Point Beach Foundation Awards Grants to Teachers

The Point Pleasant Beach Education Foundation has just awarded $14,707 in grants to teachers for new technology, equipment, books and supplies, and a donation towards Project Graduation.

The foundation awarded $12,707 to nine teachers for various educational purposes and also awarded $2,000 to

The grants included $250 for Jeanne Kinneally, the teacher of the year at G. Harold Antrim Elementary School and $250 for Cindy Kells, teacher of the year at Point Beach High School, said Schools Superintendent John Ravally.

He said that at last Friday night's the two teachers received the teacher of the year grants which they will use for classroom supplies.

The foundation's funding comes from private donations, mostly from fundraisers such as an annual golf outing and the annual Hall of Fame dinner.

The recent round of grants is a continuation of foundation contributions, which have amounted to about $355,948 since 1994, according to a foundation page of the school district web site, which lists grants awarded each year.

"The Education Foundation awards grants annually to teachers that apply for the grants," Ravally said. "The trustees consider each of the applications and then awards what they can afford based on the applications received and the needs identified."

On Thursday, Scott Kuzmic, the President of the Education Foundation, and Joyce Popaca, foundation treasurer, delivered grant award letters to the selected teachers at and the

This year's grants (see attached PDF) are as follows for Point Beach High School:

$500 to upgrade equipment for Global T.V. production for the Global Issues class that is an elective Social Studies class taught by Silvio DeCristofano. Students use television production equipment to learn and present subject matter relevant in current events.

$279 for a digital electronic map set to be used by Michele D. Mosca, a Social Studies teacher. The electronic map set is projected onto a white board.

$1,500 to buy a U-pointer, which turns a projector into "an interactive projector," Ravally said. It will be used by Mosca with the electronic map set.

$414 for Math teacher Maureen Caprio to buy three Ipevo Ziggi document cameras, which looks like an overhead projector, but is more advanced and can be used to project work from student papers onto a screen in the front of the class so a teacher can illustrate a point by citing examples from high-quality student work.

$1,000 for English teachers Mandy Coleman and Liz deBeer to buy books for an after-school book club where books are read and discussed among students in a small group setting. Some of the books are also used during regular class time.

$2,300 to buy a Bright Link projector that allows a white board to become interactive and acts as a platform to access the Internet. This grant was also awarded to Coleman and deBeer.

$1,200 for Clarissa Sakowicz, a physical education teacher, to buy a Stairmaster stair climber for the school's fitness center

Grants for teachers at Antrim are as follows:

$2,814 to Tara Weber, a third grade teacher, to buy an Education City software program that allows students to supplement learning through games and animated and interactive activities. This will be shared by students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade in Math, Science and English classes.

$1,500 for Maureen DeJacimo, occupational therapist, to buy three I-Pads for student relative services, which includes speech, occupational and physical therapy. The I-Pads will enable teachers to use assisted technology to work better with students with challenges.

$670 to Holly Harris, a fifth grade teacher, for LiveScribe pen and notebooks, which allow students to record what they write and transfer the data onto computers where they can do editing and other work.