Carlisle Public Schools: $6,250 Innovation Grant to participate in the Challenge Success Program developed by Stanford University. Beginning in Fall 2016, Challenge Success will provide coaching and planning for school leadership, faculty, students and parents to provide a well-balanced and meaningful curriculum to maximize student learning, and to build a community of respect in a safe and health learning environment.

Carrie Wilson and 4 faculty members: $3,280 Professional Development Grant to attend the 2016 Building Learning Communities Education Conference, part of the Alan November Learning Institute, in Boston this July. This conference will assist in the initiative to plan a collaborative visionary model of integrated technological teaching in Carlisle Public Schools.

Brad Cranston and Wendy Stack, 7th Grade Math Teachers: $3,840 Professional Development Grant to attend the National Science Teachers Association 2016 National Conference in Nashville. In addition, CEF invited Engineering Specialist Ginny Lamere to also attend the conference to further enhance how Carlisle Public Schools integrate engineering into the curriculum.

Frances Ingram, Special Educator: $695 Professional Development Grant to attend a Wilson Reading System introductory workshop in June. The goal of the workshop is to improve learning outcomes for students who struggle with reading due to a language-based disability.

Maya Bery, Librarian: $1,855 Professional Development Grant to attend the International Society for Technology in Education conference in Denver this June. Maya was selected to be a PBS Learning Media Digital Innovator for the 2016-17 school year. Attending this conference will allow her to take sessions covering the latest in education technology, apps, technology integration and instruction, all particularly relevant as she will be integrating new iPads into the library curriculum as the final phase in the library transformation to learning commons.

Lesley Yanka and 3 faculty members: $956 Professional Development Grant to attend the Guided Math Seminar featuring Deborah Allen Wirth and Dr. Barbara Blake. The goal of the seminar is to learn teaching strategies to increase motivation, involvement and success in math.

Linda Vanaria and 12 additional faculty members: $6,450 Professional Development Grant to attend the B.U. School of Education Summer Literacy Institute in June. The objective of the program is to learn effective teaching strategies to increase educational opportunities for all literary learners. This grant will be supplemented by Carlisle Public School professional development funds.

Liz Perry, 7th Grade Math: $1,755 Professional Development Grant to attend the MidSchoolMath National Conference in Santa Fe, NM from February 19-20, 2016. This conference is focused entirely on middle school math topics. Participants will learn and co-create with some of the nation’s most extraordinary teachers using a combination of the oldest and newest forms of pedagogy, from story-telling and mathematics to cutting edge software. Topics include developing your own curriculum; building a mathematical culture in the classroom; motivation and drive, the importance of a growth mindset, teaching to understand why, not just how; universal design for learning, and more.

Jeff Hechenbleikner, School Psychologist: $1,749 Professional Development Grant to attend the National Association of School Psychologists 2016 Annual Convention from Feb. 10-13, 2016 in New Orleans. His goals are to stay abreast current best practices, learn strategies and interventions that will help better serve the current school population, and be able to share these learned strategies with teachers, staff, students and parents.

Maya Bery, Librarian: $997 Professional Development Grant to attend the American Association of School Librarians Conference in Ohio this November. The AASL Conference brings together librarians from throughout the country to share the latest trends and technologies to support student learning.

Andrea Steffek, Spanish Instructor: $1,940 Professional Development Grant to enroll in a Spanish for Spanish Teachers course in Costa Rica. This course is designed for teachers and will increase their pedagogical expertise by discussing controversial grammatical topics, as well as addressing how to integrate culture, history and politics into the current curriculum.

Lesley Yanka, Dennet Sidell, Jack Tiano and one Special Educator: $7,620 Professional Development Grant to attend the Bureau of Education and Research conference, Co-Teaching that Works, in December. This intensive four-day conference in Boston features two top Co-Teaching experts and will focus on how to deliver high-quality, engaging and effective Co-Teaching training to all faculty, Pre-K through Grade 8.

Carlisle Public Schools, Dennet Sidell: $23,950 Innovation Grant to install amplification systems in every elementary and grade 5 classroom, as well as world language, music and art classrooms. In addition, the grant will also cover funding for 20 student microphones. These units assist teachers in having their voice heard when talking with the class so that all students hear instruction in ways they had not before. When students address the class, they can feel confident that all peers can hear them equally well. Students can also use the microphone, which allows all students in the classroom to easily hear each child when he/she is addressing the classroom. Students are less likely to become distracted if the hear all parts of a conversation and find it easier to stay on task even when given two- and three-part directions.