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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Boardman Schools Fund for Educational Excellence awarded eight teacher teams with funding for new equipment, including a spectrophotopeter, fitness supplies and a virtual reality kit.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.In total, the Boardman Schools Fund for Educational Excellence gave $8465 in new equipment to teachers for educational advancement.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Boardman successfully funded eight educational projects to be used throughout the district. Pictured, Bill Amendol of the Boardman Education Association presents a check to Joyce Mitovich, president of Boardman Schools Fund for Educational Excellence.
by ZACK SHIVELY
The Boardman Schools Fund for Educational Excellence provided funding for eight new projects throughout the school system on Jan. 3.
The Boardman Education Association helped garner the funds for these projects, which totaled to $8,465. Each project will give students a more in-depth educational experience in many different subject fields.
These projects will “impact the lives of a multitude of students,“ said Joyce Mistovich, President of Boardman Schools Fund for Educational Excellence. She explained that she wants the impact to be a lasting one, with these students using what they learn in the community as they grow older.
The high school’s science department will receive a spectrophotometer for light analysis. The purchase will benefit approximately 600 students throughout chemistry, biology and physics classes. Teachers Justine Burkey and Chad DeAngelo lead the project to get the technology.
Allison Herman at Boardman Glenwood Junior High School acquired funding for her grant, “Augmented Reality Sandbox.” She went to a technology conference last year in Columbus and saw an augmented reality sandbox in use. The equipment she received will help her build one for the school with the help of the students and teachers. The project will allow students to use kinetic sand and computer software to create model displays of landforms.
The seventh- and eighth-grade science and social studies students will be able to use virtual reality in their classrooms. The grant went toward the teacher team of Vince Carnivale, Eric Diefenderfer and Carlo Cordon. Carnivale said that the technology will allow students to visit places like Independence Hall in Philadelphia and the Parthenon in Greece virtually.
Danielle Siembida and Nick Liste will get exercise equipment for the Glenwood Junior High School’s new POWER Club. The equipment purchased included an agility ladder, strength bands and resistant tubing. Liste said that the strength bands are especially important because lifting equipment, such as dumbbells, can cause injury to younger students. The bands give them a safer alternative for strength training.
Siembida explained that the name stands for “Physically Overcoming While Encouraging Responsibilities.” She said that the students support each other in making the right choices. They have a fitness plan for the students that to help them learn healthy choices that they can continue throughout their lives.
The Boardman Schools Television Network replaced their old teleprompter with the funding. The new equipment uses software instead of wireless internet, so they can always use the equipment. The teleprompter is also more than twice the size of the former one. The BSTN students will use the technology as well as students involved with the Speech team. Chris Clones and Amy Radinovic brought the project forward.
West Boulevard teachers Dan Kibby, Krista Schmied, Dawn Fleming and Jennifer Bennet received a number of nonfiction books and STEM stations for their kindergarten students. The books will help the teachers meet science standards. The stations and learning centers include equipment for hands-on learning, which will help students learn at their own pace.
The high school’s art department will get a Cricut machine. The machine works like a printer and can cut multiple surfaces. The students design a project using digital software and the Cricut can cut that design. The art teachers Alyssa Birch, Amanada Bero and Kate Burnside want to introduce the equipment to their students who may look to buy a Cricut and continue their artistic endeavors.
Third- and fourth-grade teachers at Market Street Elementary School will receive guided reading books. Tara Alberti, Kendra Baltes, Lisa Ebie and Laurel Sanders headed the project. The books span multiple genres of both fiction and nonfiction for children to read independently at their reading level.
The Boardman Schools Fund for Educational Excellence began in 2009 and started to award grants in 2011. They support projects involving all Boardman Local Schools and each grade level from kindergarten to twelfth grade.