MILLSTONE- Township schools have an extra $19,702 to spend on programs thanks to the Millstone Township Foundation for Educational Excellence.

The foundation,which recently awarded its spring 2008 grants, is a nonprofit organization that raises funds to provide innovative programs, educational opportunities, staff development, and state-of-the-art teaching materials and equipment that are beyond the scope of the general school budget, according to Christine Alves, the foundation's information officer.

"The majority of our funds are raised through our two yearly signature events, the Fore theKids golf outing and the annual Cupid's Ball," Alves said. "This year's golf outingwill be held at Battleground Country Club on October 2 of this year."

The largest award in the latest grant cycle amounted to $14,779 for the thirdgrade "SMART Board - Smarter Classrooms" project. Third-grade teacher Jason Miller said the new technology changes the way lessons are delivered.

"The SMARTBoard is considered handson, minds-on technology to help support children to demonstrate what they know in a multiple of ways,"Miller said. "The SMART Notebook software makes it possible for teachers to create content-rich, dynamic lessons that address specific child skills."

Miller said the SMART Board allows teachers to pull from a variety of resources to meet the particular needs of students with different learning styles.

"It will also enable children to be more creative in presentations to their classmates, while increasing their self-confidence," Miller said. "Children have greater opportunities for participation and collaboration, while also developing personal and social skills."

For example, in the Virtual Zoo project with a SMART Board, children research an animal of their choice on the Internet and use various search engines to viewa vast selection ofWeb sites that contain information on the animals, he said. Then, the students organize an outline of the information on the computer.

"The SMART Board software enables children to put information into their outlines using the SMART pens," he said. "The children then take the outline and put it into paragraph form."

Children would also learn how to create multimedia presentations that include video, pictures, artwork and an audio clip via a SMART Board, he said. Children would also create Microsoft Power Point slides, he said.

Nancy Osterberg, a special education teacher at the elementary school, received a $534 grant to attend the 2008 National Autism Conference in State College, Pa.

"This conference provides comprehensive, evidence-based information to assist teachers in developing effective educational and therapeutic programming for all students with autismspectrumdisorders," Osterberg said.

At the conference, shewill become up-todate on the current research findings concerning autism spectrum disorders in the areas of assessment, instruction and behavior and communication. She will also learn more about incorporating instructional technology to increase academic achievement.

"As I learn and am able to incorporate newresearch-based practices, Iwill be better equipped to meet my students' individual needs," she said. "I will also bemaking a resource booklet for all teachers to use as a reference, sections including: assessment and instruction, communication and behavior; this booklet, ideally, will help all teachers meet the needs of their students as well."

Teachers Lisa McManus and Lisa Dittmeier received a $2,125 grant for a SMART Board for the sixth-grade math classes. They said the board would enhance the everyday math curriculum.

"Students will be able to view mathematicsmore visually, be able tomanipulate data and become more actively involved in the learning process," Dittmeier said. "The SMART Boards utilize technology in the classroom, which has been an ongoing district goal."

She added that SMART Boards engage andmotivate studentswhile improving student performance.

"Lessons can facilitate numerous activities by presentingwhole-class instruction in a big colorful way, allowing for group projects, presentations, re-teaching, enrichment, and bringing online resources into the classroom," she said. "They also address different learning styles and provide for differentiation."

With the use of a SMART Board, studentswould also be able to access lessons at home.

Second-grade teacher Joanne Schiumo received a grant for $2,264 for "ANewVoice" project. The program would enhance and enrich the language arts curriculum by helping children express themselves and develop their public speaking abilities.

Childrenwill be videotaped as they read their own stories. Through playback, the students will be able to hear their intonations, Schiumo said. She also hopes to generate a podcast of the audio.

The foundation accepts grant applications twice a year- once in the spring and once in the fall, according to Alves.

"Due to our own budget constraints, we are limited in the number of grants that can be funded each cycle," Alves said.

She said the foundation received 12 grant applications for the spring cycle,making this one of themost difficult grant cycles for the organization.

"We hate to turn down any grant, butwe also have an obligation to our sponsors and supporters to be fiscally responsible while holding true to our mission of enriching education for Millstone's public school children," Alves said.

She explained that each application is reviewed and rated based on its objectives, impact, timeline and budget. The grants ultimately funded are those that will provide the greatest educational benefit to students with adequate and realistic budgets tomeet the project's objectives.

Those applications that were not funded did notmeet criteria, could be funded through other sources, could be fulfilled with existing equipment, or exceeded the funds available in the grant cycle, according to Alves.

The MTFEE always encourages applicants to resubmit their proposals in future cycles, she said.

The foundation has awarded over $335,000 in grants to the Millstone Township public schools.

"Grants have been awarded at every grade level and in every discipline," Alves said. "Every child thatmatriculates through our school district will in some way benefit from a Millstone Township Foundation for Educational Excellence funded grant."

Formore information about the foundation and the grant program, visit www.mtfee.org.