Parkview Elementary
CARES Featured Text Project
Shauna Knapp | Nicole Garcia - Principal
Parkview will use EVCF grant dollars for books to support their CARES program. The CARES featured text is introduced simultaneously, school-wide with planned, common learning around the story and social emotional competencies. A school-wide project paired with the book may include a mural, a community engagement, an act of kindness, etc. to celebrate the learning or a way to pay forward our thinking. These feature texts become our school-wide focus themes for the year and a major part of our school momentum. The Cares Feature Texts create opportunity for common dialogue across K-5 to problem solve with all areas of the school allowing us to become a stronger community. Students are able to demonstrate the CARES traits they are building as a whole. Ultimately, this supports their preparedness for learning, allowing them to be more successful in school with academic mindset, perseverance, learning strategies, and academic behaviors.
Oak Ridge Elementary
Lending Closet
Karla Bisco | Cathy Kindem - Principal
Oak Ridge’s plan is to create a lending closet for Kindergarten through 2nd grade classes to check out to use during their outdoor learning times. The lending closet will consist of waterproof suits, boots, and mittens. Oak Ridge has planned out an organizational system, including labels, hooks, and a check-out process so that all of our K-2 teachers can easily access the gear. As soon as the suits are purchased classes will be able to access them for going outside in a variety of weather conditions.
Black Hawk Middle School
Using Notification to Nurture Curiosity
Julianne Ninteman | Anne Kusch - Principal
The purpose of Black Hawk’s grant is to use Nonfiction to Nurture Curiosity. Students will be inspired to read more nonfiction works being exposed to a wide variety of relevant, high interest, quality books, thus improving their information literacy. Nurturing curiosity will lead to more independent research, which will likely help improve MCA reading scores being many passages are nonfiction or informational text. As students get older they will be better able to understand, evaluate and utilize information for post-secondary education and their future careers.In preparing for writing, teachers and students will be able to use the new books to show examples of the craft decisions authors of informational text make and why. This will help students in deciding how to best share what they have learned from researching their topic of interest. A daily benefit of having engaging physical books in hand is that students will have a break from their iPads and electronics. Reading comprehension increases with physical books and is less distracting for many learners. Unlike a great deal of websites, these books are vetted, so information is reliable. Grant funds will be used to help BHMS strengthen and diversify their collection with current titles, so inquirers can explore and engage in reading enjoyment, research, and collaboration.
Highland Elementary
Safe Space Self Regulation Centers
Mary Jo Kacvinsky | Chad Ryburn - Principal
This grant will provide Safe Space Self Regulation Centers for Kindergarten classrooms. Highland is in the 5th year of Conscious Discipline implementation. One of the goals we are now working toward is the establishment of Safe Place Self Regulation Centers in each classroom, starting in kindergarten. The Safe Place Self Regulation Center from Conscious Discipline is a structure that children use in the classroom in order to recognize their brain state/their upset/their dysregulated mood and through regular, consistent classroom teachings (teacher and support personnel) learn to calm and regulate their brains and bodies. The Safe Place Self Regulation Center is filled with tools and activities that lead children through the steps of self-regulation. I'd be happy to provide more information if needed!
Scott Highlands Middle School
Prairie Restoration
Jill Jensen | Dan Wilharber - Principal
This grant will fund a prairie restoration project. This project has numerous benefits for our school community as well as the community of Apple Valley. After learning about the concept of sustainability, including loss of pollinators, students in my class have proposed adding additional plants to our school landscape as a way to work towards a solution of this issue. Removing the mono-culture of lawn grass that requires regular mowing and replacing it with a diverse array of grasses and flowers would give added food and shelter to populations of pollinators that are in decline. The increased diversity of plants would also result in an increase in diversity of species that visit our property. This change in habitat would provide an amazing opportunity for students to collect real time data that could be used to document the impact of such a change in the landscape. The city of Apple Valley also would benefit from this project as a model of how transforming even a small section of yard can help contribute to fighting climate change, create habitat for endangered species, with the benefit of a low-maintenance landscape full of natural beauty right in their very own yards.
Funding this project also provides an opportunity for students to see how change can be created. That it's possible to have an idea, and by seeking out sources and describing your plan, you can make your vision a reality. This project would also having a lasting impact on our school community and once established, provide an ideal location for outdoor learning.
