District 95 Educational Foundation

For Immediate Release

Teachers Awarded Grants for Innovation from School District 95 Educational Foundation

LAKE ZURICH, Ill (December 11, 2007) - As a part of its second funding initiative, the School District 95 Educational Foundation approved four grants for teacher innovation, which were awarded this past November.  The School District 95 Educational Foundation awards educational grants annually in the spring and fall.  They provide teachers with teaching tools and supplies for programs or equipment that are particularly innovative and ones that would not be considered for funding by the School District.  
Those awarded grants fall 2007 included:

• Middle School North Science Teacher Jerry Clemens for the materials to build eight Earthquake Shake Tables and purchase a computerized Earthquake Tower tremor table enabling students to simulate earthquake waves and resonance frequency displacement.
• Lake Zurich High School Math Teacher J.B. Hanson for a Tablet PC, enabling creation of an online database of student solved geometric proofs that will prove invaluable to students studying for ACT math exams.
• Middle School North Family & Consumer Arts Teacher Pam Grimm for the purchase of computerized embroidery software enabling students to turn computer designs into embroidery designs.  The software will be used by Home Economics, Art, Drama and Health students for a variety of projects including creating fundraising apparel for school sponsored events and philanthropies.
• Lake Zurich High School Biology Teachers Laura Cohen and Chris McOmber for equipment enabling Honors Biology students to extract and amplify samples of their own DNA resulting in a “hands-on” environment for research technology and DNA sequencing.

 
The School District 95 Educational Foundation is an outgrowth of the school district’s latest Strategic Plan.  As a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, the Foundation is an independent organization working with District 95 to support activities that enhance, enrich and supplement instructional opportunities for CUSD 95 learners consistent with the school district’s core values and mission.
For more information about the School District 95 Educational Foundation, contact Jim Jennings, foundation liaison, at (847) 540-5494 or LeJane Carson at (847) 884.0000.  For more information about the Teacher Innovation Grant program, contact Lori Smith, Chair of the Grant Review Committee, at (847) 540-5494.

Middle School North students are excited to begin utilizing a variety earthquake simulating equipment including a computerized tremor table, made possible by a Teacher Innovation Grant awarded to Jerry Clemens, Middle School North Science Teacher. School District 95 Educational Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, awarded grants as part of the second funding initiative for teacher innovation last month.	Studying for the ACT exam will be a lot easier for these Lake Zurich High School students thanks to a grant awarded to Math Teacher, J.B. Hanson, for the purchase of a Tablet PC which will enable him to compile an online database of student solved geometric proofs. This database will be extremely beneficial to students preparing for the ACT math exams, which is nearly 40 percent geometry based. The Foundation encourages teachers to apply for grants to provide new programs to engage students and enhance their overall classroom experience.
Middle School North Family & Consumer Arts Teacher Pam Grimm was awarded a grant from the School District 95 Educational Foundation for computerized embroidery equipment enabling students to turn computer designs into embroidery designs. The software will be used by Home Economics, Art, Drama and Health Students for a variety of projects including creating fundraising apparel for the school sponsored events and philanthropies.	Laura Cohen and Chris McOmber, Lake Zurich High School Biology Teachers shown here with their students, accept a check to fund technology for innovative "hands on" DNA research in the classroom. This is just one of the grants awarded by School District 95 Educational Foundation to provide enrichment and supplemental instruction opportunities for CUSD 95 learners.