By Chuck Friedbauer

The District 112 Foundation has announced its grants for the 2008-09 school year. Twelve programs covering all school levels were awarded a total of nearly $15,000 for their projects next year.

Many of the projects chosen this year included joint participation between several schools. “Although I am always amazed by grants for the application of new technology, I was particularly struck by the grant requests for collaborative programs between schools,” said District 112 Foundation vice-president and school board member Ken Hiller. “For example, there is a writing and mentoring project between Chaska Middle School East and Clover Ridge Elementary, a reading program for both middle schools and a community history writing project for the high school and the Chaska Historical Society."

Lisa Oberski, a volunteer at the historical society, said the joint project between Chaska High School and the Chaska Historical Society truly helps both institutions.

Chaska High School students will use their technical writing skills to log and store the society’s backlog of historical items. “The students will record information on 350 items, store them and enter the data and photos into our computer system, which is extremely helpful for us as we prepare our displays,” said Oberski. “We can look up what is available, which we are not always aware of if it’s not visible.”

The personal side of the program will be extremely beneficial, she said. “This is an opportunity for the students to touch base with the volunteer force and older citizens of Chaska,” she said. “All Chaska kids should get to hear the great stories these people can tell about Chaska.”

Leading the way

Rick Rogers, a technology teacher at Chaska Middle School West, will be involved with bringing “Project Lead the Way” to the middle school level. The program has grown in popularity at the high school, and the district plans a pilot program in design and modeling at the middle school level next year.

Part of the program involves students designing a magnetic levitation vehicle. “We tried to make the magnetic track for the vehicles ourselves, but it hasn’t worked out well,” said Rogers. “Having the track will help the students apply their knowledge they’ve gained in science, math and technology beyond just designing the vehicle.”Rogers said the grant will play a big part in keeping current their technology current. “It’s always a big battle for us to keep our equipment and technology up-to-date,” he said. “We are very appreciative of the grant.” 

The foundation received 25 applications, the largest in recent history, requesting a total of $52,958. “The types of projects eligible for grants are those that clearly support the mission of the Foundation of stimulating education excellence and innovation in District 112,” said Hiller.

“Ideally, if the project is successful, the teacher and school will be able to continue and expand the program with funding from District 112, as we usually do not look to provide additional funding for the same project.”

The foundation also considers the number of students impacted and seeks a wide variety of programs, including reading, writing, math, technology and the sciences.

2008-09 District 112 Foundation grants

(Title: School, Teacher/Staff, Amount)

Youth Service Grants: District-wide, Arlene Borner/Tricia Leck, $1,000

The Storytellers Project: Chaska High School, Lara Etnier, $970

Proficiencies II – Assuring Long Term Academic Success for All Students in Science and Math: Chaska High School, Chris Lenius, et al, $1,500

CHS Environmental Club Bag Project: Chaska High School, Dan Ress, $600

District 112 Senior High Technical Writing Service Learning at the Chaska History Center: Chaska High School and Chaska Historical Society, Lisa Oberski (Chaska Historical Society), $500

Understanding Motion-Lego Crazy Action Contraptions: Pioneer Ridge Freshmen Center, Heather Reighard, $1,116

Movie Maker Support Equipment for National History Day – A Research Project for Social Studies: Chaska Middle School West, Sarah Burnett/Jeanne LaMoore/Lucy LeMay, $1500

Magnetic Levitation: Chaska Middle School West, Rick Rogers, $2,016

Read to Succeed: Chaska Middle Schools East and West, Barb Green/Mark Kuske, $2,000

Cross Grade Mentoring to Meet the Standards – Little Buddy Book: Chaska Middle School East and Clover Ridge Elementary, Missy Kambeitz/Stephanie Deming,   $1,000

Work SMARTer, Not harder – Save a Tree with Technology: Bluff Creek Elementary, Michelle Swenson, $1,700

Kindergarten Language Academy (KLA) Literacy Link: Kindergarten Center, Molly Wellner/Lindsey Rettmann, $1,000