Previously Awarded Teacher Grants

Spring 2021 Cycle

• Sensory Space to Activate Learning (Carver Elementary – Hanna Johnson) Carver Elementary hosts the AIM program which is a district center-based special education program that educates students who are on the autism spectrum. Spaces in the school have been designated as motor spaces for the center-based program to use. In addition, general education students who receive special education supports also have access to these sensory spaces to promote more active and engaged learning. For the 2021-22 school year, the AIM program is set to double in size. There is limited sensory/motor equipment available for multiple students to use the space at the same time right now. In an effort to enhance our supports for students on the autism spectrum, this grant will fund more sensory/motor equipment from the experts at Fun and Function.
• Accessible Curriculum Text Library (District-wide – Steve Kangas) Assistive Technology (Specialized Services/Special Education) is investing in a district-wide initiative to provide accessible, curriculum texts (chapter books) to a segment of our population that does not otherwise meet certain copyright or federal grant criterias. Support will be provided in the form of audio books, read with human voices, and ebooks, which are already supported by technology native to the district. Due to the prohibitive cost and organizational demands, this has long remained an area of need for many districts including our own. Through a cooperative effort with our K-12 language arts teachers, media specialists, and IT department, the appropriate resources have been identified and steps are now being taken towards our goal of closing this gap for struggling learners. This grant will ensure that Eastern Carver County remains a leader in the innovation of individualized instruction and student support.
• Spirit Welcome T-Shirts (Chaska and Chanhassen High Schools) This project will provide every incoming 9th grade student and any new high school student with a Spirit t-shirt (Chaska Hawk or Chanhassen Storm) that they can wear proudly throughout the year during school activities, including athletic, art, and academic events. This will help each incoming student feel welcome to the high school family.

Fall 2020 Cycle

• Up Close and Personalized: Document Cameras for Enhancing In-Person and Online Learning (Chaska Middle School West – Carol Scheffler) Social distancing has put teachers at a disadvantage when they need to demonstrate a concept yet keep distanced. Engaging Online Academy learners is also challenging when you don’t have an engaging way to share concepts. How can teachers effectively share handwritten formulas, instructions, demonstrations, and diagrams for both in-person and remote classes? By using a document camera! Document cameras can display virtually anything put on the platform. They will display black and white, color, and 3D objects. Document cameras provide clearer and equitable access to all types of information, expanding learner engagement and learning. Note: This grant request was in direct response to COVID-19 and funding was made possible through the Carver County CDA allocating federal CARES Act funding to the District 112 Foundation.

• Advanced Innovation Lab (Bluff Creek Elementary – Michelle Swenson) Last fall, Ms. Swenson’s classroom had a brand new, wireless virtual reality set called Oculus Quest donated by a parent who wanted to support schools with STEM-related technology. Literally, this VR set can take kids places they never thought they would go! Funds for this grant allowed for the purchasing of a second VR set because one set is hard to share with a class of 25+ students. Funding also supported the purchase of applications from the VR Library and the necessary cabling to cast what students see in their VR headsets onto my big screen tv in the classroom.

• Bouncy Bands (Jonathan Elementary – Alex Bauer) This project provides each 4th grader a Bouncy Band attached to the bottom of their chair. Through these bands, students will be able to ‘get their wiggles out’ while sitting at their seats. This will help increase focus, engagement, and good behavior while helping to decrease anxiety and hyperactivity. Because of the increased safety precautions this year due to COVID-19, students are not getting up and moving as much as they have been in past years. The bands are unique because they are silent and allow kids to move while working, while still being seated at their desk chair.

• E-Books for Distance Learning (Chaska Middle School West – Carol Scheffler) This grant established a varied and comprehensive e-book collection for the CMSW Media Center for learners to access while at home due to Distance Learning requirements. CMSW learners rely on technology more than ever due to the Distance Learning that is in place now and for the foreseeable future. They rely on technology to satisfy their appetite for knowledge at any given time or place. But they aren’t always able to get the reading resources they need for class assignments. This grant accommodates that need. This collection of e-books will be accessible from home by every student through the CMSW online school library catalog. Note: This grant request was in direct response to COVID-19 and funding was made possible through the Carver County CDA allocating federal CARES Act funding to the District 112 Foundation.

• Hands-Free! Can You Hear Me Now? (Bluff Creek Elementary – Jon Gustafson and Michelle Swenson) A hands-free microphone system was purchased, making it easier for students in a classroom to hear teachers through their masks and face shields. Because the microphone is placed over the ear, it frees up the teachers’ hands to also be writing or demonstrating something while speaking. Once COVID-19 is over, this microphone system will be utilized by students giving speeches, etc. Note: This grant request was in direct response to COVID-19 and funding was made possible through the Carver County CDA allocating federal CARES Act funding to the District 112 Foundation.

• ACE Enhancements (Chanhassen High School – Chad Mattson) ACE is a tier 2 intervention program that helps students in the program Organize, Plan, Access help (tutors/teachers), and get additional Time in a safe environment as part of their daily schedule. ACE focuses on providing academic and social-emotional support while teaching foundational academic skills, ultimately leading to students increasing the number of courses in which they earn credit. Funds for this grant will be utilized to increase resource materials available for these students, including items such as Chromebook chargers, notebooks, pencils and pens, and other necessary study materials.

Fall 2019 Cycle

• Discovering Engineers of Tomorrow – Carver Elementary School (Gwen Valiant) Carver Elementary will soon have a mobile LEGO and Snap Circuit “wall.” One side of the board will use Legos to allow individual students, as well as groups, to develop social skills, problem solving and organization as they construct 3D pictures leading to endless possibilities. The other side of the wall will allow students to discover and compute simple electrical experiments that relate to coding.
• Trailblazer Trails: Stories of Diversity Through a Learner-Created Broadcast – Pioneer Ridge Middle School (Sarah Rother) Pioneer Ridge Middle School students will be creating a student-led video news program. The broadcasts will be informative, enlightening, and fun and will take skills learned in Language Arts and utilize them in a new, creative way. Students will learn about script creation, production, and public speaking as they are immersed in journalism. 
• Basel Masks in the Classroom – Chanhassen High School (Lori Constable) Research suggests that students with autism benefit from participation in drama games and exercises. Data also suggests that working with basel masks allows students on the autism spectrum to better bridge the connection between emotions and appropriate responses. Basel masks are both gender-neutral and ethnic neutral and will be beneficial to mainstream and special education students within Chanhassen High School’s drama classes.
• Who You Are: Spoken Word Poetry as an Exploration of Culture and Identity – Chaska Middle School West (Carol Scheffler) Through a customized spoken word workshop, eighth-grade students will be instructed by a professional in spoken word poetry to understand the elements of spoken word poetry, which is a poetic performance art, as a way to explore identity and values. Students will then create and share their own spoken poetry works.
• Photography Center – East Union Elementary School (Lara Groboski) By implementing a photography center with a digital camera for use in art classes at East Union Elementary, students will be able to explore composition, create stop motion art, and to learn photo editing software for use with classroom projects.
• The Power of Movement for Learning: Seating to Aid in Critical Components of Development – Kinder Academy (Trista Smith) Alternative seating helps keep students active and focused, helps promote engagement, boosts student motivation, and improves behaviors. It will also allow Kinder Academy to evaluate their own learning needs and use their sensory skills to explore the seating options that best fit their own personal learning style.