2018-2019 21st Century Advantage grants support creative and innovative classroom projects.

Krista Devoe and Katrina Paradis, Central   Students will use an online program called FlipGrid to tell a story based on a video prompt from the teacher.  Students post their stories and other students give positive feedback.  Stories are also prompted by story cubes (Rory’s Stories), which uses dice with pictures to prompt creative thought.  Based upon a picture on the die, students will create open-ended stories that they post, prompting the viewer to finish the story using the image on the die.  This activity encourages students to apply such conventions as plot and conflict to ideas that are not so predictable.
 
Anissa Bigler, Central   Graduating seniors leave a legacy for incoming seniors by selecting books for pleasure reading.  The books are kept in the classroom and have a sticker identifying them as a legacy gift from a previous senior class.  Current students are encouraged to read the Legacy Books, and reluctant readers become interested in what previous classes have left behind for them.  The first year, students read 486 books.  Last year, they read 610.
 
Sheila Mortimer, CKCIE   Special Education teachers will use the STAR Program (an applied behavior analysis curriculum) that targets students with autism whose maladaptive behavior disrupts their ability to function in the classroom and progress through the curriculum.  The three-step program helps students follow directions and model and shape appropriate behavior responses.  SRHF
 
Brooke Jennings, Coronado 
April Mayorga, Cottonwood
Jennifer Boyles, Cottonwood
Science students will have the opportunity to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) concepts by collaborating to design, test, and create projects both in a lab setting and in the classroom.  Students can choose their own activities based upon their interests and will work with others who share the same interest.  Students are required to complete all projects they start and give a short verbal report on what they found most interesting, most challenging, and any changes they would make to the activity.
 
Kylee Flaherty, Heusner   A Little Free Library will be set up close to the entrance of Heusner.  Neighborhood children will be encouraged to “take a book and give a book.”  The library will be especially important during the summer when the school’s library is closed, and students may not be able to go to Salina Public Library.  The project will be monitored weekly with an eye toward stocking the library with high-interest and appropriate reading materials.
 
Cari Slothower, MLR   School counselor, social worker, and paraprofessionals will teach additional social/emotional lessons to two large groups:  K-2 and 3-5.  The goal is to create a positive attitude about learning and failing.  Teaching “growth mindset” tells students that everyone’s brain grows at a different rate and speed.  Teaching a student that they may not be able to do something “yet” is a powerful message that can change attitudes about learning.  SRHF
 
Lisa Hall, MLR   At-risk students who struggle with reading fluency will have books and tapes that will give them the opportunity to understand fluent and expressive reading.  Listening to audio books will help students build critical thinking and comprehension skills.  Students will be engaged with retelling the story, answering questions about characters and plot, and sharing their favorite part of the story.
 
Amber Bohm, MLR   Students with severe emotional and behavioral disorders will continue their “Kindness Project.” By doing kind deeds for others, students will be encouraged to describe positive character traits, read facial expressions and body language, and know how to act as expected in different community situations.  They will purposely visit community organizations like the Ashby House, the fire department, and the animal shelter to understand the giving nature of the work these organizations are doing and to make a gift themselves.  SRHF
 
Brandi Nash, MLR   Using electronic math fact games and Power Pens and Power Cards, second graders will increase their quick recall of math facts.  These devices will give immediate feedback to the students and reinforce the correct answer.  Students will graph their progress and be assessed 3-4 times per quarter.
 
Kay Barriger, Oakdale   All Oakdale students will be able to use hands-on activities in the school library’s Makerspace.  Additionally, the STREAM Club (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art and Math) will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays before school to work on projects of particular interest, like robotics, computer coding, and Lego engineering.  Students are challenged to think outside-the-box to solve problems.  The library is no longer a Quiet Space, but an active, collaborative, problem-solving Makerspace!
 
Annette Hays, Salina West   Students will gain career skills, entrepreneurial thinking, creative thinking beyond the traditional 2D and 3D art forms, and an appreciation for how art enhances life when they design shirts, banners, flags, and posters using Screen Printing.  Student creative work could be part of South High and Central’s school stores, so students would have to consider marketing as well as the design and process of making the items.  Students will gain an appreciation of how art impacts our daily lives and even how the art we choose, or choose to wear makes an artistic statement and helps to create our identity.
 
