PROF HAS DISTRIBUTED $483,941
IN GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS SINCE 2013
PRHS AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE STUDENTS RAISE TROUT IN THE CLASSROOM!
The students in Andrew Dugger’s AP Environmental Science class had the opportunity to raise trout, IN their classroom. Teacher, Andrew Duggar received a PROF Fast Grant for the Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom Program. This in-classroom opportunity was started as a partnership between the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Mr. Dugger states, “Students raise trout from eggs to fingerling size (2-4 inches) and then release them into a local waterway (Pine Creek) in the late spring. This is a program that teaches students through hands-on, collaborative learning activities, designed to instruct students on the specific needs in the required ecosystem of trout in Pennsylvania waterways.” PROF funded a fast grant request for a Drop-In Chiller which maintains a water temperature between 50 and 55 degrees and aquarium supplementary items necessary for success of the project.
SPACE TO COLLABORATE IS SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE AT PRMS
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Today’s classrooms are nothing like those from days past. Rather than rigid lines of desks and little to no moving around (remember raising your hand to sharpen a pencil that didn’t need sharpening just to get out of your seat?), classrooms often are set up to encourage collaboration to more closely simulate real-world working environments.
With that in mind, the Pine-Richland Opportunities Fund has funded a grant request from the middle school to help create a “collaboration room.” The school district is funding technology to aid in collaboration, including Chromebooks and tablets, but PROF was asked to fund flexible seating options to better encourage students working together. “The collaboration room will be used daily in periods one and two by students in the gifted and talented program,” says teacher CC Kelly. “But the rest of the day, teachers in other classrooms throughout the school and reserve the room for use by their classes.” The collaboration room offers a more relaxed and flexible setting for discussions or Socratic seminars, as well as for hands-on group projects, says Kelly. Supported by teachers, school administrators, a librarian and a technology expert, the Middle School Collaboration Room will add to the learning options available to all students. |
BREAKOUT EDUCATIONAL FUN AT EHUE THANKS TO PROF GRANT
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Most by now have at least heard of Escape Rooms – the interactive, problem-solving activity families and groups of friends are engaged in across the country. Thanks to the Pine-Richland Opportunities Fund, students at Eden Hall Upper Elementary School may experience something similar in their classrooms and library time.
PROF funded the purchase of a Breakout EDU 6-Kit Bundle through its fast grants program. Breakout EDU is an immersive games platform that brings the challenges of an escape room to the classroom with more than 1,500 Common Core standards-aligned games and the tools to empower students to design their own digital games. The 6-kit bundle will serve as a pilot program, with one teacher in each biome spanning the three grade levels receiving platform access, as well as platform access for the two grant requestors (librarian Beth Shenefiel and 6th grade teacher Dana Lestitian). “We are eager to see our kids’ problem-solving skills and creativity put to the test in this fun, engaging educational gaming platform,” says Shenefiel. “We know kids learn best when they are actively engaged rather than passively listening, so this pilot program, which is aligned to our Common Core standards, will give us another way to reach our students and get them involved in the learning process.” Teachers have adapted to the pandemic restrictions by utilizing the digital platform which allows users to play the “game” without the use of the accompanying kit. Shenefiel feels, “the diversity of topics already housed on the platform, combined with the capability of students and teachers to design games allow learning opportunities to be aligned to curricular content.” |
PROF BUZZES IN WITH FUNDING FOR PRMS NATIONAL ACADEMIC LEAGUE
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In its second year as an “official” student club (its fourth year as a club), the Pine-Richland Middle School’s National Academic League applied for and received a fast grant from the Pine-Richland Opportunities Fund to purchase a “challenge buzzer system.” The NAL is an academic competitive league where students compete with other area middle school teams to answer questions in 22 subject areas during the months of January and February.
