Today we are excited to announce the three winners of the Jefferson Area Teacher Mini-Grants. The goal of these grants is to inspire teachers at Molholm Elementary, Edgewater Elementary, Lumberg Elementary and Jefferson Junior/Senior High to innovate and pursue creative projects in the classroom to drive the milestone goals of the Jefferson Success Pathway. Specifically, in K-12 we are looking for projects that increase the number of students who are proficient in 3rd grade reading, 5th grade math and 8th grade math.

We follow up with the teachers during the school year to see the progress of their projects and the impact on student learning. Data from assessments is used to measure the effectiveness of the projects.

The following teachers each won a $300 grant for this school year:

Malachi McCabe, Learning Specialist at Lumberg Elementary

This grant will fund the “Do the Math” intervention curriculum to meet the foundational skill needs of students. The focus is on 2nd to 6th grade students who are behind grade level expectations in math.

Lynn Morgan, 5th Grade Teacher at Edgewater Elementary

This grant will fund a workshop model where students will rotate through centers focusing on developing their math skills. Funds will be used to purchase different hands-on math games and activities.

5th Grade Teachers at Edgewater Elementary 

This grant will fund  enrichment lessons using an Expressions literacy book: The Math Chef. The cooking lessons are geared to enhance students’ measuring, fractions, volume, multiplication, division, geometry and estimating skills with real world applications.

Jen McCabe, 5th Grade Teacher at Lumberg Elementary

This grant will fund hands-on science equipment that will develop mathematic thinking and reasoning skills in relation to the scientific inquiry process. Funds will be used to purchase digital scales, graduated cylinders, flasks for measurement, rain/snow gauges, a solar kit, blood pressure cuffs, thermometers and items that support math instruction within the science subject area.

5th Grade Teachers at Molholm Elementary

This grant will fund the purchase of Montessori math manipulatives for 5th grade classrooms. The current math curriculum did not come with these hands-on learning tools and these can be used to drive the 5th grade math goals as well as be used by other grades.