PTA grants much-needed book infusion
Laurie Warren, Special Education Teacher at Gateway Middle School, has won a $500 grant from the school’s PTSA for books for her self-contained classroom.
The classroom is comprised of sixth, seventh and eighth graders who “have a wide range of abilities and disabilities,” Warren said.
The class started three years ago, and Warren has little by little been building up books for students to use.
She had been going to the local library and checking out 10 to 20 books each month to use with her students before she won the grant money, which bought 50 books.
All of the books will be used as part of the curriculum. Many are non-fiction books that will be used in instruction in life science, social studies, language arts and life-skills.
Others are fictional stories that relate to subject matter being taught.
Six classrooms win Audubon award
Six classrooms at three Everett Public Schools elementary schools have won Pilchuck Audubon Society Classroom Conservation Awards.
Dolly Gamlyn at Woodside Elementary will buy materials so that her second-graders can study the life cycle of butterflies. Each student will have an opportunity to take part raising and caring for caterpillars and ultimately the butterflies that emerge from them. This is not the first time Gamlyn’s students have studied butterflies. Students under her watch have successfully raised two generations of Painted Lady butterflies are on their way to a third generation. The goal is to teach about life cycles and natural selection.
Penny Creek’s third-graders, under the guidance of teacher Kathi MacDonald, will keep “Nature Journals” and use “First Field Guides” this year. In the process, the budding scientists will apply the scientific method of recording observations.
They will also share their journals and observations with the younger students.
Penny Creek highly capable students in Laurie Miller’s third and fourth-grade classrooms, working with Technology Specialist Wanda Hill, will podcast messages to the community. Using a Web site to broadcast Washington state environmental issues, students will distribute their messages to an audience beyond the school walls. Topics they plan to cover include recycling, littering, taking care of the trails, being careful with campfires and of the state’s water and salmon.
View Ridge Elementary received awards as well.
The local Audubon branch grants the awards to instill in students the need to conserve and protect natural resources. The Pilchuck branch thus makes funds available for classroom projects that focus on conservation lessons. Traditionally, 10 such awards for $250 each are awarded to Snohomish County public or private school teachers.
This year, 11 awards were given across the county.
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