We are excited to share that Irvine Public Schools Foundation (IPSF) awarded Venado Middle School with two IPSF Innovative Grants last month. Mrs. Fisher’s project, De-stress for Success, was awarded a mega grant of $20,000 and Mrs. Dawn Godley’s Project, Now You Can Hear Me, What About our Friends?, was awarded $5,000. Each year, IPSF grants help fund innovative approaches at schools throughout the district, which bring deeper meaning to curriculum and improve the educational experiences of students.
Mrs. Fisher worked with our Librarian, Andrea Crammer, Robert Ramirez from IUSD’s facilities department and Mr. Torres, Principal, on the grant. The objective of our project is to create a positive learning environment to reduce student stress, give students the tools to cope with stress, and create a greater sense of community and belongingness at our school site through the creation of a student community resource center. We would like to transform our existing “Library/Media Center” into a “Student Community Resource Center.” We will do this by transforming the physical space, which will then allow us to change how the space functions. Our vision is to create a space on campus that fosters a strong sense of community, that is bustling throughout the day with student productivity, and that offers resources and activities for students that meet not only their diverse needs, but also their diverse interests.
Mrs. Godley’s project will provide sound amplification systems to a number of classrooms. As part of her proposal, Mrs. Godley evaluated the demands on teacher voices and the acoustics of each classroom. The systems will be provided to teachers that demonstrate the highest level of need. The units also come with a student microphone, which amplifies the sound of student voices when they are sharing or asking questions in class. Research supports the use of these systems for increasing student learning and engagement as well as protecting the professional voices of teachers. This is the second grant of this kind which Mrs. Godley has had funded by IPSF.
Congratulations to Mrs. Fisher and Mrs. Godley! These grants would not be possible without parent donations to IPSF, so we would like to all of you who have supported IPSF. Your donations are making a direct impact in the lives of our students every day!! #SupportIPSF