Congratulations to our 2020-2021 Express Grant winners!
Success Peer Groups
Danielle Brown and Stephanie Hebron - Jefferson Junior High School
Monthly peer groups allow students to have honest and open dialogues and an outlet for creative expression. Art and journaling provide a way to express feelings on race and adversity, to increase belonging and connection.
We Are Indestructible!
Jean Abbott - Ann Reid Early Childhood Center
22 classroom sets of 7 indestructible books made of 100% nontoxic material are easy to clean and withstand multiple washes. They can be wiped down between student use, keeping students safe while increasing their reading time
"A Word After a Word After a Word is Power"
Maggie Kulzik - Steeple Run Elementary School
The purchase of Rocketbooks helps support students' writing and language skills in both English and Spanish in an e-learning environment. The reusable notebooks allow students to write by hand and connect with a smart device app to let students instantly scan and upload their writing for their teacher.
Beebe Bobcat Calming Toolkit
Taylor Bird - Beebe Elementary School
Individualized calming toolkits for all Beebe students ensure equitable access and empowerment to use developmentally appropriate social-emotional learning tools. Staff videos and ongoing check-in systems help families and staff utilize resources and adjust to student needs as necessary.
Who's In Your Library? Envisioning Libraries as Reflections of the Passions, Interests, and Identities of Our Readers & Writers
Noor Shammas - Beebe Elementary School
50 staff members can each purchase a book that reflects at least 3 students in their class or with whom they work.
0-100 Decks
Annemarie Pradel - Highlands Elementary School
Each kindergartner receives a number deck of 0-100 cards to help build number sense, construct position of number and work with magnitude of number. The number deck supports them in building language concepts as they relate to math such as the words before and after
Sound All Around
Jennifer Sardone - Kingsley Elementary School
An interactive hands-on learning lab provided by a DuPage Children's Museum educator and the learning commons teacher. Students will receive a set of materials to work remotely and collaboratively to use creativity and imagination to create musical instruments.
Zoomer Crew
Ericka Wagner - Kingsley Elementary School
Helping Kingsley staff and students remain connected and providing social-emotional support for Zoomers during the 2020-21 school year.
Girls STEM Club
Stephanie Shallcross and Jaime Noffke - Meadow Glens Elementary School
This clubs fills social emotional needs to build the girls' confidence in math and STEM and provide a fun and hands-on way to engage with their peers during the pandemic.
Building Digital Media Awareness Through Photography/Cameras in the Classroom
Cortney Sindelar - Naper & Ellsworth Elementary Schools
Cameras in the art room expose students to materials and methods for a new form of artistic expression.
River Woods Grows
Stacey Siambekos - River Woods Elementary School
Purchased Garden Club supplies such as the garden beds, soil, and tools to set up a garden at the school.
Diverse Holiday Books
Safa Dada - Scott Elementary School
This grant addresses the need for diverse holiday books that represent the student population. This grant will provide opportunities for all students to learn about diverse cultures and holidays and to recognize the celebrations that occur in their school community.
Imaginative Play at a Distance
Megan Lara and Molly Harris - Maplebrook Elementary School
Individual play sets support quality play interactions for full day Preschool For All Expansion classrooms during uniquely challenging times. Individual sets support parallel, rather than true cooperative play, which is needed to safely interact due to current safety protocols, where group play furniture had to be removed.
Empower Club Funds
Clarice Ong & Matthew Callaghan - Naperville North High School
Extending the impact of Empower Club by offering learning opportunities to middle school students with the purchase of Circuit Playground Express Hardware.
Reaching All Middle School Readers During Remote Learning
Brian O'Dowd, Tobey Sanford, Jim Gorey, Natasha Konrad, Josh Stumpenhorst, and Melinda Sherry - Washington, Madison, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Jefferson Junior High Schools
Each middle school library holds over 8,000 physical books, and students have access to checking out and picking up books at the buildings during the pandemic. However, not all families can travel to school due to COVID-19, transportation or work schedules. To counter potential inequity of access to books, more audio and ebooks allows more readers more access to more books.
Naperville Children's Business Fair
Athena Chen and Christine Bell - Naperville Central High School
The Naperville Children's Business Fair is an event that showcases local young entrepreneurship and holds competition between the entrepreneurs, divided into three age groups of 5,7 8-11, and 12-14, to see who has the “Most Unique Business Idea” and “Most Unique Presentation."
Math Manipulatives Make a Difference!/Literacy Loveables!
Jennifer Okarma - Summer School
This grant provides literacy manipulatives as well as materials to model and implement active reading and writing strategies for students attending summer school.
