Awards for the 2008-2009 School Year

Students will enhance their visual ability for projects through the use of a Digital Camera.  A camera will help students to display their school projects in a scrapbook.  Students will be able to capture the excitement in pictures and share the information with others in the school and community.

Students will be taught how to care for and organize the materials in their Mathematics Tool Kits.  The mathematics tool kits contain all of the necessary materials needed for math related lessons.  They include dice, cards, number lines, rulers, white boards, and math manipulatives.

The Books in a Bag program uses MyPyramid for Kids books to increase reading with young children, and to center that reading around food and family.  Each student will be exposed to the pleasures of reading and introduced to books that deliver a positive food/nutrition message.  The program will also guide children, parents and teachers in activities that relate to each book's theme.

Healthy Choices for Strong Kansas Kids will introduce students to whole grains, dairy products and other foods that are produced in the heartland and promote ways to incorporate more of these foods into their daily life.  Food preparation exercises and resources will increase the student's exposure to, acceptance of, and adoption of those foods into their everyday lives.

Musically inclined learners think in sounds, rhythms, and patterns.  When students listen to music, they remember content material by remembering the melodies.  A Digital Music Player and Speakers will help students learn more effectively in areas such as reading, spelling, and math.

An Intermediate Math Cart will help stimulate students' interests in fractions, place value, geometry, measurement, and much more.  The kit uses a practical balance of manipulatives and other activities to build concepts and provide skill building.  This kit will allow students to have more hands-on learning time.

Positive Parenting is a three-week program that reveals how the actions of the parent affect the development of a child.  Students will compare the “RealCare Baby” with a drug-affected baby and a baby with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.  Students will be able to see the affects of drugs and alcohol on fetal development and examine the lifelong issues that surround these babies.

Through the use of Bamboo Fun Tablets, the students will be able to demonstrate that technology offers flexibility and a range of expression that can achieve a wide range of educational goals and foster a participatorier classroom environment.  This project, “Make You Computer Your Canvas to a New World”, is designed to give students the opportunity to explore ways of using technology to promote effective art education standards.

Palco's “Play” with a Purpose is designed to promote physical health and development.  A child's physical development is essential to his total well-being and is basic for living and learning.  The project will assist students in the following areas: physical development and health, scientific thinking, mathematical thinking, social studies, the arts, personal and social development, and language and literacy.

Students will use MP3 Players as roving reporters for the school pod cast and newspaper.  Students will also use the MP3 players as an educational technology tool.  With MP3 players, students are able to listen to novels, create study guides, develop language labs, and produce their own school pod cast.

“Cutting-edge books” such as “Playaways” allow students to hear reading selections rather than having to read books.  “Playaways” help struggling readers gain fluency and comprehension while making reading more accessible and appealing but less intimidating.

Climate change is a global issue that cuts across many disciplines.  In this unit, students will learn some of the forces behind climate change, the carbon cycle, and the greenhouse effect.  Students will use Digital Voice Recorders and Microphones to communicate and interact with community members, landowners, and business leaders to gain a better understanding of climate change.

A Listening and Learning Center allows several children to listen to a book at the same time while the teacher provides individual help to other children needing one-on-one instruction.  The center provides an excellent tool for students, allowing opportunity to become participants in the learning process.  Increased involvement by students facilitates the learning process and greatly increases student success rates.

The American Heart Association's Heartsaver in Schools program teaches students the first links in the Chain of Survival.  By training high school students, staff members, and coaches to recognize the warning signs of cardiac arrest, to call 911, to provide CPR and/or relief of choking, lives can be saved.  This program will prepare participants with the knowledge and skills needed to perform CPR and use an automatic external defibrillator.

The “FUNDATIONS” program is a fun way for students to achieve literacy.  FUNDATIONS advances student reading at a rapid rate as it is an interactive and multi-sensory phonics program.  The program helps students become fluent and independent readers, increases comprehension skills, and allows students to discover the endless possibilities reading has to offer.  

Books, puppets and phonemic awareness activities allow children to increase reading readiness skills.  Literacy Kits will be a tool for families to use to enhance their parent/child relationships and build quality literacy skills.