Dec. 7. 2004 – The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands (CFVI) is pleased to announce the award of $21,000 in grants to 41 public school teachers on St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John. These annual grants are from the ANDERSON FAMILY FUND For EDUCATION at CFVI. Since initiating the teacher grants in 2002 the Fund has provided more than $63,000 in 122 grants.
The Anderson Family Fund was established to improve public education for economically disadvantaged children in the USVI by supporting educational enrichment programs unavailable as part of the regular school curriculum. "The Anderson Family and the Topa companies are very pleased to support the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands," said John E. Anderson, Chairman of Topa. "These funds will be put to good use in many different community-oriented projects in the Virgin Islands."
According to Dee Baecher-Brown, president of CFVI, grants from the Anderson Family Fund have been appreciated by students and teachers. "Teachers have been so grateful to have the opportunity to offer more to their students by providing special projects. They have sent reports, thank you letters, videos and pictures of the work their students have accomplished. When we look at the numbers, we estimate that close to 4,000 students have benefited from these grants in some way. It's an honor to work with donors like the Anderson family."
A committee of volunteers from the community carried out the difficult task of evaluating proposals and awarding $21,000 in grants to an impressive pool of more than one hundred applicants. Priority was given to proposals where students are directly involved in the project, creative strategies and activities are used to improve student learning, and outcomes are measurable and substantive. Forty-one grants ranging from $1,000 to $100 were awarded to support innovative projects in the classrooms. The attached list outlines the funded proposals.
The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands was established in 1990 to serve the children and families of the Virgin Islands. Currently there are more than 70 named funds at the CFVI. In the past year, CFVI awarded a million dollars in grants, scholarships and services to charities, nonprofit organizations, families and individuals in the USVI. CFVI also sponsors the Fatherhood Collaborative to focus on the importance of responsible fatherhood, and produced the fifth annual Kids Count report on the status of children and families in the USVI. The grants in the St. Thomas/St. John District were:
1.) Addelita Cancryn Junior High School: Gladys Collins. Language Development Program (L.D.P): To provide a listening center to be used by Foreign language and English as a Second Language students, in an attempt to develop and strengthen their vocabulary and reading skills. $350
2.) Addelita Cancryn Junior High School: Rhonda L. Liburd. Science Inquiry Skills and Discovery Methods Using Technology for Academic Achievement: The project will make use of the computer to help increase classroom productivity and involve students directly. The computer and extensive curriculum will enhance students understanding of such topics as chemical reactions, motion and energy. Students will actively participate in various scientific investigations. $970
3.) Addelita Cancryn Junior High School: Kimberlee Mayfield. VI History Awareness Program: To engage approx 50 students in an immersion of VI History through four educational Field Trips. $250
4.) Bertha C. Boschulte: Terence I. Corbett. Beginning Instrumental/Theory Music Education Program: To assist students in 6th-8th grade with obtaining method/theory books, beginning music, theory software and instrumental recorders for theory students as well as to provide students with their own instruments. $500
5.) Bertha C. Boschulte: Eduardo J. Corneiro. Manufacturing with fine wood: The manufacturing program trains 8th graders to become entrepreneurs as well as woodworking professionals. Their cooperative business needs capital in order to produce their sale items from their created designs. Woodworking as well as Manufacturing needs more hand tools and supplies due to larger than usual class sizes. $250
6.) Bertha C. Boschulte: Calvin A.Jones. Advanced Performing Instrumental Group: To replace worn out instruments especially clarinets and trumpets. Additionally since the size of the ensemble has grown, more instruments are needed. $500
7.) Bertha C. Boschulte: Phebe Schwartz. Comprehensive Art Education Program: To assist in the continuation of a comprehensive art program which spans grades K–12 of the Berta C. Boschulte Middle School. $500
8.) Charlotte Amalie High School: Vernon Callwood. Exploring Marine Life Behavior: The proposal is to develop an aquatic scene depicting a normal living environment for marine organisms through the use of several saltwater aquariums to be displayed in the classroom. $1,000
9.) Charlotte Amalie High School: Marina L. De Salem. Voces Literarias – Spanish Literary Magazine: Voces Laterarias is a literary compilation of stories and poems in Spanish. $400
10.) E. Benjamin Oliver Elementary School: Theodore Rohan. EBO Student Technology Team (Phase 2): To continue to provide training in video production to the Student Technology Team, utilizing a state-of- the-arts computer with Windows operating system. This will allow students to hone their computer skills and transfer these skills as they advance from elementary through high school and beyond. $1,000
11.) Evelyn M. Williams Elementary: Jacqueline Ashe, Mary Estephane. Listening Centers (Building Blocks for developing life long readers): In an attempt to reverse the trend in poor reading ability in 3rd graders, two excellent listening centers will be developed using Lakeshore Learning Materials. $500
12.) Evelyn M. Williams Elementary: Christiana Donker-James, L.Phillip/D. Caines/F.
