Bristol Public Schools Mini-Grants
Mini-Grants are a way for educators to supplement activities and methods they wish to put into practice in their classrooms. Through an application process teachers or teams of teachers submit proposals, which can be no greater than $2,000, for review by the grants committee. Each year approximately $15,000 is awarded to programs that meet the selection criteria. The committee base their selections on the following:
- Innovation
- Impact on Student Achievement
- Technology
- Educational Merit
- Sustainability
- Programs that improve student mastery of targeted content areas: reading, writing, science, math, and physical fitness
- Collaboration with Arts and Culture
At the end of the grant cycle, those selected complete evaluations that are submitted to the Business Education Foundation (BEF) for review.
Since 1991, the BEF has awarded over $400,000* to make educators’ innovative visions and educational desires become a reality.
2019-2020 School Year Mini-Grants
This year a total of $14,628.52 was awarded to 14 grant recipients who will bring innovative programs and initiatives to their classrooms. Read about each below.
This grant will provide teachers with resources and supplies to create a safe and quiet space in their classroom for students to take a break. The “Mindfulness Calm Down Kit” will help students learn coping strategies, how to advocate for their needs and how to reduce their anxieties or frustrations among other things. Stacy Valentine | Edgewood School
This grant will help at least 25 5th grade students to explore how technology can add to their art-making. Claymation is an excellent way for students to incorporate STEAM into their creative endeavors. Students will be able to use clay, digital cameras and stop motion technology to create a sixty second clip of a subject or social message of their choice. Tina Taylor | West Bristol School
This grant will provide sets of manipulative Rubik’s cubes for students to create images using the colors on the cubes as pixels. Sets of Rubik’s cubes are manipulated to needed configurations so that each cube is a small part of a larger, mosaic image. Students will be able to use templates of images or create their own images using a Google Sheet template or other software that converts an image into pixels. Kristine Woods | Green-Hills School
This grant will provide manipulatives and supplies that will be used for hands on geometry activities. This will support the new Illustrative Mathematics curriculum to be implemented next year. These materials will be used to reinforce geometry standards to support a deeper understanding of the content.
Michelle Burns and Sara Maestre | Bristol Eastern High School
All new Hubbell students who enroll after the first day of school will be provided with a “success pack” that will include Paw Print themed items such as pencils, erasers and other school related items. These packs will be given out by the 5th grade ambassadors to help new students feel welcomed and connected to their new school. Lisa Ayotte | Hubbell School
This project will allow 12 Special Education seniors to create and install an outdoor kinetic sculpture with the help of all teachers and students in the district who will be invited to create the pieces that will be assembled into this sculpture. Bridget Gohla | ACCESS
This grant will provide students in grades 2 to 5 a variety of math games to use during guided math, independent work time and math stations. The students may also have access to these games/materials during recess, WINN period or before/after school. Marcy Deschaine | Mountain View School
This grant will provide updated robotic kits for all the 6th and 7th graders in the district. Over 1000 students in total! s the current technology becomes increasingly outdated, the new Lego EV3 model will take its place. Adam Sample | Greene-Hills School; Rocco Martino | West Bristol School; Vince Jennetta | Northeast Middle School; Rodney Ellsworth, Robert McConnell, and
Robert Walling | Chippens Hill Middle School
This grant will match any student fundraising up to $1,000 for those who will attend this conference in NYC. Model UN will give students the opportunity to represent a country in various committees and situations where the students will have to research and write position papers to present at the conference. ohn Stavens, Jason Cirillo, Wendy Adams, and Thomas Lavoie | Bristol Eastern
High School
This grant will help support the many students at the Bristol Preparatory Academy who can earn additional work credits through employment by assisting them in obtaining a driver’s license. Larry Covino | Bristol Preparatory
This grant will allow approximately 120 students in upper level Spanish classes to teach elementary students about the Spanish language and culture. The younger students will be taught basic conversation skills in a fun and engaging way. Justin McDermott | Bristol Eastern High School
This grant will help meet the social and emotional needs of students. The daily CREW period connects to the school-wide and districts social emotional learning curriculum. Lessons focus on Perseverance, Social Awareness, Self-Awareness, and Decision-Making Skills. The texts and materials provided will be used during the CREW period as a way to improve these skills. Marcy Deschaine | Mountain View School
This grant will match any student fundraising up to $500 for students to attend this multi-day trip. Students will have the opportunity to learn more about American history and culture. David Digiacomo, Courtney Decker, Mark Kilray, and Paul Philippon | Bristol Eastern High School
This grant allows the purchase of Breakout EDU kits, which follow an escape room model with curricular connection to math standards as well as opportunities for review and fluency practice. The students benefitting from the grant are 7th and 8th graders at Northeast Middle School. Michelle Cantin and Carolyn Palmero | Northeast Middle School
This grant allows for an under-utilized occupational room to be transformed into a safe, calming atmosphere to enhance the teaching of social emotional skills during small group work, with K-8 children who have been identifies as needing support. Sandra Godin | Greene-Hills