FEF Awards 30 Project Grants for the 2024-2025 School Year
These 30 projects will bring exciting, innovative learning activities to students at all schools and grades; they are wonderful results of the dedication of our educators and the generosity of our community. FEF is grateful to all of you for everything you do every day and for creating these remarkable projects. We can’t wait to see them come to life!
MULTI-SCHOOL NEW PROJECTS
Curling with All Fourth Graders in Falmouth
Wendy Scholes, David Watson, Carrie Shanahan, Susan Fishback, Adam Tyson
Liaison: Beth Dussán
All grade 4 students will continue their discovery of Curling through visits to the Cape Cod Curling Club, where they will train on the ice, learn new skills in activity centers run by Curling Club volunteers, and meet a para-Olympian.
VIPS Be BOLD Program Encourages Confidence, Curiosity, Leadership and Connection
Tracey Crago
Liaison: Gloria Borgese
This project, an 8-week mentoring program for grade 4 girls in all four elementary schools, is designed to provide connection, promote inclusion, and celebrate diversity.
Welcoming Multilingual Students to our Schools Through Stories - Christine Nicholson
Liaison: Beth Dussán
This project, which includes both staff development and classroom activities, will identify and implement ways to ensure that multilingual students and their families feel at home in Falmouth and in their schools.
MULTI-SCHOOL CONTINUING PROJECTS
Beyond Books: Meet the Author - Tara Draper and Elizabeth Do
Liaison: Denise MacKerron
This grant will pay for author visits to East Falmouth and Mullen Hall schools, giving students the chance to engage with real authors and gain insight into their creative processes.
EAST FALMOUTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONTINUING PROJECTS
Everyday Speech - Lindsay Marble
Liaison: Sally Hauck
This grant supports social-emotional learning for grades K-4. Classroom teachers use “Everyday Speech” as a guide to help students with anxiety management and mindfulness by giving them a school-wide shared vocabulary to express their emotions.
Making It Up: Expanding Our Library Makerspace Tara Draper
Liaison: Denise MacKerron
This grant provides Makerspace materials that teach collaboration, problem-solving and computational thinking skills to students in pre-K through grade 4.
FALMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL NEW PROJECTS
Sip It! FHS Ceramics Mug Sale - Corine Adams
Liaison: Beth Dussán
In collaboration with the Museums on the Green and an acclaimed artist, students will study and work with advanced clay building and ceramic decorating techniques to create a variety of functional and decorative mugs.
Back to the Lighthouse -Jane Baker
Liaison: Sally Hauck
The purpose of this grant is to take a fresh look at lighthouses of Cape Cod, with a renewed appreciation for their form, function, and history. Students from Falmouth High School and Morse Pond will take on a variety of art and writing projects.
Bringing New England FIRST Robotics Competition to FHS - Andrew Cozzens and Carmela Mayeski
Liaison: Phil Alatalo
This project will establish a FIRST Robotics Team at Falmouth High School. The team will design and build a robot up to 5 feet tall and 120 pounds weight to compete in a complex soccer-like game against teams from across the world.
Literary Adaptation Experiential Opportunity Katherine deMelo and Danille Phipps
Liaison: Ellen Barol
Students will read a play in class and then see it performed by the Actors Shakespeare Project in Boston to analyze what the playwright chose to include or not include from the text as part of their adaptation.
Exploring STEAM at the American Museum of Natural History and Broadway - Heather Goodwin
Liaison: Ellen Barol
AP Biology students will travel to New York City to visit the American Museum of Natural History. While there, they will participate in a “selfie-scavenger hunt” and view evolution and biodiversity exhibits. Later in the year, the students will create a game for younger students at the annual science fair.
Farming for Social Change - Ben Harden
Liaison: Ellen Barol
The grant will support the expansion of the Food Justice Initiative into a year-round, two-level learning experience through the purchase of a new greenhouse. Students will learn advanced farming methods and engage with community partners.
Ekphrasis 2.0 - Lauren Kenny and Jane Baker
Liaison: Phil Alatalo
AP Literature and AP Art students will travel to New York City to attend the American Museum of Natural History and based on the vast collection of natural history, create their own art through poetry, paintings, and essays.
NMEA Conference Professional Development - Cheryl Milliken
Liaison: Lynette Robinson
This grant pays for registration at the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) conference held this summer in Boston, MA. This conference will allow the grantee to network with other marine science educators and experts and to build content for a new course.
