SUMMER FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS 2009
The Summer Grants and Fellowships program for MCS and Farm Staff is mostly supported by the annual Staff Development budget. Grants and fellowships are to encourage personal and professional growth through projects of applicants’ own design. During the summer of 2009, teachers traveled to places near and far — from East Harlem to Andalusia, Spain — to support curricular development.
MCS Fellowship — Maiya Jackson
I received a grant to travel to Andalucia in southern Spain, where I visited Malaga, Ronda, Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. The journey gave me a chance to explore the region once ruled by the Islamic empire. The final unit of the 6th grade history curriculum focuses on medieval Spain, a time when Christians, Jews, and Muslims lived together and when knowledge of science, art, literature, music, architecture, and philosophy flowed between cultures and civilizations. Going to Spain gave me the opportunity to see this history come to life, and thus to make it more real for my students. It is a period less often studied by middle schoolers, but it has abundant connections to the themes of government, citizenship, diversity, equality, and justice in our Constitution and Civil Rights Movement studies. I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and photographs with my students. In fact, one of my most thrilling moments was running into Kai from my class last year on the streets of Granada, as he was equally inspired to go see for himself!
New/Ongoing Initiative Grant —Sarah Leibowits de Luna
I, along with Lower School Music Teacher Susan Harris, spent the summer recording a CD of the music of Manhattan Country School. All of the original singers and songwriters were gracious in offering their music and lyrics to MCS, and many were excited to hear of the mission of the school. In August, along with students and alumni, we recorded over 20 songs. Stay tuned for more news about the CD's availability this winter.
New/Ongoing Initiative Grant —Debbie Weiss
My grant subsidized visits to four local American Indian reservations to develop a contemporary Native American studies curriculum for the 8-9s. Above is a picture from my visit to the Pequot museum in Foxwoods, Connecticut.
New/Ongoing Initiative Grant —Julianna Trementozzi
I explored new resources, including books, music, and New York City neighborhoods to add a contemporary perspective to the 9-10s' study of immigration and the cultural diversity of the United States. Already, the 9-10s have a trip planned to visit the Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights with Leo. Above is a picture of the 9-10s on a walking tour of East Harlem, where we looked for signs of the different cultures of immigrants who have settled near MCS.
New/Ongoing Initiative Grant — Pinki Shah
With the support of the grant, the 5th grade will be involved in a photography exchange program with students in Bhuj, Gujarat (India) as part of their sustainable development unit. For the first eight weeks of school, the children will be documenting how they use water, food, plastic, and energy in their environment. Each Friday, the students will exchange pictures. As an added bonus, John Dominis, a renowned photographer from Life magazine, will come and share his work and speak about the art of photography with the students. An exhibition of the 5th graders' work will be on display on November 4th.
Dana Hall Math Workshop -- Debbie Weiss, Julianna Trementozzi, and Maiya Jackson
MCS educators joined teachers from across the United States for 80 hours of learning about math pedagogy, mathematics and the brain, and math homework, among other topics, at the 47th annual Dana Hall Math Workshop. Instructor Annette Raphel, Head of The School of Columbia, wrote, "I have long admired Manhattan Country School and Maiya's presence confirmed the reputation you have for oustanding faculty."
