Nine projects in Monroe Public Schools’ classrooms – nearly all of them directly related to reading comprehension and improvement– have received mini-grants funded by the Education Foundation of Monroe Public Schools.  It is the largest number of grants at one time since 2008.  Together, the grants totaled about $4,000.

     They were chosen from among 26 ideas which were submitted by teachers and staff throughout the school system.  The 26 nominations is believed to be the most received in at least a decade.  The Foundation’s mini-grant program is the only one of its kind at a Monroe County school district.

     “The ideas submitted by our teaching staff were outstanding and the selection committee had a very challenging time determining which projects to fund,” said Dr. Barry Martin, superintendent, Monroe Public Schools.  “The fact that we had so many nominations is a great endorsement of our determination to make Monroe Public Schools the place where your child succeeds.”

     Eight of the nine awards were for programs geared to supporting reading and two addressed the popular STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs at Monroe Public Schools. 

     Here are the Monroe Public Schools programs which received mini-grant funding:

Creating a Culture of Readers, Writers and Thinkers!, Tara Dessauer and Mark Scoles, Monroe High school.  A purchase of a variety of books that meet different interests and different reading levels for students during silent, sustained reading time.

The “A” in STEAM, Staci Dreger and Cheryl Bindus, Waterloo Elementary School.  Bringing in a traveling troupe to perform the stage play “Rosie the Riveter,” to be performed on the MHS stage for Waterloo students and MHS’ Fine Arts classes.  A discussion will follow.

Comics for the Classroom, Scott McCloskey and Travis Trombley, Monroe High School.  A substantial number of graphic novels will be purchased and shared in the MHS English Department, aimed mostly at students for whom the habit of reading is not easy, as a way of supporting their efforts to read.

Literacy Initiative, Kristina Watterworth and Katie Worocz, Custer Elementary School.  A one-year subscription to an on-line reading website that can be accessed by students in the classroom and by families at home.  Students can read books at their instructional level and be tested on their comprehension.

Leveled Literacy Library, Marcie Boyce, Custer Elementary.  Aimed at improving students’ reading comprehension by providing them books written on their level. The project allows struggling readers to read and comprehend various types of texts.

Reading Resources to Enrich the Monroe High School STEM Program, Mary Bullard, Monroe High School.  This is to purchase a selected book collection including novels, biographies and non-fiction books on current science, technology and math topics, housed for convenient student access.

Storyworks subscription, Kate Dunlap, Custer Elementary School.  For 6th grade students, this subscription provides diverse texts to enrich students’ reading and writing skills, making available to them a wider range of reading resources.  These also can be shared with other classes.

Rolling TFT (Trojan Family Time) Library, Scott Hoppert, Monroe Middle School.  This grant will increase the number of young-adult titles for the rolling libraries at the school.  Providing students chances to read books they choose for sustained periods has positively influenced reading improvement.

Reading Resources, Teresa Stewart, Custer 1 Elementary School.  A one-year subscription to an on-line reading resource, accessible on iPads, for various weekly and monthly magazines on all reading levels to peak student interest in reading.Foundation awards nine mini-grants