Volume 3 Issue 2

The New York State Department of Education annually awards Learning Technology Grants, worth around $50,000, to public schools that collaborate with non-public schools in designing a technology-integrated project.  Last  St. Francis de Sales School in Herkimer received two grants.

As part of the Learn and Serve America Grant with Owen D. Young School, St .Francis School has received $20,000. 

For this grant, each week the eighth graders and their Language Arts teacher, Sr. Jackie Johnas, visit the local nursing home to write poetry. The students will be publishing a book of different types of poetry written by themselves and the patients at the nursing home. They will then present their project in the spring to other schools via a display and a PowerPoint presentation.

Greg Parch and the Hudson Falls Central School District has recently included St. Mary's School in Ballston Spa in a grant proposal. The funds from this grant have allowed St. Mary's to purchase a Smart Board for their new computer lab, renew their membership in GenY and pay for a  premium account with Gaggle.net.  The Smart Board is used everyday in the computer lab. The Smart Board

has helped the students at St. Mary's understand computer concepts and practice skills together as a class.  The GenY program continues to meet after school each week and have plans for many exciting projects.  Gaggle.net will be used by all class at the school to allow participation in many e-pal activities.