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Goal

Rather than submit several small grants, YPS has combined five requests into a single submission. (A few YPS teachers with larger projects are submitting individual grant requests as well.) Kelley MacCabe, Media Specialist, will execute the grant funds and distribute requested materials to teachers.

Last year, we applied for a Navy grant to develop our school's STEM program. They were able to fulfill two-thirds of our grant request.

Today, we are asking for...

1- STEM kits to complete this grant for each teaching pod
2- STEM kits to complete this grant for the Library
3- Replacement humidity meters to support our Embryology program
4- Specific STEM Materials for four Classrooms:
Circuit & Logic activities for Ms. Marlow's 2nd grade classroom
Engineering & Robotics activities for Ms. Dozier's 2nd grade classroom
Garden STEM sets to be shared by all Kindergarten classrooms (Ms. Foose)
Construction kits for Ms. Emerson's 1st & 2nd grade ESE classroom
5- Noise-cancelling headphones for use by students with sensory challenges

Yulee Primary's Whole School Strategy for introducing STEM activities to students:

A- During weekly visits to the Library, students experience a variety of STEM materials which they can use to complete engineering challenges or build creatively. These activities rotate throughout the year and build student problem-solving skills and develop frustration tolerance.

B- Teachers are encouraged to use STEM materials as a learning opportunity when inclement weather requires indoor recess. This free time can become a source of fun, hands-on learning if teachers have ready access to grade-appropriate STEM materials.

C- Teachers are also encouraged to use STEM Parties as incentives/rewards, motivating students to meet their educational goals.

D- Each year, the school hosts a Family STEAM Night in April. Several hundred students and family members come together to try a variety of activities, focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.

YPS Current STEM Goals:

1- We would like to provide each four-classroom Teaching Pod with 4 STEM activity kits, giving teachers and students immediate access to STEM materials when they have a class celebration, indoor recess, and as incentives for early finishers. Each grade level will have different STEM activities, so that students experience new challenges as they move up through the grade levels. [2/3 of these STEM kits have already been provided by the Navy Grant.]

2- We would like to increase the Library’s STEM resources, for everyday use during Library classes. These activities will also be utilized at the annual Family STEAM Night, at schoolwide Positive Behavior and Accelerated Reader Celebrations, and as additional checkout materials for teachers. [2/3 of these STEM kits have already been provided by the Navy Grant.]

3- In 2019, The Nassau Foundation Grant provided our school with Embryology materials. Since that time, 42 classrooms and approximately 750 students have utilized the materials to hatch chicks in their classrooms. Most of the grant-purchased materials are self-sustaining. Only the humidity meters have failed over time. We are seeking to replace the humidity meters so that teachers can continue check out full egg-care kits from the Library.

4- In addition, four teachers have expressed special interest in bringing STEM activities into their classrooms. We are including their requests in our grant.

5- Several of our students have sensory challenges that make loud settings very difficult (in the cafeteria, at assemblies, during PE, and in some cases, throughout the school day). YPS is a Title One school, and many of our families cannot afford to provide noise-cancelling headphones for their students. Blocking out background noise can enhance students' abilities to pay attention, participate in learning, and retain information. Teachers end up paying for headphones themselves. The YPS Library would like to purchase 12 headphones that we can check out to teachers and students as needed. The headphones will be returned at year-end, so this headphone resource should last indefinitely. 

What will be done with my students

1- Naval Grant Completion for Pods (PreK-2nd): These STEM kits are grade specific and will be used at independent learning centers by teachers during indoor recess, during transition moments throughout the week, and as learning opportunities for early finishers. They will also be utilized for class celebrations.

2- Naval Grant Completion for Library: These STEM materials are used on a daily basis by every student who attends library (all K-2nd graders, approximately 660 students). Students self-select from 10-12 engineering activities. They may choose to build creatively or work towards completing set engineering challenges.

3- Embryology Humidity Meters: Each spring, 12-14 classrooms hatch eggs and raise chicks. A previous Nassau Foundation Grant provided resources for our Embryology program, including materials to build brooder boxes, waterers, food dishes, heat lamps, humidity meters, etc. All of these materials have fared well, except for the humidity meters. These meters are essential to maintaining a healthy environment for the eggs. We would like to purchase 12 meters so that the Library can continue to provide complete embryology support kits for our teachers.

4- Individual Classroom STEM requests:

Ms. Marlow plans to introduce Snap Circuits Jr. during her nonfiction electricity unit. After that, Snap Circuits will be utilized as a STEM activity during indoor recess. Ms. Marlow will use the Road-Builder Skill Puzzle as a peer-to-peer activity during social skills practice and also for indoor recess.

Ms. Dozier's goal is to engage her students in hands-on learning that will connect with nonfiction reading and writing prompts. As a "gold team" teacher, her classrooms always includes students with non-traditional needs. She feels that STEM activities will motivate all of her students, and particularly allow her gold students to experience learning and success outside the traditional pencil and paper format.

Ms. Emerson's ESE 1st & 2nd grade students participate in weekly STEM/Science lessons. In addition, many of her students are tactile learners, and particularly benefit from hands-on activities at transition times and as incentives for early finishers.

Ms. Foose, Kindergarten grade-level chairperson, will provide Gardening STEM materials as a start-of-day transition activity for students in each of 12 kindergarten classes (approximately 190 students).

5- Teachers will check noise-cancelling headphones out from the Library as needed for students with sensory challenges. Students will wear the headphones in noisy environments or in all school environments as needed. 

Benefits to my students

Pod Grant Materials:

Bristle Blocks (PreK pod) Students benefit from practice with fine motor control, spatial reasoning, and social communication with peers.

