The Foundation's mission is to provide financial support for educational projects, programs, and initiatives that will enhance and enliven the classroom experience and promote excellence in West Hartford Public Schools.
The Foundation raises funds from individuals, businesses, and civic groups in the community as well as alumni nationwide. Gifts of $1,000 or more entitle the donor to honor an individual, business or civic group by having the Foundation name a grant. Once a year, certified teachers throughout the school district are invited to apply for grants ranging from $200 to $3,000 for a project that will enhance student experience, complement the curriculum and demonstrate educational merit. A Foundation committee reviews the applications with the teacher's name and school removed. After approval by the Foundation board, awards are presented in late spring of each year.
For more information or to apply for a grant, visit The Foundation's webpage HERE.
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Grants Awarded to this Hall High School this year:
Bank of America Grant: An Inside Look at the U.S. Prison System: Visiting the Women of York Correctional
Jessica Palliardi, Lead Teacher
As part of the Introduction to Sociology course, this grant will allow students from Hall High School to have a first-hand look inside the U.S. prison system by visiting and touring York Correctional Institute in Niantic, CT. The field trip to York Correctional allows students to see prison as a microcosm of society, with its own subculture and norms, and learn about the real "people" behind bars- not just the "criminals." At York, the comprehensive tour will include the intake area, mental health ward, minimum- and maximum-security cells, solitary confinement cells, the prison school, and cafeteria. Students will meet with a panel of inmates who will share their life stories, crimes committed, what they have learned from incarceration, and why they tell their stories to students. Students will have an opportunity to ask questions and interact with the panel. This personal exchange with inmates is the most meaningful for the students and has a profound and lasting impact on them. After the field trip, students will debrief as a class sharing their reactions about being in a prison and interacting with inmates. In addition, students will complete thorough group multimedia research projects on various components of the U.S. prison system, such as pregnant women and racial segregation in prison, prison food, and solitary confinement, and will present their findings to the class.
Cantor Family Grant: Virtual & Augmented Reality in the Classroom with Oculus Rift
Michael Wilkosz, Lead Teacher (Hall High) & Scott Sampeitro, Anthony Truss (Conard High School), James Genovese (Conard High)
Students of all grades at Hall High School have an exciting opportunity to further their STEM and Visual Art skills through the "Virtual and Augmented Reality in the Classroom with Oculus Rift". The purpose of this grant is to introduce Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality into West Hartford Public Schools classrooms to enhance existing STEM curriculum using the Oculus Rift & Touch Virtual Reality Headset. The value that Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality adds to the classroom is its ability to bring components from a digitally created world into a learner's perception of the real world through the integration of sensory information that can be perceived as a naturally occurring part of the environment. Throughout the school year various curriculum lessons and projects will be implemented to include the use of the VR/AR rig to provide students a more in-depth look at their designs, models, or rendered environments. This project will encourage students to explore the STEM areas and to discover all that these learning concepts have to offer. Students will develop and utilize problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills, computer-aided modeling skills, computer programming skills, and collaborative skills. Students will be able to tour created 3D environments as well as create and enhance their own environments. They will also be able to virtually hold their own 3D models in their hands and manipulate the models as if they were actual tangible artifacts. These examples and others like them will further enhance students' overall learning experience.
Pauluk Family Grant: Playwrights at the Playhouse
Corinne Kravetz, Lead Teacher (Conard High) & Hunter Parker (Hall High)
This grant is a cooperative project with Playhouse on Park and the theater programs from Conard and Hall High Schools as an in-residence theater project. The grant will support a full day workshop for the 11th and 12th grade students with Elizabeth Simmons from Playhouse on Park leading the workshop. The project will kick-off with a writing program and culminate with an evening of original plays, open to the public, with a final performance of their work at the Playhouse.
West Hartford SEPTO Grant: Micro Businesses in the 21st Century
Ellen Matos, Lead Teacher & Anna Matthews, Noreen Branley
Funding this grant at Hall High School will partner students with and without disabilities to work together to create micro-businesses that could potentially follow students with disabilities into adulthood. Students will create various different greeting cards (Christmas, Hanukkah, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Graduation) to sell in school and at some local businesses. This grant will cover business start-up costs and allow for business design and marketing strategies.