TEACHER GRANTS
“It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment.”
-Carl Friedrich Gauss
SMITHTOWN SCHOOLS TEACHER GRANT
SCF Awards teacher grants to allow for innovation in the classroom that would otherwise not have been possible. Our First Annual Smithtown Teacher Grant was awarded to Jane Chalifoux, a fifth grade teacher at Branch Brook Elementary to be used for the betterment of her classroom. The application for this grant is available to ALL teachers in the school district each the fall & the SCF will award the innovative teacher each February at our Kisses For Kaylee Memorial Dinner/Dance.
LILSA FELICE & STEPHANIE MCKINNEY
SMITHTOWN HIGH SCHOOL WEST - FAST PROGRAM
Our 2019 Teacher Grant was awarded to Lisa and Stephanie who chair the FAST program at Smithtown High School West. Students in FAST have special education classifications and are learning functional skills in order to be independent members of the community. The proceeds from our grant will help these students further their own business enterprise, named Bull Market, selling homemade holiday home décor. Specifically proceeds will be used to purchase a heat press machine.
KIMBERLY WILLIAMS
SMITHTOWN HIGH SCHOOL WEST SCIENCE TEACHER
Our 2018 Teacher Grant was awarded to Kimberly who teaches two SUNY Stonybrook College courses, Oceanography & Marine Ecology. She will be using the funds to provide seating to promote an alternate learning environment! #outdoorlearninglab, #optoutside, #freshair
SHEILA TOBIN CAVOORIS
GREAT HOLLOW MIDDLE LIBRARIAN
Our 2017 Teacher Grant was awarded to Sheila who runs the Peanut Butter Gang Community Service Club as well as the Digital Media/Makers Space Club. Because of this grant, these clubs will now collaborate on a project using cutting edge 3d printer technology to create prosthetic hands for children in need. The benefits are many, it will give the students the opportunity to increase their STEM skills, and more importantly to our mind’s eye, it will help develop our students’ trait of empathy & make them compassionate global citizens. This project once off the ground would establish GH as an eNABLE Community Chapter, so that those in need of a prosthetic could be matched in our area.
ALI CHESELKA & LILLIAN VITALE
NESAQUAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL
FAMILY CONSUMER SCIENCE + TECHNOLOGY CLUB
recieved a 2016 Teacher Grant for their Grow It Green Project. These dynamic, outside of the box educators took a defunct greenhouse & turned it into a hydroponic garden, affording their students the opportunity to learn useful hands on skills in a less structured environment.
TIM NEEDLES
SMITHTOWN HIGH SCHOOL EAST
ART TEACHER
was awarded our 2016 Teacher Grant to help his art students & the School Improvement Team. Their vision was to invite international artist, Jon Burgerman to help them create a colorful, inspiraional mural to beautify & live on at their school!
DONNA DELUCA
ACCOMPSETT MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARIAN
was awarded a Teacher Grant by the foundation for her enthusiasm & vision in planning & expanding her school's Digital Media Lab. After attending a workshop & doing some research on her own, this dedicated educator cleared out a storage closet, raised funds from Book Fairs, bought an iMac, green screen, lighting kit & camera & their first Newscast aired on March 2014. She then started a club with over 50 students enrolled producing PSAs & conducting interviews. She encouraged other teachers to assign projects with media project component. Our grant will allow her to expand her vision & to create musical compositions, podcasts & radio programs/talk shows.
SUZANNE GOLDSTEIN
ACCOMPSETT MIDDLE SCHOOL FACS TEACHER
was awarded a Teacher Grant by the foundation after she began a project with her Life Skills class to design/sew costumes for The Sunrise Fund's Fashion Show. The SCF provided funding so that the students were able to present gifts of decorated Tshirts, flip flops & visors for the models who are all patients at Stony Brook Children's Hospital.
DOREEN KELLY
SMITHTOWN HS EAST
COMMERCE TEACHER
was recently awarded a Teacher Grant by the foundation at our dinner/dance. The grant is to help fund her class to compete regionally with other students from other school districts to win seed money for the students' ecommerce businesses.