Callwood. Building Reading Power Through Listening Centers: Literacy is a huge problem today. Listening centers will also give exposure to a variety of story structures. Student will develop listening skills and the ability to work independently. $500
13.) Evelyn M. Williams Elementary: Ann Edney/Carlos McGregor. E M. Williams Scorpions After School Sports Program: To refurbish sports equipment for an after-school soccer program. Due to large school enrollment and limited gym staff, all students are not afforded the opportunity to participate in the regular school sports program. $500
14.) Evelyn M. Williams Elementary: Cheryl Willock/Elenor Noel. Evelyn M. Williams Dance Academy: To provide dance lessons to 1-6 graders. Dancing is both an Art and a form of recreation, it is also a very effective means of communication. Dance classes will afford students the opportunity to express their feelings through Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Folk, Popular and African Dance. $400
15.) Ivanna Eudora Kean High School: Hyacinth Caleb. Understanding self through Caribbean Literature: This project is to stimulate within the students a deeper appreciation for Caribbean Literature. The suggested texts will serve as the vehicle by which they will meet Caribbean authors, reenact some of the West Indian drama, appreciate West Indian poetry and write their own booklets of compiled original essays, poetry and short stories.$500
16.) Ivanna Eudora Kean High School: Gayle A.K. Deller. IEKHS Aquatic Program: Students in physical education classes will learn Community Water Safety as part of their curriculum. Those in the after-school aquatic program will be doing First Aid, CPR, Learn to Swim, Water Safety, ect. $1,000
17.) Ivanna Eudora Kean High School: Thomas C. Unger. Literacy Spotlight: The project is geared towards helping struggling teenage readers achieve literacy. Students will be given strategies to enhance their reading skills. The focus will be on reading comprehension, vocabulary enrichment, critical thinking and essay writing. $552
18.) J. Antonio Jarvis School: Debra P. Sharpe. Primary Spelling BEE: To assist in the pr
eparation of students for the district spelling bee championship. The purpose of spelling bee is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct language use that will help them all their lives. $250
19.) J. Gomez Elementary: Linda D. Freeman. Building Literacy, Math Skills & Critical Thinking: To equip learning centers with necessary material which assists students in learning, writing, thinking, computing, conversing and expressing their feelings. Additional hands on learning center materials will be provided for a kindergarten class. $1000
20.) J. Gomez Elementary: Cheryl M. Potter. Words Are Yours to Explore: The project will purchase first grade dictionaries (or pictionaries) for class use. This is an attempt to present the variety of word kinds, nouns, action words, and describing words as a world waiting to be explored. $250
21.) J.E. Sprauve School: K.D. Munnelly-Scheer. Photography Across the Curriculum: To enhance a school photograpy program and to set up an in-school photography club. To make use of the skills of photography in every subject area. For example, documentation of Science experiments, Photo journalism in Language Arts, Computer and business. Students will be taught to publish bi-monthly publications in the local newspapers and school bulletin board displays. $996
22.) Jane E. Tuitt: Donna W. Tyson. Resource Production & Resource Materials: The project will provide teacher-made production of manipulative educational materials for enhancing student achievement and learning. $250
23.) Joseph Sibilly Elementary: Mary Louise Lauffer. Sibilly School Garden Club: Continuation of the school gardening project, specifically focusing on Nutrition Education. Improvement and maintenance of garden area, visits to Farms, UVI and Ag Station gardens. $250
24.) Joseph Sibilly Elementary: Kathleen M'Grath. The Eager Readers Club: To create an Eager Readers club with the school literacy coach, reading aloud to students two days per week as well as giving each child a book for their personal reading. $250
25.) Julius E. Sprauve: Marla Powell. Launching the JESS Elementary Literary Magazine: This project will directly involve students in writing original contributions to a school literary magazine for elementary children. The members of the "Gifted and Talented Class" Grades 4-6 will be the editorial team. This new project will extend and expand upon the accomplishments of the 2002 Book-Making Workshop. $500
26.) Lockhart Elementary: Wilbert Brooks. Intergreating Technology into the Music Room: The goal of the project is to expose students to computer assisted music learning. This program would see the intergration of the Sibelius Exucational Suite computer software program into our music curriculum. $500
27.) Office of Special Services (14 schools): Erin Meintzer. Art Therapy Making a Difference on St. Croix: To assist in promoting positive self-esteem among special needs students from several schools on St.Croix. This would be done through mounting an Art exhibition of the work which students did in their Art therapy classes. $500
28.) Peace Corps Elementary: Chinwe O. Osaze. ARTSMART: Kids Making Art their Business Part 2: To give students an opportunity to explore various art processes such as paper Mache' mask making, pottery and batik. Discussions on various occupations in art, as well as encounters with professional artists and an exploration of the various creative processes from persons who make a living from their art or art-related occupations, will all form part of the Art class. $700
Individuals or businesses wishing to know more about CFVI or the funds should call 774-6031.
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