The private nonprofit Ridgefield Education Foundation has agreed to fund $18,000 more worth of educational enhancement programs for the new year.
“The Ridgefield Education Association looks to support 21st Century learning in the Ridgefield public schools,” said Avery Costigan, president of the private foundation, which has been helping Ridgefield schools three years. This is the fourth grant cycle, and funding is up by more than 100%.
Costigan gave a presentation to the Board of Education on the success of the programs on June 8. The foundation’s help is welcome, the board chairman said.
“They’re going to try to do more things going forward,” said Austin Drukker, chairman of the Board of Education. “They’re doing really good stuff, they’re trying to help us enhance the educational experience for the children of Ridgefield, and they do a great job.”
The foundation sees this effort as “Research and Design” for the district where educators can take a risk and try something new without burdening the school budget, Costigan said. Projects win grant money if they are pilot programs that move education forward, she said.
“Use of 21st Century skills, innovation, creativity and collaboration are all also required characteristics,” Costigan said, and the projects must match district goals and priorities.
The programs granted for 2015-2016 are:
• Mindfulness for Ridgefield Public Schools: Professional development on meditation practices to incorporate before, during and after the school day to benefit students at Scotts Ridge Middle School.
• The Life and Times of Mark Twain: A collaboration with The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, on a writing program and assembly at East Ridge Middle School.
• ArchforKids: Kids for Community: A program with two elementary schools that will culminate in a joint opening and exhibition at the Ridgefield Recreation Center to Branchville and Farmingville elementary schools.
• Digital Fabrication and 3D Printer: A 3D printer will support science, technology engineering and mathematics initiatives at East Ridge Middle School.
• Analyzing the Composition of Matter: Uses handheld smartphone sensors that analyze matter at the molecular level at Ridgefield High School. A collaborative grant with the Ridgefield High PTSA.
• Creating Innovators Through A Library Learning Commons Makerspace: Provide technology, equipment and materials to create a true Makerspace pilot at Ridgebury Elementary School.
• Improving Employment Outcomes for Adults with Disabilities by Building Inclusive Environments: Professional development workshops to provide creative inclusion practices for classrooms and share the best practices of The Prospector, a movie theater downtown that hires adults with developmental disabilities.
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