WEST IRONDEQUOIT CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

321 List Ave.      Rochester, NY 14617

 

To:           Democrat & Chronicle, Irondequoit Post

 

From:      Carol A. Crumlish, Director of Public Information, 336-3067

 

Date:       June 16, 2006

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

West Irondequoit Foundation announces grants for 2006

West Irondequoit Foundation president Barbara James presented a check to the school district at the Board of Education meeting on June 15 in the amount of $26,603.21.  The money will fund the following grants requested by district faculty:

 

$10,516.00 for Data Collection Probes  - requested by Michael Liener, Science Supervisor and Gail Grinnell, Director of Technology.  The grant will provide probes for students at IHS, to expand the opportunities started by a similar grant for Dake Junior High in 2005.  The equipment will allow students to gather data, input it into a computerized spreadsheet, and graph and analyze their work.  It supports student-centered, inquiry based experiments already in place and develops them to a higher level of understanding.   

 

$7,600.00 to purchase a Digital Video Server – submitted by David Marshall, Technology Teacher and Daniel Reardon, Coordinator of Media Services.  The equipment will allow students to output class video projects to local cable access television, showcasing student work to the entire community.  Students will now be able to follow the steps of video production from conception to broadcast. 

 

$644.91 for Digital Imagery Equipment for Brookview School Web Site and Electronic Newsletter – proposed by teachers Mary Marianetti and Kate DeVoldre.  The purchase of a digital camera with video capabilities will allow teachers to add pictures and video to their Web pages and to the school newsletter.  This will strengthen the communication between school and families as parents will have the opportunity to 

view teacher lessons and student demonstrations via computer. 

 

$2002.30 for What a Relief! (Map, That Is) - requested by Mary Anna Russo, Director, Helmer Nature Center.  The center will purchase two additional Enviroscape models (the Landfill and Coastal Units).  These interactive learning tools provide a way of exploring ecology by using hands-on relief-type models.  Students learn that human actions do have a direct and indirect impact on their environment.   

 

$840 for a Teleprompter for the Dake Morning Show – submitted by Bryan Swanson, Technology Teacher.  Dake students plan and deliver morning announcements in a news show format each morning at the school.  Students watch the broadcast on televisions in their classrooms.  The teleprompter will improve the quality of the show by allowing the student anchors to maintain eye contact with the camera while reading the news instead of reading from sheets of paper as they have been doing.  Students will gain hands-on experience in both reading from and setting up the teleprompter. 

 

$5,000 toward a Grand Piano – requested by Stephen Beamish, Music Coordinator.  This is the second of three payments of $5,000 each toward the Yamaha Grand Piano which was delivered to IHS in December 2005.  The instrument is used by 7-12 music groups and for theatrical performances.  The piano was specially selected to be used in the newly renovated auditorium at Irondequoit High School.  The remaining funding for the purchase has come from district sources. 

 

The West Irondequoit Foundation (WIF) is a not-for-profit organization established in 1987 to receive gifts, bequests and donations in order to provide funding to enhance the educational programs of the West Irondequoit Central School District (WICSD). It raises funds to underwrite teacher-initiated grants for projects, equipment and programs that cannot be supported by the district’s annual operating budget.

 

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For further information contact Carol Crumlish, WICSD Liaison to the West Irondequoit Foundation @ 336-3067 or 703-6460.