At the Greenbelt City Council meeting on Monday, January 22, the council approved 24 Advisory Committee on Education (ACE) grants totaling $11,757.62 to six local schools. The council approved the grants by a 5 to 1 vote, with Colin Byrd the only dissenting vote. Mayor Emmett Jordan was not present. The ACE grants are available to teachers and parent-teacher organizations from Greenbelt schools. The grants are given to projects or items that enhance or enrich school-based activities. The grants program is funded by the City of Greenbelt and selection of the proposals for funding is made by the council based on input from ACE.
Springhill Lake Elementary was awarded eight grants. In the spring, the school will put on a musical called The Real Story of Little Red Riding Hood. Two grants to help students with special needs were awarded, one to provide materials to make tactile sensory booklets and one to fund a team-building exercise at Terrapin Adventures in collaboration with the Greenbelt Police Department. There are two proposals that support parents with Family Reading Kits and Family Math Night. There will be Activity Centers for the first graders and a writing academy for the older children. The school will create a butterfly garden as the students learn about native plants.
Dora Kennedy French Immersion School will get reading books written in French, access to on-line French software and an upright double bass for their orchestra students. There will be outdoor recess toys and a classroom yoga program run by Bee Yoga Fusion to help third graders with stress caused by testing.
Read more of this story in the January 25 News Review.