Foundation awards $8,020 for 10 projects.
WEST WINDSOR The West Windsor-Plainsboro Education Foundation recently announced it has awarded $8,020 in minigrants from its winter grant cycle.
"The West Windsor-Plainsboro Education Foundation seeks grant proposals that are educationally innovative," said Marcia Fleres, executive director of the foundation. "We fund projects that are not provided for in the standard school budget with the intent that funded projects will have a lasting and positive impact on students."
After receiving 23 proposals from teachers and students in the district for consideration this season, the foundation approved the following 10 projects:
A $500 grant to Rick Ellis, a computer teacher at Dutch Neck Elementary School, that will allow students to use computer microscopes and an iChat camera to conduct science research and hold video conferences to share their data.
A $450 grant to Krista Davis and Cathy Gregorio, fourth-grade teachers at Millstone River School, to foster philanthropy and enhance children’s reading and speaking skills by allowing fourth-graders to practice and model reading picture books onto tapes. The tapes and several tape recorders will be donated to Martin House’s after-school program for underprivileged children in Trenton.
A $780 grant to Jennifer Grosse, a fourth-grade teacher at Millstone River School, for a project that provides fourth-graders with an introduction to the works of William Shakespeare, and the opportunity to perform in the 12th Annual New York City Student Shakespeare Festival.
A $500 grant to Sarah Hugger, an eighth-grade teacher at Thomas Grover Middle School, for a project that will introduce eighth-graders to writing for publications by enabling them to publish a book of personal narratives, which will then be used as teaching tools for sixth-graders.
A $1,000 grant to Denise Weber, Rebecca Saba, Virginia Baner and Wanda Rinker, all teachers at Community Middle School, for a project to rehabilitate the Environmental Learning Center Trail, which runs behind Community Middle School and Millstone River School, by allowing surveys to be done of existing flora and fauna, as well as comparative water studies.
A $1,000 grant to Menakshi Bhattacharya, a science teacher at High School South, to purchase equipment for several classes and clubs to use gel electrophoresis, a simple experimental procedure that can be used to separate, visualize and analyze proteins and DNA, to visualize DNA from a variety of sources.
A $1,000 grant to Brett Frankel, co-president of the Future Problem Solvers Club at High School South, for the club to continue its competitive success at the state and international levels.
A $1,000 grant to Mary Jacobsen, Jon Enz and Mark Becivengo, all of High School North, for a Concert for Hope event, which is sponsored by the High School North Music Department, and scheduled for May 26 at Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.
A $1,000 grant for Deborah Marinsky and Randye McBride, media specialists at High School South, for a speaker series on different aspects of documentary filmmaking for interested high school students.
A $790 grant for Tiffany Seeley, Lawrence Swesey, Zetta Kamm and Marc Dorfman, science teachers at High School South, for a program that will allow students to use electronic circuit kits to create electrical circuits that they utilize in everyday life such as light switches, fans and speakers.
"The grant process is a competitive process since we receive more minigrant applications than we have the ability to fund," said Ms. Fleres. "The minigrant committee reviews all applications and ranks them in priority order based on innovation and the positive impact on students."
The grants are awarded by the foundation which is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1995 twice a year. The foundation plans to announce dates for the spring minigrant cycle this month.

