Colts Neck PTO awards mini-grants to 3 schools

By PETER ELACQUA
Staff Writer

COLTS NECK – The Colts Neck PTO is funding more than $14,000 worth of mini-grants in three schools during the 2015-16 school year.

The Colts Neck K-8 School District Board of Education recently announced the grants. The PTO will provide a total of $14,639 to be distributed among the Conover Road Primary School, the Conover Road Elementary School and the Cedar Drive Middle School.

The primary school will receive $3,100; the elementary school will receive $5,744; and the middle school will receive $4,600. Officials said an additional $1,195 will be shared by the primary and elementary schools.

According to PTO Vice President Marian

Castner, who chairs the Mini-Grant Committee, the grants for the primary school will be used to partially fund applications on an Apple TV for a world language teacher; a science presentation for kindergarten, first and second grade; and a Jungle Jumperoo, which is a piece of play equipment for the occupational therapy and physical therapy classroom.

Grant funding for the elementary school will go toward a Battle of Monmouth Trunk Show; a sensory friendly classroom; virtual learning; an icemaker and illuminated magnifier for the nurse; and a performance about Deborah Sampson, a woman who disguised herself as a man in order to fight for the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War.

Other funding for the elementary school will go toward a presentation for third grade pupils by Rob Aptaker that will allow the youngsters to explore the tools, clothing, games and music of the Lenape Native Americans using artifacts Aptaker brings; and science mini grants.

Also, a science and math themed quiz show; supplies for Pi Day for the fifth grade; Monmouth County Park System science programs for grades three and four; a performance from members of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; and a presentation about the human body for the fifth grade.

“There will be an interactive STEAM Day (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) for the elementary and primary schools, with exhibits like ‘Humanoid Robot,’ a 3-D printer, ‘Friction Runaway,’ and stations allowing students to work cooperatively to solve puzzles and understand science and math concepts better,” Castner said.

Grant funding for the middle school will go toward the Colts Neck Heroes Project, in which sixth-graders will nominate people in their lives who are their “heroes” and several of those individuals will be selected and honored in a ceremony; Shakespeare Live, a day-long experience about Shakespeare for eighth-graders; knitting materials; and Spanish and Italian books for classrooms.

“The Colts Neck PTO is always very excited to grant as many mini-grant requests as possible to the three schools in the district,” Castner said. “The grants provide many additional experiences for our children and we always appreciate the teachers and administrators who bring us such great programs and ideas each year.”