Groton Dunstable Education Foundation (GDEF)
...helping our students "Reach for the Stars!"
2021-22 Mini Grants
Transfer of Energy Through Collisions Classroom Kits
SU | Wynn & Jankowski
This grant is to provide durable and user-friendly materials to supplement the Mystery Science lessons in 4th Grade at Swallow Union. Students roll marbles down these ramps to investigate the transfer of energy, grapple with the concepts of potential and kinetic energy, and observe the transfer of energy through collisions. There are also timers that allow students to collect precise data during experiments.
Architectural Modeling
HS | Rocheleau
GDEF was pleased to buttress students’ buildings skills with this grant! We provided the premium foam board for students in the Architectural Modeling class at the HS to use as they designed and built a scale model of a structure with foam board. Building helps these budding architects to imagine how designs look like in reality while concurrently providing a craft/leisure skill that is beneficial in promoting mental health, concentration, visual-motor skills, planning, organizing, strategizing, and attending to and remembering details.
Portable EKG Monitors
HS | Fitz
GDEF’s heart beat a little faster as we funded a mini-grant for 5 portable EKG Monitors for students in the Anatomy Class! While students learn about their pulse and blood pressure they can also now see their own EKG tracings in real-time!
Robotomies Sponsorship
HS | Rocheleau
This grant provided sponsorship to the Robotomies; Groton-Dunstable’s For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics team. Students who participate in the Robotimies raise money, rebuild their robot base, and competed as a part of a robotics team!
Volunteer & Interact Club Sponsoship
HS | Marie’Anne D., Andriana M., Natalie G., Ava M., Claire S. with Mrs. Durst as advisor
This grant was to support the Volunteer & Interact Club of Groton-Dunstable Regional High School with materials to be used for fundraisers. Students in this club enjoy being part of a group effort to give back to the Groton- Dunstable community, Massachusetts, and beyond.
SEPAC Partnership - Screen Time & Technology Use
SEPAC | Katie Leonard & Linda Lee
In September 2021, GDEF supported the Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) in hosting Janell Burley Hofmann, who presented on the topic of screen time and technology use among children and adolescents. Ms. Hofmann is the leader of the Slow Tech Movement that seeks to help families maintain healthy boundaries around technology use and keep their tech savvy kids safe online
ISTE Conference
MS | Kaplan
Ms. Kaplan attended the annual ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference in June through a GDEF grant. Her goals in attending and presenting at this conference were to stay abreast of current technology in the classroom and curriculum standards and to represent GDRMS to highlight work she is doing in the classroom.
2021-22 Major Grants
Digi-Blocks
SU & FR | Dinneen & Potter
This grant provides Digi-Blocks for all the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders at Florence Roche and Swallow Union! Digi-Blocks are math manipulatives designed to let children see, feel, and explore the base-10 number system as they learn and develop an understanding of computation from invented and traditional algorithms. Digi-blocks are appropriate learning tools for all learners, from those with special learning needs to those who are ready for challenge and acceleration. These materials are a strong enhancement to the mathematics curriculum in place. They support an integral part of the concrete-representational-abstract approach utilized in our district and will become an integral part of the concrete-representational-abstract approach that we utilize in our school district.
Social Justice Mural
HS | Caroline C., Saanvi G., Kyla H., Mahi K., Bella P., Sydney P, Avery C, Valentina T-O with advisors Ian Wilkins & Alison Sancinito
This grant was to support the Anti Defamation League (ADL) World Of Difference Organization in creating a large social justice mural at Groton Dunstable Regional High School to welcome, promote inclusion, diversity, acceptance, support, and change through artwork. The students shared with GDEF they want students to be represented in the mural and for it to spark curiosity about the importance of these topics in our school and community in an immediate and informal manner. This mural will be the next step over an ordinary set of posters and place a foundation of positivity when students walk through the door and set the tone for a safe space.
Collaborative Thinking Whiteboards
MS | 7th Grade Math Teachers
GDEF funded whiteboards to encourage collaboration during math and improve students’ ability to communicate their mathematical understanding.
Decodable Text in Kindergarten
FR & SU | Densmore, Lattini, Vargeletis, Olson, Allen, Kavanagh, McEvoy, DiDomenico, Hart, Shreve, Twomey, Avis, Guilfoil, Pierantozzi, Lemont, Haimla, Marino
This grant will jump-start GDRSD in providing access to more decodable texts during Kindergarten reading workshop times. Updated reading research shows that kindergarteners should spend 40-50% of their reading practice time reading decodable texts. Practicing phonics skills in decodable text promotes decoding skills so students can eventually tackle more complex texts with greater ease.
Thinker Analytix Course/ Argument Mapping
HS | Reynolds & Cook
This grant gives GDRHS students access to an online course, developed by Thinker Analytix to help students build logic and reasoning skills using a research-backed method called argument mapping.