Loading ...
Pages
Stay In Touch
More
Copyright 2010 The Somerville News and Prospect Hill Publishing, Inc. The Somerville News is the only locally owned and operated community newspaper in Somerville.
Somerville’s “math”-terminds: (L to R) Celia Taylor,Margaret Clapham, Erica Voolich,Alison Walton, Eileen MacDonnell, and Kate Briggs.
By Harry Kane
This year twenty K-12 teachers received grants of up to $500 for math related supplements.
The winning teachers use the funds for family math nights and to buy enrichment materials for their higher achieving students.
“They really fill the gap,” said Annette Bassett, K-5 math coach at the Healey School and Winter Hill School. “There’s a lot of creativity on the teacher’s part to supplement the math program instruction.”
“As a math coach I really encourage all the teachers to apply for these grants,” Bassett said.
Founder and President of the Somerville Mathematics Fund, Erica Voolich said, “[Her] mission is to celebrate and encourage mathematic achievement in Somerville.” Voolich has helped teachers receive grants since 2000.
Celia Taylor is one of the K-2 teachers that received a grant. Taylor is a huge supporter of Voolich. “She’s a magician. She’s an inspiration, a mathematical genius,” Taylor said.
Voolich evaluates and reviews all the applications and presents them to the members of the board of the Somerville Mathematics Fund to determine who will receive the grant. Underwriter, John Bullock, to encourage mathematics in the classrooms, donated a sum of $8000 this year.
Alison Walton is a second grade teacher at the Healey School. Walton created take home bags that children use to supplement their schoolwork. Products in the take home bags correspond with the curriculum, like number cards or coin sets.
This is the second year in a row that Walton has received the award: $425 this time around.
Walton has been a teacher for two years in Somerville and five years overall. “I’m so thankful that there is money available to allow us to do this for the kids.”
Eileen MacDonnell is a third grade teacher at the Healey School. They are learning about multiplication. “Last year I heard about the math grant through Annette Bassett who is the math coach at the Healey and she pushed me to apply and I did and I got the full funding last year.”
This year MacDonnell bought four multiplication electronic-games. “It’s a nice extra bit of money and support in the classroom that teachers don’t normally get.”
Voolich taught middle school for 42 years. She knows kids and has worked with many teachers. “I had a teacher in seventh grade that turned me around. My seventh grade math teacher, dear Mr. James Garnett; he realized that my problems were that I had trouble reading and he worked with me.” Over the years as a teacher Voolich found that kids learned in different ways. “I never give up on any of the students I have.”
When Voolich started the math fund in 2000 her own goal was to give one teacher grant per year. Now 12 years later twenty teachers receive grants from The Somerville Mathematics Fund.
If this article was of interest please consider sharing it.
It’s tough to get all the supplies you need to teach kids effectively – always try to get as much cash as you can!
Somerville spent more last year on the following categories then on “Instructional Materials, Equipment and Technology” (in order of amount spent)
1.) Payments To Out-Of-District Schools
2.) Operations and Maintenance
3.) Other Teaching Services
4.) Instructional Leadership
5.) Guidance, Counseling and Testing
6.) Administration
They also spent over $1.6 million on “Professional Development”
http://profiles.doe.mass.edu
Its tough to get the supplies, not due to a lack of money, but due to a lack of priorities. Kudos to all the teachers in this article for going the extra mile and getting the priorities straight.
Disclaimer: Just my take on the message above. I’m not a member of the school department.
1. Payments to Out-of-District schools usually refers to Special Education placements. No discretion there.
2. Operations and Maintenance. You know, heat, etc.
3. Other Teaching Services. Interesting. Probably payments to teachers who run after-school clubs, etc. Maybe also includes the huge ‘longevity’ checks that all city workers receive. Rewards for coming back every year.
4. Instructional Leadership. You’re on your own.
5, Guidance, Counseling and Testing. Probably required elements.
6. Administration. Interesting to be in 6th place.
1.6 million on Professional Development seems pretty high. They probably don’t do it in-house, but hire people to come in and provide trainings to teachers. Would probably also include the ever-present stipends to teachers for attendance.
Congratulations to the teachers for their hard work….Math is hard, The higher authorities keep changing the lesson plan. I had a horrible time as they taught us “Modern Math” for 4 years of high school and ended up having to give passing grades to everyone to graduate. This even though the math teachers told the higher ups from day 1 that it was no good and should not be in the curriculum [did i spell that right?].
Forty years later when i went to my grandkids school to see if I could learn anything to help the kids with math, the teachers informed me that the higher authorities were changing the math curriculum again.
Maybe it is the higher authorities that are the real problem.