PLAINFIELD – Eleven District 202 teachers will each take part in special professional growth programs this summer with the help of a special grant designed to support innovative teaching.
The Plainfield Foundation for Excellence created the Professional Development Awards four years ago to help individual teachers in the classroom expand and improve their classroom skills and knowledge. The Foundation received 47 applications this year.
The awards of up to $500 each can be used to pay for registration fees, tuition, conference/class related materials, travel, lodging, meals or other professional development expenses for classes or programs to be taken in summer 2015.
The 2015 Professional Development Award winners are:
• Ellen Bailey, Eagle Pointe Elementary School – Bailey will take an online course that will help develop critical thinking and questioning skills specifically for he early primary grades.
• Gina Geraci, Plainfield South High School – Geraci will take an online master's course in Spanish literature that also focuses on integrating technology into the curriculum.
• Justin Greene, John F. Kennedy Middle School – Green will attend a summer teacher institute at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. focusing on ways to make students more socially aware.
• Diane Higgins, Plainfield North High School – Higgins will attend the Midwest Teachers Institute and take a class focusing in essential Common Core strategies for reading and writing.
• William Johnson, Plainfield High School – Central Campus - Johnson will attend a workshop at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, teaching ways to increase cross-cultural education.
• Stephanie Manno, Ira Jones Middle School – Mate will attend a workshop in Monterey, California focusing on robotics and engineering.
• Linda Merdian, Lincoln Elementary School – Merdian will take an online course focusing on the multicultural classroom through the University of California-La Verne.
• Vanessa Pollitt, Eagle Pointe Elementary School – Pollitt will attend the Literacy Retreat 2015 in Oakbrook Terrace to learn new literacy techniques regarding complex thinking, and related topics.
• Angela Ramey, Charles Reed Elementary School – Ramey will use her grant to gain knowledge about gifted education through the University of Iowa's Belin-Blank Center for Gifted and Talented Education.
• Meghan Sheets, Timber Ridge Middle School – Sheets will attend the "One Clip At a Time" service learning program in Chattanooga, Tennessee that provides training on ways to teach students tolerance, acceptance and understanding of cultural differences. The program uses World War II-related content aligned with the Common Core language arts curriculum.
• Wendy Traina, Wesmere Elementary School – Traina will take part in a distance learning course called "Leading Intentional Talk with Young Mathematical Students. The program provides strategies for planning and improving student involvement in math discussions.
For more information about the Plainfield Foundation for Excellence or to make a donation, please visit: www.d202foundation.org.