Boardman Excellence Foundation visits classrooms to see music and art grants in action

The Boardman Schools Fund For Educational Excellence awarded six teacher mini-grants last school year. Two of them went to the music and art departments.

Recently, several Foundation Board Members visited to see the progress students are making in the arts, thanks to the new equipment purchased from the foundation.

The Orchestra Fall Pops Concert occurred on Oct. 19. The students were using the new audio/video system from the grant, to record and critique their performance.

“The technology implemented has enhanced the Orchestra members’ listening skills to create a more powerful final performance,” said Joyce Mistovich, Foundation President. The total grant awarded to Orchestra Director Bill Amendol and Band Director Tom Ruggieri was $1,472 for this “Audio/Visual Infusion.”

The visual arts grant, called “Google Classroom,” was awarded to high school art teacher Amanda Bero. She purchased three Toshiba Chrome Books and an iPad for nearly $1,300. Art classes benefit as Bero uses Google Classroom to introduce shading techniques. Students can access the demo on Chrome Books if they need to review it, and they can access it from home.

Foundation member Edie Davidson was impressed by how the students could follow the art lesson so much easier.

“With the new technology, Ms. Bero demonstrated the shading concepts ‘live’ so students could see the techniques, larger than life,” Davidson said.