Eastview High School
Apple Mac Mini Computer Hub
Scott Gustafson | Bruce Miller - Principal
These funds will support the purchase of an Apple Mac mini computer hub. The computer hub will facilitate the Airdrop printing capability of student artwork at EVHS. The hub will allow students to upload their artwork directly to the printer from their iPad/Mobile Device/Creative Cloud. As more and more of our curriculum is going digital (drawing, painting, photography, portfolios, etc.) students will now be afforded a completely mobile and autonomous platform to create their art, print their art and present their art. This platform will allow students to further recognize their full creative potential
Highlands Elementary
Recess and Playground Equipment
Jeannette Gunhus | Chad Ryburn - Principal
This grant will provide new and updated equipment for recess and playground use to ensure that our children have ample access to a variety of new playground toys and equipment during their recess time. Due to Covid 19 and social distancing practices put in place, more equipment is needed so that our children will be able to stay active and play with their friends while still social distancing. Some of the equipment and toys that would be purchased include: footballs, frisbees, hula hoops, bouncy balls, soccer balls, ball pumps, storage buckets and a wheeled storage cart.
Falcon Ridge Middle School
Literary Resources for ELA Curriculum
Veronica Last | Becky Melville - Principal
This grant will provide physical and digital resources to promote literacy in the 6th grade ELA curriculum. Both the magazines and digital resources will be used as supplemental materials to provide reinforcement and enrichment to 6th grade English and reading students, aligning with State Standards.
Eastview High School
Hydroponik im deutschen Klassenzimmer (Hydroponic Garden)
Steven Sebald | Bruce Miller - Principal
Interacting with nature and taking care of a hydroponic garden in the classroom will lend itself to conversations and interest surrounding sustainability, the environment, and healthy living at home and around the world. The presence of a hydroponic garden in the classroom will spark interest and questions from other students who are not in the CIS course and could lead to activities that encourage growth in proficiency in German, that is asking questions in German, learning the names of the items we are growing in the garden, etc. I would also hope that students would have a curiosity about the garden to continue in the different levels of German to reach the point in which they would be able to create their own hydroponic garden when they are enrolled in the CIS German course. This would be open to all students, they would just need to complete the prerequisite levels of German before reaching the CIS course. The connection of inquiry based learning and STEM principles is also an important one that can be linked to language learning and raising proficiency in a language.
Eastview High School
Water Bottle Filling Stations
Breana Wavrunek | Bruce Miller - Principal
We would like to purchase and install a water bottle filling station near the gym at Eastview High School. Water bottle filling stations provide clean water, promote students to drink water and end the need for bottled water.
Eastview High School
CPR Training Mannequins
Breana Wavrunek | Bruce Miller - Principal
This grant will support the purchase of high quality CPR training mannequins (adult and infant) and AED trainers used in CPR and First Aid class. Mannequins that are of high quality allow students to see if the depth of their compressions are correct, the timing of their compressions are correct, and if the breaths go into the lungs appropriately which gives students instant feedback allowing them to learn the skill and demonstrate the skill correctly. CPR and First Aid class is an amazing opportunity for students to get CPR/FIRST AID/AED certification that also benefits the community as many if these students are lifeguards, camp supervisors, and baby sitters. CPR and First Aid is a life saving skill that is priceless.
Eastview High School
AVID 10 Classroom Book Set- “The Pact”
Stephen Kemp | Bruce Miller - Principal
Reading this book in AVID 10 allows students to see three African American teenagers become highly successful and follow their dreams. It reinforces the importance of friendship and commitment despite the challenges of life. Additionally, it fulfills an important gap in the current AVID 10 curriculum of "reading" in the WICOR framework.
Thomas Lake Elementary
Multicultural Picture Books
Jen Greener | Mary Jelinek - Principal
Our goal is to provide books that give students the opportunity to see themselves reflected in the illustrations and text through multicultural books. We have researched some of the best picture books in multicultural literature in hopes of adding them to our school library.
Scott Highlands Middle School
Youth Frontiers Retreat
Holly Lofgren | Dan Wilharber - Principal
SHMS 7th grade staff will be holding a Courage Retreat facilitated by the Youth Frontiers staff and 75 high school students from both EVHS and RHS. This high-energy, interactive retreat will be held at the Rosemount Community Center. Our goal is 100% participation in this event for the 7th grade class. We want all 7th graders attend this important event.
