Charleston High School 

holmk@charleston.k12.il.us

WELCOME

Welcome to the new website for the Excellence in Education Foundation!  We have moved from the CUSD#1 page to increase our visibility, inform you how our grants support students and teachers in the community, and call attention to ways that you can join our efforts to enhance excellence in education in the Charleston schools.

Visit us regularly to learn how we are working with teachers to improve educational opportunities for Charleston students. Future blogs will include “grants in action” reports of how local teachers are using grants awarded by the EEF in their classrooms. I think you’ll be impressed with how our teachers are using money from our grants to create innovative and creative learning opportunities for students. Many of the grant projects also provide direct benefits to the community. For example, the Lincoln Funeral Train exhibit at the Coles County Fairgrounds last spring was not only a learning opportunity for hundreds of local students, but it was also open to the public for three days.

The EEF has been active in the Charleston community for over twenty years, enhancing educational opportunities for CUSD#1 students, and enriching the creative environment in our schools by supporting teachers through grants that are awarded each year. Strong schools promote strong communities. In tough economic times in our state, it has never been more important to support our teachers so they can maintain excellence in their classrooms.

Last year, the EEF board committed to a major fundraising campaign to ensure the sustainability of our grants well into the future. Toward that end, we sponsored the first “Homecoming Happening” event as a way of honoring Charleston alumni and raising money for future students. We plan to continue holding this event every three years. We have a bold goal of increasing the amount of money granted to teachers in coming years. We need your assistance to make this happen.  Support our fundraisers. Attend our events. Donate to our cause.

You can help us keep our schools strong. In this season of giving, I encourage you to support our mission with a year-end gift to the Excellence in Education Foundation. One hundred percent of your donation goes directly into Charleston classrooms.  Invest in our community by giving to our schools. Hit the “give” button on this page to join us.

Thank you for visiting our page today.  Share our website and come back again soon.

Warmly,

Melanie Mills

2015-2016 President, EEF