Marine Ecology and Engineering Field Trip - Cheryl Milliken
Liaison: Lynette Robinson
This project funds transportation to our unique local oceanographic and ecological institutions. The Buoy and Mooring Labs at WHOI will provide inspiration to budding engineers; the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve will help students appreciate the complex ecology of marshes and bays.
Colombian Cooking Demonstration and Class - Katie Stanton
Liaison: Gloria Borgese
The Spanish Honor Society students will attend a cooking demonstration with a local Colombian chef to experience what they have been learning about traditional Colombian cuisine. Students will follow the directions taught in the target language and work together to make their own arepas.
I Remember When - Danielle Velesig, Tracey Crago, Rachel Lovett
Liaison: Denise MacKerron
This project, a collaboration among Falmouth High School, Museums on the Green, VIPS, and Neighborhood Falmouth, will train students to conduct oral history interviews. The project will culminate in a video premiere gathering at Museums on the Green for participants and their families and friends.
FALMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL CONTINUING GRANTS
Cultivating Well-Being Through Green Spaces - Rupert Gordon
Liaison: Beth Dussán
This project ensures that every classroom in the school will have access to the benefits of living plants. Plants are maintained by students.
French is Fun! - Susan Schmidt, Kristen Mills, Dan Perea-Kane, Rebekah Sandefer
Liaison: Gloria Borgese
This project focuses on the cultivation of interest in French language and culture, through FHS - led workshops at Lawrence and Morse Pond.
LAWRENCE SCHOOL NEW PROJECTS
Sustainable Gardening - Kristina Woods and Caitlin Church
Liaison: Ellen Barol
Partnering with the Food Justice Initiative will provide training for teachers in activities focused on cultivation, space management, and awareness of social justice issues related to agriculture and food.
Building Blitz - Leaving Our Legacy in the Community - Bob Porto
Liaison: Lynette Robinson
Grade 8 grade students will use their Engineering skills in service to the community by constructing needed items for local organizations and nonprofits.
Rwandan Genocide Survivor - Donald Valentine
Liaison: Ellen Barol
Grade 8 students will gain a deeper understanding of human rights issues through the visit of Rwandan genocide survivor Claude Intare Kayitare.
LAWRENCE SCHOOL CONTINUING PROJECTS
Railcar Rally-Engineers Playing “Engineers” - Bob Porto
Liaison: Lynette Robinson
Grade 8 students will use their Engineering skills to build and race railroad style pump trolleys, while in their social studies classes students will explore Falmouth’s railroad history. The project culminates in a ride aboard the Cape Cod Train from North Falmouth over the canal to Buzzards Bay.
MORSE POND SCHOOL CONTINUING PROJECTS
Bringing Presenters to Provide Windows, Mirrors and Sliding Doors for Our Morse Pond Scholars
Elizabeth Abbott
Liaison: Phil Alatalo
This grant will inspire a lifelong love of reading as well as a spirit of acceptance through the school-wide participation in visits from diverse performers and presenters. Every visit is surrounded by cross-disciplinary activities and lessons and selected related books.
MULLEN HALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEW PROJECTS
Building Bridges: Books for Beginning Readers - Elizabeth Do
Liaison: Denise MacKerron
This grant will provide the Mullen Hall library with updated, contemporary, and appealing Early Reader and Early Chapter books, as students transition from leveled readers.
Curiosity Corner: Exploring, Creating, Innovating - Meghan Pozzati
Liaison: Phil Alatalo
This project will continue to foster creativity, innovation, and hands-on learning among K-grade 4 students through maintaining and updating the materials in the current Makerspace.
TEATICKET CONTINUING PROJECTS
Classroom Ensembles with Orff - Marjorie Huelsman
Liaison: Sally Hauck
This project provides Orff instruments to support the use of Schulwerk, an instructional method that teaches elements of rhythm and melody.
NORTH FALMOUTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEW PROJECTS
Infusing Computational Thinking into the Classroom with Root Robots - Kristin Bergeron
Liaison: Sally Hauck
A classroom set of coding robots and coding mats will provide a platform for hands-on learning and the development of STEM skills.
Fiber Arts & Crafts Center - Kathryn Famely
Liaison: Sally Hauck
Students in Grades 1-4 will have the opportunity to work with fiber arts while exploring their own ideas, developing fine motor skills, and enhancing focus and self-discipline
NORTH FALMOUTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONTINUING PROJECTS
Authors Come Alive - Kristin Bergeron
Liaison: Sally Hauck
This project, a collaboration with Eight Cousins, will bring authors to the school. The students will have the opportunity to experience an author visit, learn about the creative process, and receive a free copy of a book by the author.