Eastview High School
Apple Pencils
Scott Gustafson | Bruce Miller - Principal
We would like to purchase a classroom set of Apple Pencils to teach digital art in our 2 dimensional classes (Intro, Draw 1, Draw 2, Paint 1, Paint 2) using the school district provided iPads. Apple Pencils offer the greater level of control/ detail than a normal stylus when creating digital art.
Eastview High School
Water Bottle Filling Stations
Mark Tollefson | Bruce Miller - Principal
We would like to purchase and install Water bottle filling stations here in the academic wing at Eastview High School. The benefits of these stations are too numerous to list here but the provided link has an excellent explanation of those benefits. (https://becausewater.com/9-reasons-bottle-filling-stations-replace-every-drinking-fountain/) Basically water bottle filling stations provide clean water, promote students to drink water and end the need for bottled water. They make sense for an organization the size of Eastview High School.
Greenleaf Elementary
Inclusive playground Equipment
Michelle Palmieri | Michelle Palmieri- Principal
We are applying for funds to purchase piece of playground equipment, called the We-Go-Round merry-go-round. We believe that by providing a more inclusive playground, we will not only increase opportunities for all students to practice social skills, but we will also give students a chance to develop empathy. Children of all abilities will be able to demonstrate their strengths rather than focusing on their limitations. Providing inclusive playground pieces will foster opportunities to practice prosocial behaviors and build relationships that will positively impact the entire Greenleaf/Eastview community.
Greenleaf Elementary
3D Printers
Jennifer Schmidt | Michelle Palmieri- Principal We have successfully launched a MakerSpace with robotics, coding, a green screen, upcycling materials, etc. As a result of our MakerSpace, Greenleaf students have been able to create and innovate. They have used the engineering design process to enhance their critical thinking and creative thinking skills, as well as to develop 21st century skills that will help them be more prepared in middle school, high school, and beyond. Adding two MakerBot Replicator+ printers would permit us to continue allowing each child to print a project and even expand into allowing classroom teachers, other teachers, and before or after school programs to create additional projects.
Diamond Path Elementary
IPAD external keyboards
Christine Prostrollo | Leah Hack- Principal We are requesting this grant because we would like to purchase external keyboards for 4th graders to use with their iPads. We have seen a struggle with students properly being able to keyboard and it is limiting their ability to word process papers correctly. With having keyboards in our class we will use them to type papers, and also teach proper keyboarding.
Diamond Path Elementary
DP Newscast
Shellie Wilson | Leah Hack- Principal
Our vision for the DP Newscast is to create a broadcast for all of our students and staff that will incorporate our core Diamond Path School of International Studies mission and values. We want to have a production that is created and produced by our students focusing on all areas of learning at Diamond Path. The DP Newscast will help our school continue to build a strong community of learners. The DP Newscast student team will be able to create a technological representation of our learning at Diamond Path. The crew will be able to video, edit and showcase educational successes, highlight school celebrations, embrace cultural diversity within our school community and events that support local and global community. Each grade level will share experience about their Units of Studies, field trips, guest authors, opportunities in their specialist classes; Music, Art, PE, Library, Spanish and Chinese. We believe this project will help students develop independent life skills such as: leadership, public speaking, organization, problem-solving, collaboration, cooperation to name a few. We are requesting materials that will help us create the foundation for this great opportunity.
Highland Elementary
Conscious Discipline Program
Jeanette Gunhus | Chad Ryburn- Principal
Conscious Discipline is a comprehensive emotional intelligence and classroom management system that integrates all domains of learning (social, emotional, physical, cultural and cognitive) into one seamless curriculum. For children, Conscious Discipline provides a positive school climate that fosters academic achievement and pro-social skills. Highland is currently focusing on the Safe Place component of the Power of Perception that Conscious Discipline describes. The goal of this power is to teach adults and children to take responsibility when upset. To do this, all classrooms K-5 have designated Safe Places within their room to offer students the opportunity to identify how they are feeling and utilize tools to regulate and rejoin their peers. The funds from this grant would be to provide the tools needed within the Safe Places for students to learn successful strategies to help them get to a calm state. It is the centerpiece of our student self-regulation program.