Student Response Systems in the 21st Century Classroom
Linda Weber, Grades 9-12, Natick High School
This grant provides funding for a Student Response System which will enable the teacher to immediately see if students are grasping the material being taught, enable more reticent students to participate more readily and engage all levels of learners. Technology is transferable to one of the middle schools once the new High School is built.

ROVER (ROV Environmental and Robotics)
Doug Scott and Sue Haverstick, Grades 9-12, Natick High School
Sixty to 80 robotics students will construct six ROVs which will collect data from Dug Pond for specific measurable characteristics on MIT’s Digital Ocean. Data will also be shared with Town Officials as indicated.

Mathworks Honor Grant
Video Analysis
Joel Bradford; Grades 9-12, Natick High School
This grant will fund cutting edge motion analysis technology: Video Analysis. Using High Speed cameras, records of objects in motion will be captured. All freshman physics students will benefit from this program as will AP seniors.

Using Document Cameras to Raise Achievement in Math Classes:
Andrew Hollins, Grades 9-12, Natick High School
This grant will fund two document cameras for the High School Math Department, especially for geometry, which will be used to increase the ability of students to present their work to the class. Currently this is a laborious process of writing on a board in front of the entire class, preventing shier students from doing so, and taking an inordinate amount of time. As these are durable, many students will benefit over time.

GATTACCA
Jill Conroy, Grades 11 and 12, Natick High School
This grant will fund the purchase of a thermocycler used in both biology and environmental science and will allow the science department to include experiments using Polymerase Chain Reaction in the curriculum. It will also be valuable in the study of DNA, RNA protein synthesis and genetics.

Seeing is Believing: Providing Immediate Feedback to Improve Student Writing
Camille Napier Bernstein, 9-12, Natick High School
This grant will fund another document reader as requested by the Math Department. Similar benefits will be realized in the English Department when work can be more readily shared in class.

Writing Success for All Students
Susan Pittman, 5-8, Kennedy Middle School
This grant will fund 4 Asus Netbooks Dedicated to targeting the students with language disabilities and writing difficulties. Instruction in using the internet to do research will also be provided.

Think it. Speak it. Create it.
Milly Cuiffo; Grades 5-12, Kennedy Middle School and Natick High School
This grant will fund voice recognition software and benefit the special education teams at NHS and KMS. This may remove another barrier to academic achievement for some individuals.

Spectroscopy
Suzanne Smith and Paul Power, Kennedy Middle School
Using spectroscopes, simple instruments that measure the spectrum of different light sources, students can gain a greater understanding of the composition of stars and how light travels in space. This grant funds the purchase of 12 spectroscopes, to be used to help students at Kennedy Middle School grasp challenging concepts of astronomy.

Technology
Adrienne Norris, Kennedy Middle School
This grant funds the purchase of an LCD projector to be used at Kennedy Middle School for a variety of curriculum-specific applications in math and language and literacy classes, enhancing teacher demonstrations and replacing antiquated use of the overhead projector. The projector will also be used for department meetings, lesson sharing, and staff development.

Learner Response System
Tom Sallee, Wilson Middle School
A set of ActivExpression learner response systems was purchased with this grant, with the goals of raising the level of student participation, teacher knowledge of student abilities, and ultimately classroom results across all grades and subjects at Wilson Middle School. The learner response systems allow each student to respond instantly to questions in class, and have their answers graphed, recorded or reviewed later by the teacher.

On-line Subscription to Problem of the Week
Mary Lou Randall, Wilson Middle School
This grant enables the purchase of an on-line subscription to the Math Forum (Swarthmore University) Problem of the Week service and two LCD projectors to allow use of the subscription in the classroom at Wilson Middle School. The goal of the project is to provide opportunities for students to strengthen/enhance their critical-thinking, problem-solving, and mathematical writing skills.

Café 129:
Beth Altchek, Lilja Elementary School
The 1-2 and 2nd grade teams at Lilja Elementary used this NEF grant to start a café to benefit both regular education and Access students. The café will provide a vehicle for hands-on study of economics, especially focusing on producers and consumers, while at the same time, provide an opportunity for students to work closely together across classrooms, promoting acceptance of differences and better integrating the student population.

Orff Instruments
Mark Jodice, Johnson Elementary School
This grant funds four xylophones, two metallophones, and six Djembe drums for use by all students at Johnson Elementary over numerous years. The instruments will allow students to create, listen, and perform different musical patterns and add accompaniments to songs performed in class.

Color for All: Printers Work for Kids
Steve Miller, all Elementary Schools
This grant helps strengthen the elementary-level visual art program by enabling the purchase of a color printer for each art classroom (5 total). Previously, the art teachers have needed to print at home or bring in their own printer. The printers will support student learning by providing available access to prints of exemplars, such as fine art images, historical and cultural images, and portraits of artists; showcase various artistic techniques in ways that will heighten students’ understanding of the visual art objectives set by the teachers; and provide tactile references when needed to create a more personal connection to an artist and his/her work.