Nancy Bauer, Schilling   Schilling students will receive enough Orff instruments for every child to play.  The Orff method emphasizes movement, singing, playing barred instruments (xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels) and improvisation to teach musical skills and concepts.  The goal is for every student to improvise and create melodies.  A calendar will be created so that there are at least two lessons per grade level per month that students are using the barred instruments.
 
Nikki Chamberlain, S High   Chemistry students will be able to do three different lab activities to determine energy changes in chemical processes: (1) determine the specific heat of an unknown metal, (2) determine the energy content of different foods (after which students will make a recommendation to NASA as to what food would be best to send into space for astronauts), and (3) design a safe, effective, and inexpensive hand warmer.  Students must then support their claim of “best hand warmer” with evidence and reasoning.  The goal of the labs is for students to apply thermochemical principles to a relevant experience.
 
Melanie Hammond, S High   Students working together in pairs will design a Rube Goldberg machine that accomplishes a specific task.  A Rube Goldberg machine is one that ties together many individual steps to accomplish a specific task (e.g. classic Mousetrap game).   Each pair of students will put together 5 simple machines to create a compound machine that solves a particular problem.  Students must then create an instruction manual with an eye-catching cover and name of the machine, a detailed sketch with all the parts of the machine identified, a detailed description of what the machine does, and a trouble-shooting guide.
 
Andria Lilly, Stewart   Four Stewart Kindergarten teachers will set up their classrooms as thematic learning stations for students to rotate through one day each month.  These stations include:  Camping Theme—Back-to-School, Pumpkins, Folktales, Gingerbread Man, 100th day of school, and Hearts, Kindergarten Cardiologists.  Each theme will have activities that engage the students in reading, math, and STEM activities.  For example, the 100^th day of school will feature counting activities.
 
 
 2018-2019 Outside-the-Box Grants reward creativity aimed at expanding students' understanding of their community and the world.

Rhonda Lagroon, Cottonwood   The four social workers who travel back and forth between 8 elementary schools will work with students using “Lego Therapy.”  The therapy is a highly-structured social development program that targets students with social and communication difficulties.  With the therapist guiding, children can learn to communicate better, express their feelings, change their behavior, create problem-solving skills, and learn to develop a positive relationship with others.  SRHF
 
Kim Stoeber, Heusner   Social workers will have access to a fund that helps students and their families overcome barriers to accessing resources (e.g. transportation to medical and mental health appointments, clothing, and emergency food needs). SRHF
 
Tiffany Patrick, Lakewood   During a “Cultural Crawl,” 7^th grade students (South Middle and Lakewood) will experience the interconnectedness of our culture and community and the relevance of culture to a community.  Twelve stations will be stops on the crawl:  Community Access Television, cash hollistah with Salina Arts & Humanities, Lakewood Discovery Center with the Audubon Society, Friends of the River with Kansas Wesleyan Biology Students, Rolling Hills Zoo, Salina Art Center, Salina Community Theatre, Salina Public Library, Smoky Hill Museum, Sculpture Tour Salina, Salina Area United Way, and Salina Downtown.  The SEF will provide transportation.
 
Gina Turner, Meadowlark   Students who have qualified by reading books from the William Allen White Book Award list will travel to Emporia to attend Kansas’s state book award ceremony, meet the winning authors, and then explore historic sites in Emporia.  Students will tour Red Rocks, the William Allen White house, drive by the Emporia Gazette, and visit Peter Pan Park, which was donated to the city of Emporia by White.
 
Kristen Haislett, Oakdale   Third graders will travel to Halstead, KS to visit the Kansas Learning Center for Health.  There they will study the respiratory system by building their own functioning “lungs” and learn how various organs in the body relate to each other.  Upon returning, meaningful discussion and review will occur about how to keep the respiratory system healthy and the importance of respiration to all parts of the body.  Never injure the lungs by smoking is the overriding message.  SRHF
 
Michele Palmgren, South High   At-risk sophomore girls will visit a Navajo reservation where they will work on the reservation, helping families with chores like cooking and cleaning. The girls will engage with Navajo women who openly share their stories.  Students and mentors will explore social emotional reasons for choices they make and tap into the spirit and traditions of the Navajo.  SRHF