#b#WW-P Education Foundation Awards Grants to Teachers#/b#
The WW-P Education Foundation has awarded six grants and a special project grant as part of this year’s Excellence in Education Grant Program.
The following programs and teachers in the WW-P School District were the recipients of the grants:
Zebra Fish Development, awarded to James Looney and Holly Crochetiere. Students in Grades 9 to 12 will have the opportunity to conduct hands-on laboratory activities focusing on animal development. Students will harvest fertilized Zebra fish eggs and examine embryo development over a three-to-four-week period.
Kindergarten STEM, awarded to Michele Bostwick. The focus will be on problems generated through realistic math, science and engineering concerns using seasonal themes throughout the year. Teachers will connect fictional stories read to students to the STEM challenges and apply the conflicts in the storyline, and have students generate solutions. Through various building activities and games students will develop strategic thinking.
Picking Up Steam: Makers, Tinkers and Critical Thinkers, awarded to Shannon Grey and Shanna Weber. This grant provides a TinkerLab/MakerSpace and STEAM-based engineering and design lessons for students in Grades 4 and 5.
Grade 7 Battle of the Books, awarded to Caitlin Bisson, Katy Maher, Brittany Rivera, Tina Avarello and Mary Hasler. This program creates multiple student teams, and the students will be responsible for reading a collection of novels. The project will conclude in a final “Battle of the Books” competition between the teams.
For the Love of Poetry, awarded to Lorraine Sieben and Lori Hicks. Poets will be invited during National Poetry Month in April to offer students the chance to hear different genres of poetry along with learning writing techniques. Students will work together to produce their own original poetry and present it in original and creative ways.
Starlab, awarded to Jeff Grabell. The travelling planetarium will spend one week at each elementary school throughout the school year.
The Special Project Grant went to The Smart Way, The Mind and Body Whole Student Program. Awarded to Mike Adams, Christine Capaci, Chris Trevz and Kate Heavers, the grant allows students the opportunity to use heart rate monitors in high school Physical Education classes to provide feedback about their activity during class. Students will gain a greater understanding of their actual physical activity level (versus their perceived activity level). Students will determine the correlation between an achieved level of physical activity and its impact upon overall brain functioning.
#b#Chopped Junior contestant#/b#
Nicky Lennox, 12, of West Windsor was a contestant on the reality TV show Chopped Junior on Sept. 20.
Chopped Junior is a show on the Food Network modeled after the popular show Chopped, which features experienced adult chefs competing against each other.
Chopped Junior features kids between the ages of 9 and 15 as they compete in a cook-off consisting of three courses — an appetizer, entrée and dessert.
During each round, the contestants are given a “mystery basket” containing three to five diverse and/or unusual ingredients that they must include in their dish.
They are allowed to supplement their dish with ingredients that are available in the Chopped Junior kitchen’s pantry and fridge. One chef is eliminated each round by a panel of judges until the final two face-off for the dessert course. A grand prize of $10,000 is at stake as the junior chefs compete.
Lennox was eliminated after the first round for his appetizer — pizza with spicy marinara sauce.
Lennox, who does not plan to pursue a career as a chef, said he also enjoys playing golf, taking flying lessons to get his pilot’s license and being involved in the Boy Scouts.
#b#Ma performs Chinese dances#/b#
Elizabeth Ma, 11, of West Windsor performed Chinese folk dance at several recent events.
Ma performed “My Mongolia Pony” at a summer picnic held by Chinese organizations in Roosevelt Park in Edison and and the grand opening ceremony of an organization in Rahway.
She also danced at the Central Jersey Chinese American Association summer picnic in West Windsor Community Park, which was attended by more than 300 people. Ma performed the “Girls by the Riverside” folk dance.
Ma’s family moved to West Windsor from East Brunswick last year. She is a 6th grader at Princeton Day School.
