2020 ADVANCING EQUITY
PURPOSE
DETAILS
Staff members were informed of this new grant cycle in early spring 2019. The staff was given a month to explore, develop and submit their proposal. The proposal had to align with the mission of the NEF and meet the above stated purpose. All requests were received and screened by the NEF and district administration. In the last week in May, teachers, students and staff members were surprised in their classroom with the award while being broadcast on Facebook Live.
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See the detail below on all the awards, photos and Facebook Live videos.
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None of this is possible without your direct support of the NEF.
CALLING ALL READERS
Diane McCurdy, Novi Middle School -
Learning Languages can be FUN!
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The beneficiaries of this grant would be all World Language students at Novi Middle School. Observers would see the many tools that we can use to make the language learning fun and innovative. The goal of this project is to give open opportunities for our World Language staff to share and collaborate with wordwall.net to create meaningful and educational online learning fun for our students. Our desired outcome is to give our World Language students the various opportunities to learn a second language and have fun at the same time.
CALLING YOUR OWN MICRO-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Novi Adult Transition Center – Sebrina Shields
$1,460
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While in the pilot program, students were observed working 3-4 days per week for a class period participating in embedded curriculum to include academic, leadership, and critical skill development. Students will now also be observed in planning meetings, assembling micro-business products and working with technology to promote sales of products such as theme-based-basket for pet owners. They will also design and work online and with brick/mortar sales. And in addition students will manage inventory, speak with potential buyers, and complete order fulfillment.
PARKVIEW GARDEN
Parkview - Carly Musa, Renee Gant, Tanya Jones, and Ruth Raffoul
$3,000
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We are now into our 3rd year of gardening. We have outgrown our current garden and would like to upgrade to a larger garden. Our new garden will be 80 X 25, fenced in, and have 8 garden beds. We want to be able to grow more food which we will donate to Feed the Need. This will allow us to have more impact on the lives in the Novi community.
P.E.P.P.E.R SHAKERS
Orchard Hills – Jennifer Egli, Melissa Israel, Heydie Orr
$1,835
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Peers Effectively Promoting Positive Engaging Relationships $1,835. This grant will support a new peer to peer group called PEPPER shakers. It will involve general education peers who model typical academic and social behavior in educational environments throughout the school day. Peers will provide support for students with autism spectrum disorder to promote independence and socialization.
ARCHITECTURE: FOR BOYS & GIRLS
Village Oaks – Danielle Courtemanche and Jennifer Lessway
$480
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With this grant, students will be reconstructing Village Oaks Elementary School. It was built in the 1970s but looks very different than it did years ago. The building has been added on several time, resulting in a disconnected flow. Students will now build a school model with foam shapes. After their models are created, groups will be set up around the classroom for a gallery walk. Visitors will walk around the classroom listening to explanations and seeing 3D model structures of the new school.
BRILLIANT SCHOLARS USE THEIR SENSES
Village Oaks – Amber Zarb
$2,250
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There is sufficient research to indicate that movement and learning are interconnected. The incorporation of a sensory path would further support students with diverse learning needs and also to provide more students with access to sensory-based intervention supports. A sensory path creates opportunities to positively and proactively address our students need for movement in an effort to prevent off task or distracting behavior in the classroom.
EMOTIONAL STRENGTH VIA OUR VISUAL ARTS
Village Oaks – Dr. Katherine Ellis, Amber Zarb, and Dr. Alex Ofili
$2,635
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This grant will allow students to focus on a small piece of clay on a potter’s wheel then pulling the sides of a pot up; a feeling of success and a release of tension/stress for the student. The goal of this grant is to enrich art therapy for the Village Oaks students and to enhance their emotional strength.
MEADOWS STEM NIGHT
Novi High School – Maansi Nema (10th grade student)
$550
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I implemented a STEM night at Novi Meadows this year and it was a huge success. This fall I am hosting another and want to make it bigger and better. All elementary students will benefit from this grant because they will get exposure to STEM from this event. The goal and purpose of the project is to get more students in the NCSD and in the community involved in STEM. The outcome will be for 500+ students to attend and spark an interest and passion for STEM.
RELAXATION STATIONS FOR SOCIAL EMOTIONAL SUPPORT WITH CLASSROOMS
Novi High School – Danielle Tagai
$600
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These relaxation stations will provide an opportunity for all students at staff at NHS to have immediate access to anxiety reduction and mindfulness strategies without leaving their classroom or office. These boxes would include, but are not limited to mindfulness cards, stress balls, putty, fidgets etc. Staff would be provided an overview of the boxes and how they can be used, encouraging them to introduce them to each of their classes and encouraged to add to the box. The vision of this gran is to help support the overall mission of Social Emotional Wellness our district has created.