Date: September 15, 1997
Contact: Irene Cromer
703/791-8720
 

The following Prince William County schools and departments have been awarded grants to be used to enhance and improve the school division's programs. The grant recipients will be recognized at an upcoming meeting of the Prince William County School Board.

Kilby Elementary School

Kilby Elementary School has been awarded a "Read Me a Story" mini-grant of $200 by Reading is Fundamental (RIF), Inc. RIF, a national nonprofit organization, administers the Visa-sponsored "Read Me a Story" minigrant program. Grants are awarded to RIF participating schools based on the number of stories read to groups of children; the more stories read, the higher the grant. The grant funds will be used to purchase books for Kilby's reading programs. Pamela Chryst, reading teacher, submitted the grant application which noted that, between November 1 and December 31, 1996, 383 Kilby students read, or had read to them 1006 stories.

Kilby was also awarded a $200 Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom grant for its "Green Thumb Gardening Project." The Virginia Agriculture in the Classroom minigrant program is open to any educator in grades K through 12 in Virginia. Grants of up to $200 are awarded for expenses to provide for original and creative activities or programs that effectively integrate agriculture into a regular classroom. Kilby's "Green Thumb Gardening Project" integrates language arts, science, guidance, math, physical education and social studies as students plant and care for a garden. The grant funds will be used to purchase materials and

Henderson Elementary School

The George Mason University Foundation Institute for Educational Transformation has awarded a $970 Quality Fund Grants to Henderson Elementary School for its "Project P.A.W.S. (Penpals Are Writing Stories)." Henderson's proposal offers kindergarten and first grade classes the opportunity to expand their skills through the use of technology through an inter-grade penpal project. The grant funds will purchase software, hardware and other supplies for the project which was submitted by Janet Bartolotta, kindergarten teacher, and Karen Harris, first grade teacher.

C.D. Hylton High School

The Virginia Commission for the Arts has awarded C.D. Hylton High School an Arts in Education Technical Assistance Grant in the amount of $500. The funds are to be applied against the expenses of a teacher attending the Educational Theatre Association's International Conference which was held in August in Toronto, Canada. Theatre educators from the U.S., Canada and other countries attended this year's conference, which was entitled "Theatre Without Borders." The application was submitted by Julie Ross Clark, who attended the conference.

Department of Curriculum and Staff Development

The Virginia Department of Education has awarded two Driver Education Incentive Grants, one for $7,000 and one for $6,200, to the department of curriculum and staff development. The grants provided the school division with seed money to support a driver education parent involvement video program and a teacher certification program in defensive driving techniques program. The parent involvement video project was submitted by James Council, curriculum supervisor. Council and James Sorrell, drivers' education teacher at Woodbridge High School, submitted the proposal on defensive driving techniques.

Media Production Services

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded a grant for $18,000 to Media Production Services to support the production and distribution of a satellite field trip entitled "Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge." The project coordinator is Ben Swecker, supervisor of media production services.