Projects and Activities Funded by
the Glastonbury Education Foundation
2008 Grants
50 Years of Teaching Russian Celebration
This year Glastonbury Public Schools are celebrating their 50 year history of teaching the Russian language. The Glastonbury Education Foundation granted $7,500 to support programs such as a performance of Russian masters by the Hartford Symphony at Glastonbury High School. Other activities include a performance of the Yale Russian Chorus, a Russian Bazaar, a Russian folk dance and song assembly, a Ballet Russes exhibit at the Wadsorth Atheneum and more. Please visit www.yearofrussian.com for more information on these activities.
"Americans Who Tell the Truth" Project
A $16,000 grant was awarded to Smith Middle School to sponsor the "Americans Who Tell the Truth" project which includes a variety of school district and community wide events based on the book "Americans Who Tell the Truth" by artist Robert Shetterly. The goal of the program is to encourage students to reflect on the importance of truth in their own lives. The project includes an exhibit of 36 of Mr. Shetterly's portraits from March 16 to April 16, 2009 in the Smith Middle School Library Media Center. In addition, Mr. Shetterly will be an artist in residence at Smith Middle School for four days in April of 2009. He will work directly with students and showcase their art alongside his own at a public viewing.
"Pass If On" Television Equipment Upgrade
A $1,500 grant was given to Glastonbury Youth and Family Services to purchase equipment upgrades for their student produced weekly cable television program that has aired since 1981. The equipment is now compatible with the new Glastonbury High School television studio that the students are trained to operate.
Other Recently Funded Projects and Activities
State-of-the-Art Digital Television, Radio, Video and Sound Studio
for the High School
In May of 2007 the Glastonbury Education Foundation Television Production
Center was officially dedicated and “opened for business”. The
Foundation raised over $175,000 in a two-year period to equip this
state-of-the-art studio. In the fall of 2007 high school students
will begin attending new courses offered in the fields of television
broadcasting, videography, and lighting and sound for stage and television. The
studio is also a resource that will be made available to the community
and local businesses.
Audio Enhancement Pilot Project
Over the 2005/6 school year, ten Glastonbury school classrooms (K-12)
were equipped with exciting new audio enhancement technology courtesy
of the Foundation. Each classroom received an audio enhancement
receiver, 4 ceiling-mounted speakers, a hands-free wireless microphone,
and a handheld wireless microphone at a cost of $1,200 per classroom. The
audio enhancement systems were an unmitigated success. Participating
teachers raved about their ability to deliver instruction in a calm
and even tone of voice, to gain and redirect the attention of all
students regardless of where they sit, and to engage students, even
reserved and soft-spoken students, in teacher and student presentations. Due
to the demonstrated success of this project, each of the classrooms
in the town’s newly built elementary school has been equipped
with this technology.
Tablet Laptop Pilot Project
Five classrooms were selected to pilot tablet laptop technology in
2005/6. The Foundation provided each classroom with one tablet
laptop computer, one LCD projector, and four student inter-write
pads at a cost of $4,000 per classroom. Results from the pilot
project were mixed. Teachers using the tablets reported increased
and sustained student attention and motivation and an incredible
expansion of teaching opportunities. However, younger students
had some difficulty with the fine-motor skills required to write
on the pads while viewing the projection screen. The Board
of Education will continue to pilot and evaluate similar tablet laptop
technology for future use.
Visiting Expert Program
The Foundation received overwhelmingly positive feedback on two visiting
expert speakers it was able to bring to Glastonbury in 2005/6. Pulitzer
Prize winning author and world-renowned historian Doris Kearns Goodwin
spoke to students, teachers, and community leaders at Glastonbury
High School about leadership styles today, drawing from her recent
work, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Also,
nationally known expert on adolescent brain development, Michael
Nerney, spoke with parents and social service professionals and held
workshops for teachers.
Community Survey
A resident survey was distributed to every household in Glastonbury
in 2005 through a one-time grant the Foundation made to the University
of Connecticut’s Center for Survey Research & Analysis
in conjunction with the Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce. This
project enabled both the Foundation and the Chamber to learn from
the community what issues and ideas they would like to see addressed.
Smaller Community Based Grants
In the last few years the Glastonbury Education Foundation has also
distributed smaller community grants for computers and monitors donated
to families without home computers, for school supplies distributed
through the Social Services Department and grants to organizations
such as the Glastonbury Alcohol and Drug Council and the ABC House.
