Grants in Action |
Boxford Embraces Green Technology
Boxford Elementary School children started the 2009 school year off "Thinking
Green" with the implementation of two grants that focus on environmental awareness and another
educational in-residence program that introduces students to young adult literature. Students at the< Spofford Pond School will experiment with the new 'An Eye in the Sky' weather station technology
which has been funded jointly by the Boxford Elementary Schools Trust (B.E.S.T.), the Boxford PTO,
and the Boxford Commissioner of Trust Funds. Another earth-friendly grant allows students at both
schools to participate in a program by BTA BOLT, in conjunction with the Masschusetts Audubon
Society, entitled "Learning Without Boundries: Tapping into Boxford's Natural Resources for Science
Inquiry". Lastly, fifth graders at the Spofford Pond School will visit with author Katheen Benner Duble
who will present The Sacrifice, her novel on the Salem Witch Trials.
The new Weatherbug Tracking Station technology, which is a part of B.E.S.T's "Think Green" campaign, tracks 27 different weather related variables in order to record data in real-time from the Spofford Pond School rooftop. The station also includes a Weatherbug Motion-Cam that provides the ability to zoom in on subjects for detailed enhancement such as the schools own vernal pool. The Camcorder can pan and tilt to accommodate 16 different settings and students will be able to make observations when no humans are there to disturb the inhabitants. This flexibility creates limitless opportunities to combine visual observation of the environment with data and measurements collected by the weather station. The Weatherbug Schools Network consists of schools across the country. Schools share data collected with identical tools to compare and contrast data from different regions. WBZ-TV is a part of the network and will use data collected by the Boxford School in their weather report from time to time.
The second grant funded under B.E.S.T.'s "Think Green" initiative was the "Learning Without
Boundries" project which will teach students in grades 2 and 4 about ecosystems by utilizing the natural
resources available on Boxford's town owned land and trails.
Trained staff from the Mass Audubon will work with classes and teachers to investigate ecosystems,
while supporting grade-level science standards, as outlined in the Massachusetts Curriculum
Frameworks. Teachers will be involved in the hands-on instruction so that they will be able to continue
instruction in the classroom and, in the future, return to the outdoors to independently lead their classes
in learning.
Another grant funded by B.E.S.T. this past year was a visit from local children's author, Kathleen Benner Duble who will present her novel, The Sacrifice. This project will introduce young adult literature into the longstandingfifth-grade American history curriculum. The novel is set in Andover, MA during the historical
period of the Salem Witch Trials and has relevance to the grades' study of both national and local
American history. In small group presentations, Ms. Duble will share her methods for researching
historic events and for creating characters. Duble will guide students as they write in their readers'
notebooks, using the voice of selected characters from The Sacrifice. A question and answer segment
will give students further personal contact with a published, popular local author. Kathleen Benner
Duble is also one of the co-founder of the Boxford Elementary Schools Trust.