The Dover Middle School Guidance Department will be putting on a two hour research-based presentation on Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: Seven ways to Stop the Worry Cycle.This presentation, which is open to all Dover School and the surrounding community, will showcase the work of nationally renowned anxiety speaker, author and therapist, Lynn Lyons.
Rube-Goldbags
Allison Friend-Gray of Dover Middle School received funding to purchase Rube-Goldbags from Rube Goldberg, Inc. a not-for-profit company created to continue the legacy of the great American author, engineer, and inventor. The purchase, which aligns with Next Generation Science Standards and underscores SEED’s commitment to STEM education, will be used in her fifth grade class.
Professional Development Program for Dover Middle School Educators
5 Dover Middle School Educators will attend a professional development program offered by the Landmark School in Beverly, MA. “Cutting-Edge Strategies to Improve Executive Function Skills in the Upper Elementary and Middle School Aged Students” will train the educators and help them launch an executive function training pilot program at DMS.
Enterprise City
Lauren Ashley Nichols received funding to bring the entire sixth grade to Enterprise City. Enterprise city allows students to learn citizenship skills, career skills, financial literacy, and economic concepts in a simulated community operated by students. The experience-based learning will better prepare students for when they enter the workforce and adulthood by building a solid foundation of real world applicable skills.
Dover Middle School Proposals Receive Funding
A team that includes Allison Friend-Gray, Amy Booth, and Fran Meffen, will be visiting the nationally recognized King School in Portland, Maine. There, teachers will observe project-based learning in action with a goal of bringing project-based teaching to their classrooms.
Step Into It
Fellow Garrison School teacher, Sarah Croteau’s Step Into It proposal was funded to allow students to walk across America by using pedometers in physical education classes. This project will incorporate math and geography skills while keeping the kids active.
The Iditarod Sled Dogs in the Classroom
The Garrison Elementary School team of Meghan Mayhew, Rachel Hill, Michael Romps and Rima Sawyer are now able to bring the Iditarod Sled Dog Race to the second-grade classrooms of Garrison School. Thanks to an extremely specialized software and website access, students will follow musher teams, explore Alaskan communities, track weather patterns, and use mapping skills to understand the Iditarod trail. The integrated unit will include access to a comprehensive website that provides remote access to the race, including live coverage and GPA tracking of the musher teams.
Creativity in the Classroom
Librarian Debra Cheney received funding to purchase Lego Story Starts sets for the Garrison School library. The curriculum pack includes Story Visualizer software to allow students to photograph, write and publish stories. Students will be able to engage in their creative process while expanding their reading and writing abilities.
Growth Mindset + Number Talks
Jo Boaler, a professor of mathematics education at Stanford University has created a highly valued, in-depth online course focusing on the mindset and student ability on high-quality mathematics teaching. This course will now be available to fifteen Dover High School District math teachers to continue to enrich and educate their students in mathematics.
A Fresh Perspective
Mike Russo of the Dover High School Science Department received funding to purchase a high-speed video camera. The camera can record images that traditionally occur too quickly for the human eye to capture. The new camera will give students a fresh perspective on the world of science. Mike Russo plans to use this new technology to incorporate video demonstrations and analysis emphasizing hands-on modality learning.
Dover Family School Alliance
Christine Boston, Director of Pupil Personnel Services for the Dover schools, was given a grant to fund professional development opportunities with Dover Family School Alliance (“DFSA”). Dover Schools, with the help of SEED, will now be able to continue work with DFSA to build stronger bridges between parents and educators, as well as providing support for parents throughout the special education process. This grant will also help DFSA provide opportunities for teachers to increase knowledge and skill in working with special education students.
Growth Mindset + High Quality Instruction = Excellence for all Students in Mathematics
District Math Facilitators, Patty Driscoll, Karen Berg and Stephanie DeMatteo, were gifted a professional development grant. This grant will allow teachers in the district to participate in a project which focuses on the work of Jo Boaler, a professor of mathematics education at Stanford University. Boaler is the author of many books that aim to increase public understanding of the importance of effective mathematics teaching. The professional development opportunity for Dover math teachers in the district will focus on mathematical achievement, educational practices and how to foster growth in all students.
VersaTiles Math Lab
Stephanie Levin, a Dover Middle School teacher, was awarded a grant to purchase VersaTiles Math Lab and eVersa Tiles CD-ROM for her classroom. VersaTiles is a hands-on, multimedia program that allows students to work at their own pace, individually or as a class, to practice specific math skills. This program will assist Levin in helping students build a stronger understanding of math skills including number concepts, estimation, computation, algebra, and many other concepts.
Ears ‘n Eyes
Marie Robicheau, Dover Middle School art teacher, was granted funding to bring Artists in Residence, Roger Goldenberg and Matt Langley to art and music classes at the middle school. “Ears ‘n Eyes”: Touring Studio Painting is an in-the-moment expression of dialogue between a jazz musician and a visual artist. This grant will provide workshops modeling improvisational art making, while allowing students to engage in an integration of their own art and music making.
Weather Station
Dover Middle School teacher, Lisa Dillingham, was afforded the opportunity to purchase a Weather Station for her classroom. The station allows her science students to gather accurate weather data and consequently, analyze, make predictions, and share information based on this data. Beyond the classroom, DMS hopes to become a reporting site for local weather on WMUR.
Sound Technology
Eric Turner, CATA Music Director, received a grant for sound technology that helps run a DBx Graphic Equalizer and a Kustom Monitor. This has allowed students to increase their involvement in the application of sound-technology. While learning about concepts such as wiring connections, matching ohms, signal flow, and sound quality improvement, students have helped to fulfill the school’s mission of integrating technology with the arts.
Homework Help Hotline
Patricia Mulqueen, Dover Middle School (DMS) Math Teacher, is now able to offer online homework help thanks to the Homework Help Hotline SEED Grant. This provides extra math help using the software platform, Electa Virtual Classroom, where she is able to access a whiteboard to virtually recreate math problems and show the steps to a correct solution. Students are able to join in with their own electronic devices, allowing a solution for excess math help that has previously been impossible due to after-school conflicts and lack of transportation.
K’NEX 3-D DNA and Transcription Models
DHS Biology Teacher, Caitlin Tenney, purchased twelve K’NEX 3-D DNA and Transcription Models for use in all DHS biology classes. The kit allows biology students to create 3-D models of a DNA structure. It engages students in hands on learning, while constructing and deconstructing a DNA structure.
Northeast Passage Disabilities Awareness Program Grant
Mary Jean Hippern, DHS Physical Education Teacher, provided approximately 20 wheelchairs to Dover High School, under the auspices of the Northeast Passage Disabilities Awareness Program Grant. The wheelchairs are used four days each semester for educational purposes in physical education classes, specifically in activities that bring awareness to disabilities as they pertain to sports.
Summer Leadership Camp
Kim Stephens, Dover High School (DHS) Dean of Students, received a grant to support the implementation of a Summer Leadership Camp for the Student Ambassadors of Dover High School. The Student Ambassadors take on leadership roles in a variety of clubs, teams, and focus groups, as well as facilitate freshman orientation, disseminating programming information during dozens of student and parent tours and during middle school presentations. SEED has funded summer training for all ambassadors allowing them to help ease the transition for hundreds of incoming students.