Cognex Honor Grant
iKids for Tomorrow:
Sandy Lemon, Kennedy Middle School
Through this grant, a set of five iPads were purchased for use in a fifth-grade classroom at Kennedy Middle School. The project seeks to extend the classroom around the globe and support the preparation of students as 21st century learners, using the many tools and applications of the iPad across subject areas, for students at all levels. The teacher who is leading this effort is documenting the project through her blog at: http://kmslaunchingpad.wordpress.com.

Beyond the “Book” — NookColor Ereaders to Support Reading & Writing
Tara Lynn McDonald, Llibrary Media Specialist, Grades 9-12, Natick High School
This grants funds the purchase of 10 NookColors for students and staff, to aide in reading, note taking, and online research—and to provide access to an immense virtual library of books, newspapers, and magazines. The Nook will support students of all abilities in reading at their own pace and style; the technology can open up reading for students whose learning style does not follow the traditional path.

Nellie Mae Education Foundation Honor Grant
Work Hard, Play Hard: Climbing Toward a Healthier Tomorrow
Karen Ghilani, Principal, Grades K-4, Johnson Elementary School
This grant helps fund the purchase and installation of a climbing wall at Johnson Elementary School with the goal of enhancing the phys ed program to engage the entire student population, provide new opportunities for students to become excited about physical fitness, and expand their exposure to ways to be fit.

Wireless Tablet
Alyce Burnell, Math teacher, Grades 9-12, Natick High School
This grant funds the purchase of a wireless tablet. The tablet will be used to create screencasts and podcasts, explaining and demonstrating methods that are often too cumbersome to type out using a standard keyboard and equation editor. Students can also work out problems on the tablet while it is being displayed via the computer on the front board and take turns solving problems.

Utilizing Solar Energy
David Shapiro, Grades 9-12, Natick High School
This proposal requests funding to enable the science department at the high school to purchase photovoltaic (solar) cell kits, for use in classes for many years to come. Each kit includes electric motors, voltaic cells, alligator clips, and cardboard sunshields. The kits will enable students to investigate renewable energies and participate in a variety of engineering projects, including the investigation of how solar energy can be converted into electrical energy.

Lilja School Ornithology Lab
Abbie Fox, Grades 1-3, Lilja Elementary School
This grant will create an ornithology lab at Lilja—a bird sanctuary in the school courtyard with native plants, feeders, food, and water, monitored by motion-activated “bird cams.” This lab will support first-, second-, and third-grade scientists in studying birds as part of their units on animal habitats and Natick’s ecosystem.

Celebrate the Art We Create!
Jennifer Sunday, Art teacher, K-4, Johnson Elementary School
The goal for this project is to create a painted mural in the Johnson School gym that celebrates students’ artwork, reinforcing student pride in their work while enhancing the appearance of the school gym and engaging students, staff, parents, and other community members in meaningful conversation and reflection about art and its connection to the curriculum.

Electronic Music in the Classroom
Heather Moretz, Music department, Grades 5-8, Wilson Middle School
This grant funds a classroom set of electronic keyboards, allowing students to create music by electronic means. Students will be able to explore keyboard theory, composing, editing, and recording music (using existing computers and software).

Physics in Motion
Jennifer Rigdon, Special Education Grades 9-12, Natick High School
Ths grant funds the purchase of five motion sensors to be used by special education students in lab groups that will predict, observe, and analyze the motion of objects.

Barbara Cosseboom Honor Grant
Building Information Literacy Skills through the Library
Amy Bloom, Lbrary Media Specialist, Grades 5-8, Wilson Middle School
With the goal of building the information literacy skills of all students at Wilson, this grant funds the purchase of Net book computers for the school library. Applications include using search engines for research and critically evaluating Web sites; writing and voice-over recording; creating presentations; completing moodle homework assignments; and accessing the district catalog.

Lab Probes
Paul Power, Kennedy Middle School
This grant enables the Kennedy science department to purchase Venier probe technology for seventh- and eighth-grade students that will enhance their study of physics, chemistry, and earth-science concepts. The probes will assist the students in reducing the time it takes to collect data, while also supporting their ability to view data graphically.

Everyone Can Engineer
Kirsten McDonough, Math/Science, Wilson Middle School
The fifth-grade classes at Wilson Middle School have received science kits called “Marvelous Machines: Making Work Easier” from the Museum of Science Engineering is Elementary program, along with teaching guides, four hours of district training on the kits, a class set of engineering storybooks, and two LCD projectors to be shared among 12 fifth-grade teachers. This grant funds the purchase of additional tools and equipment, plus two additional LCD projectors, for implementation of the program across all classes.

The Bennett-Hemenway Outdoor Learning Center
Ian Kelly, principal, Bennett-Hemenway Elementary School
This grants helps fund the creation of an outdoor learning center — including a pond, greenhouse, and outdoor work space — at Ben-Hem.