Brickyard Building Set (Kindergarten pods) Students benefit by learning about using basic tools and connectors. They can practice following pictorial directions, building their confidence through successive trial and error, and developing their imagination through creative play. Fine motor skills practice is a bonus!

Rainbow Building straws and connectors (First Grade pods) Students benefit by using their imagination to plan a structure, then work through trial and error to build their idea in reality. Because the straws are 10" long, students can create a structure large enough to sit inside, making this an ideal carpet activity.

STEM Master Building Kit (2nd grade pod) Students benefit by using rods, connectors, wheels, panels, and other structures to build vehicles, furniture, dragons, etc., using creativity to imagine a concept, then trial and error practice with the materials to build a working model. They can also practice following visual and written directions by working on the sample challenges provided with the kit.

Library Grant Materials:

Students visiting the Library will use creativity, problem-solving skills, fine motor control, and social skills as they work cooperatively at the following activity centers: build a wildlife overpass for the woodland animals, build houses for Library stuffed animals with Rainbow straws, build vehicles from pipes, connectors, and wheels with the Kakatimes STEM building set, experiment with building Seussian structures with Picasso Tiles magnetic balls and curved rods, build simple robot creatures with the Brickyard building set, and use Construction Planks to engineer a physical version of a variety of challenge items, from beds to airplanes. These activities build confidence, as students succeed together, without an adult solving the problem for them.

Embryology - 12-14 classrooms each year raise chicks and will use the humidity meters to ensure a healthy hatch. Students learn about the life cycle and the needs of living things during the 6-week Embryology program each year.

Individual Teacher Requests:

Marlow's Class - Snap Circuits - Circuit building develops problem-solving skills as students work to connect the circuit properly. Students will apply critical thinking skills, communicate with peers, and build foundations for futures in electricity and engineering. Road-Builder Skill Puzzle - This activity supports student confidence and encourages creativity with limitless road-building options. Students will build critical thinking skills as they self-check and test various modifications toward completing the path.

Dozier's Class - The Three Billy Goats Gruff will incorporate literature and engineering as an introduction to bridges. Students use variously shaped wooden blocks that velcro together to build a bridge that is tall enough for the troll to fit underneath, and strong enough to hold all three billy goats. This activity will serve as a real-life introduction, preceding reading passages about engineering. Students will experience -not just read about- developing a plan, using limited resources, testing the plan, modifying the original plan to address problems, and retesting. Following this activity, students will engage in the Bridge Building Engineering activity. This activity is more realistic and technical. Information cards teach about several kinds of bridges. Students can use spans and connectors to construct each kind of bridge. Because there are no instructions (only a photo of a real bridge), students will use the process of developing a plan, testing, revising plan, and retesting that they learned with the Billy Goats set. The Gears set teaches basic robotics, and this will serve both as a hands-on introduction to nonfiction small group reading on robots and as inspiration for student writing prompts. Once students have been introduced to these STEM kits, the activities will become available for indoor recess and as incentives for early finishers.

Foose's Kindergarten classes (whole grade level) - These Garden STEM sets will help kindergarten students with color recognition and counting. Students exercise their creativity as they imagine a garden to build, then plan and engineer their idea with plastic flowers and leaves. Cooperative activities like this also help to develop students' interpersonal communication skills.

Emerson 1st/2nd ESE - Students using the Bunchem sets can develop creativity and engineering skills by imagining what they want to build - pirate, ship, puppy - and then sticking the Bunchem balls together to form a sculpture of their idea. When using the building set, students bolt together panels, wheels, and even eyes, to create bulldozers, robots, snails, and more. They imagine, then create their idea. Both Bunchems and the building set improve fine motor control, and build confidence through construction successes.

5- Noise-Cancelling Head Phones - Students with suspected sensory challenges will have ready access to headphones to see if they improve their sensory experience. Teachers can check them out from the Library to quickly and easily help their students. Ear protection can help sensory-sensitive students regulate emotions and focus on learning.
 

Budget Narrative

Requested Purchases fall into 5 categories. The first 4 provide STEM/Science related items. The 5th provides noise-cancelling headphones to enhance learning for students with sensory challenges.

1-Complete Navy Grant items for pods (grades PreK-2)
2-Complete Navy Grant items for Library (used by K-2)
3-Replace humidity meters for Embryology program (K-2)
4-Individual Classroom STEM Requests (K, ESE, 2)
5-Noise Canceling Headphones (PreK-2)

Following, please see a list of which items fulfill which category:

1- Complete Navy Grant items for pods (grades PreK-2)
PreK pod: Bristle Blocks (1)
Kindergarten pod: Brickyard Building Blocks (3)
1st grade pod: Straw and Connector Building Set (4)
2nd grade pods: STEM Master Building Blocks Kit (4)

2- Complete Navy Grant items for Library (used by K-2)
Plastic Woodland Animals (1)
Straw and Connector Building Set (1)
Picasso Tiles Magnetic (1)
Brickyard Building Blocks (1)
Magnetic Block Set (1)
I Can Build It Construction Planks (1)

3- Replace humidity meters for Embryology program (K-2)
Thermo-Pro Hygrometers (12 meters total)

4-Individual Classroom STEM Requests (K, ESE, 2)
Marlow's Classroom - Road Builder & Snap Circuits Jr.
Dozier's Classroom - Bridge Building, 3 Billy Goats Gruff, Gears
Foose (All K Classrooms) - Flower Garden Building Sets (3)
Emerson (ESE 1st/2nd) - Bunchems & NXONE Building Set

5- Noise-cancelling headphones for PreK-2nd grade students
Set of 12 headphones

We hope that presenting a combined grant makes the process easier for all involved. Thank you for your consideration!
 

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