Twenty Grants Awarded to 35 Libertyville District 70 Teachers

Thirty-five Libertyville Elementary District 70 teachers have been awarded Partners for Excellence in Education grant monies this year to enhance education through innovative and creative new programs in their classrooms.

Twenty grants totaling more than $8,180 were awarded to progressive teachers in five schools. There were 25 applications for the grants.

The grants are sponsored by Partners for Excellence in Education, a group of local business representatives who offer their time and financial donations to District 70. This is the 18th year for the partnership's "Mini-Grant Awards" program, which has awarded almost $100,000 over the years for direct use in the classrooms.

This year's grants will go to fund such programs as using therapeutic essential oils, multi-age book club, creating an economics fair for students, writing and publishing books, offering a bilingual library, reading material to match Common Core, and using iPods to award winning audio books.

“We’ve come a long way from the old days when the Mini Grants were all about technology and P3 players and mobile devices,” said Supt. Dr. Guy Schumacher. “We’vemoved to a whole new area like aroma therapy; we’re on the very cutting edge. These grants are unique and innovative and show our commitment to 21st Century Learning. And, after meeting with our business partners, I have to tell you that they share our value in these grants and they believe in what we are doing here.”

Two partners presenting the winning grants at a recent board meeting were Michael Barbini of Libertyville Bank & Trust and David Stuart of the Inprov Playhouse.

While Schumacher helps guide the business group with the grant applications, he steps out of the decision-making process. The business partners make all the final decisions based on core criteria set up for the grants.   

The individual grants range from $294 to $500.  

The recipients are:

Districtwide for Adler Park, Highland Middle and Butterfield schools

Cynthia Bsaibes, Holly Simon. What Did you Say? Teaching Spanish speaking parents how to support their children in education by creating a bilingual lending library. 

Adler Park School

Maureen Rogers, Sue Wisek. The Path to Publishing. Local author and former D70 parent Suzanne Slade talks about writing and publishing books as students work to publish their own book and podcast.

Copeland Manor School

Susie Julian, Patti Schroetter. Chat and “Chews” Good Charavter: A Lunchtime Book Club. multi-age book club featuring books that focus on promoting the character traits from our Character Counts program.

A multi-age book club focusing on character traits and writing a Wiki.

Christine Policht. Common Core Comprehension. Buying supplemental material to enhance Common Core reading instruction.

Julie Jermakowicz, Becki Jo Miranda, Amy Hay, Teresa Crandell. 

Economics in Action: An Interactive Simulation of Supply and Demand.

Third-graders set up an economics fair where they create products to “sell” to first grade students. Year two.

Keri Johnson, Jennifer April, Judy Boyle. Encouraging Young Authors: Using Author Talks to Promote the Writing Process. Exposing second-graders to a variety of authors to help them learn how to write.

Rockland School

Danya Sundh. Aroma in the Air of Learning. Using therapeutic essential oils in aroma therapy in the classroom.

Danya Sundh. Enlightening our Positive Support at Rockland. Continue to collect data to monitor student behaviors utilizing the SWIS data systems.

Becky Johnson. Listening in the Library. Offering popular book titles on iPod shuffles to cut down the waiting list for the books.

Becky Johnson, Danya Sundh. Raptors Helping Raptors. School will work with the International Heritage Conservancy to build Kestral houses to be placed throughout the village to help increase the population of Kestral falcons, which is in the raptor family of birds.

Mike Kolar. Rockland Counts. Buy pedometers for students to use in PE class to stay active and achieve 10,000 steps a day.

Danya Sundh, Mike Kolar. Rockland Weather Station. Buy weather instruments to collect data on weather for school weather station.

Kara  Graeb, Katie Nyland. Visualize the Future: Preparing Rockland Students for the 21stCentury.  Create posters to emphasize the Applications of Learning skills.

Highland Middle School

Linda Mitchell. Game On! Interactive Word Games to Enhance Students’ Vocabulary and Word Choice. Buy vocabulary and word card and board games. Year two.

Ann Riggs. Highland Historians Analyzing Early American Culture. Buy authentic artifacts for early American cultures to enhance teaching with students publishing catalogue on items.

Lily Albrecht, Lori Benhjamin, Carey Fox, Tara Oshinski, Carrie Shea, Briane Smith, Michelle Smith, Erin Wyatt. Project Pretty Powerful. Create positive self-esteem messages for girls to be posted where they see them every day.

Kerstin Cholewin. Promoting Increased Student Focus & Positive Behavior in the Classroom.Buying therapy balls and fidgets to help students increase their focus with a sensory stimulation.

Angie McCarthy, Kerstin Cholewin, Jill Conley. Team Essentials: Engaging Sixth Grade Students in the Curricular Side of the Applications of Learning.Using games to engage students in the Applications of Learning.

Carey Fox, Erin Wyatt. Turning Darkness into Light: Message of Survival, Strength & Hope from Genocide Studies. Students will learn about genocide through the centuries and how people survived and nations coped.

Linda Mitchell, Tara Oshinski, Alison Prochaska, Mike Rumpf, Marshall Sheffer. The Unknown World: Looking/Thinking by Analogy. Students will examine the world around them with a jeweler’s loupe. 

District Partners

The award money is derived from local businesses belonging to District 70's Partners for Excellence in Education program. Local companies working as partners include A Village Green Montessori School, Artist@Heart, L.L.C., Blue Sky Studio, C & A Robot Factory, Inc.,Candlewood Suites, Cary M. Salm - State Farm Insurance, Cedar Roofing Co., Century 21 Kreuser & Seiler, Ltd., Chicago Wind Soccer Club, City Subs and Smoothies, Culvers Frozen Custard, David Adler Music & Arts Center, Domino's Pizza, Donatis Pizza, Gino's East, GreenAssociates, Growing with Grace Preschool, Hearing Associates, Inc., Holy Cross Lutheran Church-Building Blocks Childhood Center, Honey Baked Ham Co. & Café, Huntington Learning Center, Improv Playhouse, Jersey Mike's Subs, Jet’s Pizza, Libertyville Bank & Trust, Libertyville Cooperative Nursery School, Libertyville Wellness Group, Log on 2 Learning, Inc., Marjo Graphics, Mathnasium of Vernon Hills, Max's Dawg House, Mind and Body Connected,  Nan-Ease Agency, LLC, Northshore Academy of Martial Arts, Papa John's Pizza,  Rosati's Pizza, Stephen "Painless" Parker, DDS, Sunset Foods, Touche Salon, Trattoria Pomigliano, Weppler Law Group LLC, William Frick & Co., Youth & Family Counseling and Yumz Frozen Yogurt. 

—Submitted by Libertyville District 70.