Dr. Jeremy Raley, Superintendent of Goochland County Public Schools, was joined yesterday by members of the GCPS Executive Leadership team at Goochland High, Goochland Middle, Goochland Elementary, and Randolph Elementary to surprise the recipients of the inaugural Strategic Innovation Grants. These grants include funding from between $450 and $2500, and were awarded based on a rigorous selection process that involved a committee of school and community representatives.
2016 Grants were awarded to:
- Wes Farkas, Lucas Gibbs, Tim Greenway, Mike Verrastro and Amy Henneberger from Goochland High School for the construction of an archery range for the secondary complex.
- Beth Alvis and Kim Austin from Randolph Elementary for the purchase of Osmo, an augmented reality platform aimed at developing social-emotional skills, creativity, and collaboration.
- Erica Borges, Jennifer Curfman, Auster Hecker, and Heather Wilckens from Randolph Elementary for the development of Brewing Justice, a partnership with nonprofits toward developing global responsibility.
- Megan Glasco and Tara Stacey from Goochland Elementary, for Creative Writing with Legos, to acquire Lego Education StoryStarter materials to teach literacy.
- Michele Hope from Goochland Middle School, for design of instructional stations with a focus on environmentalism designed in direct response to student interest.
- Krystle Demas (ITRC at GES, RES, and BES) and Sarah Smith from Goochland Elementary for the development of Ozobots to integrate computer science concepts and content in an effort to promote innovation and creativity.
- Stephanie Clark, Elizabeth Ferguson, Jennifer Gates, Katie Hadd, Gloria LaFlamme Brandi McCain, Valerie McLaughlin, Jaime Sprouse , Suzanne Taylor and Susan Vaughan from Randolph Elementary for redesign of the student-led nature trail aimed at enhancing sustained experiential learning opportunities.
“Our teachers continue to amaze us with their constant commitment to being more innovative and engaging in their classrooms”, said Dr. Raley, Superintendent. “We are very appreciative for the support of the Goochland Education Foundation on behalf of our students. This is hopefully only the beginning of what we can do to continue to support deeper learning in our classrooms”.
The Goochland Strategic Innovation Grants will culminate in a professional development symposium in June of 2017, where winners of these grants will come together to share what they learned, collaborate on new ideas focused around deeper learning, and share how their risk-taking can be implemented in regular instructional programming.