To participate in the past, PRMS’ NAL group had to rely on borrowed challenge buzzer systems from other school districts. The PROF grant means they will have their own system for competitions and for practice during the fall. Unlike many other NAL teams in the area, PR’s team is open to all students, not just those in the gifted education program. Typically, about 25 students participate in the club, with 10 actively competing at each competition. “Our team’s philosophy is to celebrate academic excellence and engage as many students as we can,” says Anne Harris-Crowe, PRMS social studies teacher and one of the club’s advisors. “We appreciate PROF’s financial assistance, which will greatly benefit our program and make our competition set-up much less cumbersome.” Jennifer Mullaugh, a counselor at PRMS, is also a club advisor. “The PROF grant was a huge help to us last year. We were able to purchase buzzers for all of our competitions, which were held weekly during the months of January and February. We also brought them to the county competition, where our team came in second place!” She adds, “This year the competition has been cancelled, however, we will continue to work with students, teach them the game and have mock competitions. The buzzers will be utilized for these practices. We are more grateful than ever to have them because we can continue to run our club while maintaining COVID rules.” |
PROF GRANTS HELPS REVIVE OUTDOOR LEARNING SPACES AT HANCE
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The Pine-Richland Opportunities Fund was pleased to help revive and expand the outdoor learning classroom at Hance Elementary School as part of the organization’s 2019-20 grants program. The Hance Habitat includes a durable metal roof structure overlooking the existing outdoor amphitheater to be used by the staff as new outdoor classroom and collaboration area. This innovative project exemplifies one of the pillars of PROF’s mission in working with community partners to enable Pine-Richland staff members’ outstanding ideas come to life. Funding was made possible through Pennsylvania's Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program via donations from NexTier Bank, First Commonwealth Bank, Trumbull Corporation and UPMC Health Systems.
“We are excited to be part of the Hance Habitat revival project, which will provide students and staff a safe, flexible and invigorating outdoor space in which to learn,” says Deborah Lund, PROF executive director. “It will be a wonderful space to experience lessons in STEAM subjects and engage in hands-on learning in the outdoors, as well as a place for teachers and staff to take a brain break during the day.” |
PROF GRANT HELPS ENHANCE EXISTING SENSORY ROOM AT PRHS
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You may recall news reports last summer about a new “sensory room” at the Pittsburgh International Airport for use by both children and adults on the autism spectrum to decompress from the stress of traveling. Would it surprise you to know that Pine-Richland High School has a sensory room of its own? Thanks to a grant from the Pine-Richland Opportunities Fund, the PRHS multi-sensory room saw some upgrades and additions.
A multi-sensory room is a dedicated space or room where sensory stimulation can be controlled (either intensified or reduced) to fit the therapeutic and/or educational needs of the user. They often include lighting effects, sensory activities (think blowing bubbles or play dough), tactile experiences involving different textures, soft items for sitting or laying on, and sound effects or rhythmic music. “While the primary use of this room will be to help engage and work with our special needs students, this multi-sensory room will also help teach students who participate in the Peer Buddies program how to use different techniques to support others by using sensory resources,” says Tracey Settembrino, PRHS special education teacher. “It may also be useful in our health and physical education curriculum in teaching mindfulness meditation and the importance of taking brain breaks for overall health and well-being.” "Due to a lack of available grant funds for the year, PROF was only able to partially fund this grant request, but the hope is to fully fund the needs of the multi-sensory room in future grant cycles," says Deborah Lund, PROF’s executive director. |
EXPLORING THE WORLD AND BEYOND AT RICHLAND |
Walking on the moon, traveling to ancient societies, climbing mountains, exploring caves, and scaling volcanoes are just some of the experiences Richland Elementary School students may soon partake in thanks to a $3,000 grant from the Pine-Richland Opportunities Fund (PROF). The grant supports the purchase of virtual reality goggles, which will help immerse students in the subjects they are studying in a new and innovative way.
The grant application was developed and submitted by a trio of Richland Elementary teachers, Todd Murphy, Brian Sauers, and Lisa Sciulli. In crafting their application, the team was inspired by one of the core objectives of the Pine-Richland School District’s strategic plan – to introduce students to innovative technology.
In addition to exploring and researching various places in the world in an engaging and immersive way, virtual and augmented reality are cutting-edge tools and provide another amazing resource to help keep Pine-Richland students and faculty up-to-date with emerging technologies.
The grant application was developed and submitted by a trio of Richland Elementary teachers, Todd Murphy, Brian Sauers, and Lisa Sciulli. In crafting their application, the team was inspired by one of the core objectives of the Pine-Richland School District’s strategic plan – to introduce students to innovative technology.
In addition to exploring and researching various places in the world in an engaging and immersive way, virtual and augmented reality are cutting-edge tools and provide another amazing resource to help keep Pine-Richland students and faculty up-to-date with emerging technologies.
ENHANCING CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION IN THE HANCE FAB LAB
Hance Elementary Principal Greta Kuzilla submitted a grant request for a new way supplemental resource for her teachers, and PROF Executive Director Deb Lund and NexTier Bank partnered together to fund Hance's new Fab Lab. The Fab lab is a supplemental resource for teachers to enhance curriculum and instruction. Students can use various technology, such as coding bee bots, to review and learn skills introduced in the classroom. Teachers can reserve the room and design learning activities with Fab Lab tools to enhance instruction. Hance's Technology Coach provides trainings for the teachers and then they can use the training to develop their own learning activities based on their student needs.