As funding for public education becomes less and less abundant, teachers across the country are seeking alternative subsidies for classroom activities. In Bethlehem, teachers wondering whether or not they will be able to provide unique learning experiences for students have been answered. The Bethlehem Area Education Foundation (BAEF) awarded nearly $11,000 to teachers across the district in October. The money, conferred through the foundation’s Teacher Innovation Grant Program, will fund 12 inventive educational programs, enhancing curriculum and bringing learning to life for thousands of Bethlehem students.

The Teacher Innovation Grant program encourages educators throughout the Bethlehem Area School District to apply for funding for specialized projects. This year, the BAEF received an overwhelming 47 grant applications. Executive Director Julie Bailey and the Board of Trustees granted 12 of these submissions. Each application chosen presented an original academic program, utilized specialized instruction materials, or involved curriculum not currently used in the classroom. These focused projects provide a unique opportunity for pioneering teachers to expand lesson plans in new and exciting ways.

“My grant will allow me to extend the curriculum and enhance our math studies,” said Tammy Lyons after receiving funding for her grant project entitled “Fit 4 Life.” Lyons will utilize her grant money to purchase Fitbit Activity and Sleep Trackers for her fifth grade classes at Asa Packer ES. These Fitbit trackers will boost the fifth-grade math curriculum while also teaching students the importance of personal well-being.

Students will use information stored on these devices, such as steps taken, calories burned, and hours spent sleeping, to reinforce mathematical concepts. Students will learn how to graph this information, think critically about what affects their daily activity, and positively influence their health and fitness.

“I have the unique opportunity to teach math to every fifth grade student at Asa Packer - from the most able to the most challenged learner,” Lyons said. “My personal goal is to make math engaging and accessible to all students.

BAEF Executive Director Julie Bailey explained the benefits of the foundation’s Teacher Innovation grants.

“The purpose of this grant program is to let teachers within the district be creative,” Bailey said. “Our mission at the foundation is to enhance learning opportunities for all students of the Bethlehem Area School district, and we feel that these grants create openings for memorable and impactful learning experiences.”

The Teacher Innovation Grant program is doing exactly that in Lisa Gilliard’s classroom at Freedom HS. Gilliard and her collaborator, Barb Landis, are working together to create a meaningful bond between the Liberty HS yearbook students and the life skills, or special education students. Their project, entitled “Making Friends and Memories,” supports these two groups as they work together to create memory photo books for each life skills student.

“Not only does it make the students in the life skills classroom feel apart of something in the school beyond their typical day,” Gilliard said, “it also helps my yearbook students humble themselves and learn to be a friend, role model, and teacher to the students we are partnering with.

“It is my goal of the project to first build relationships that would normally not be created otherwise,” she added. “Even only after working on the project for two weeks, both my students and the life skills students look forward to our meetings. The class often starts off with high fives, fist bumps and hugs. It is certainly not meant to replace the regular yearbook at Liberty, but to develop something extra special … a book of friendships and memories.”

Memories such as these will be made all throughout the Bethlehem Area School District. At Fountain Hill ES, students in all grades can take advantage of the new “Fountain Hill Book Blast.” This four-night event serves as a literacy program focused on bringing families together to discover a love for reading in both parents and students. The program consists of evening events in which volunteer readers demonstrate a specific reading strategy to parents. Project leaders Amy Vogler and Paula Weychert feel that this program will not only strengthen reading comprehension skills of Fountain Hill students, but also encourage parent and guardian engagement at home.

At Hanover ES, Myra Stoudt is teaching her third-graders about scientific inquiry through the study of animal habitats. Her project, “Habitat by Proof,” will utilize Chromebooks provided by the grant program to help students research the correct habitat for their classroom pets. By researching and caring for small animals such as hermit crabs, students will learn a larger lesson about problem solving while also gaining valuable experience with technology.

“As science teachers we hope to teach the steps scientists move through in the Scientific Method as more than just steps to memorize,” said Stoudt explaining the importance of her project. “Students don’t really get to see what research scientists face.”

Projects like “Habitat by Proof” are changing that by giving students a real-life experience they’ll remember long after the assignment is completed. Perhaps most importantly, these projects encourage fun, active learning.

“Third graders are a lively group,” Stoudt said. “I know I won’t be able to contain their enthusiasm once we get beyond theory and into hands-on habitat sculpting. And isn’t that the point?”

According to the Bethlehem Area Education Foundation, that is precisely the point – to enhance learning experiences and create lasting memories for every Bethlehem Area student.