Rocket Beacon
Ms. Cordero is already seeing the benefits of her EREF Grant for Rocketbook Beacons! Students use Beacons to quickly capture and send intelligently cropped and enhanced images to their Google Drive. Ms. Cordero shared, "This has been a productive and engaging tool that will certainly improve students' exploration of mathematical concepts." These reusable adhesives attach to whiteboards and transform them into “smartboards” with the Rocketbook app. Beacons also allow Ms. Cordero to share images with her students and parents so that everyone can easily access the contents covered in class.
Club Grant for YOU Nations
With the assistance of an EREF grant, the YOU Nations Club Multicultural Holiday Display was a huge success! Students created and shared a display celebrating inclusivity and diversity at ERHS. Under the guidance of Ms. Best, the YOU Nations enrichment club provides an opportunity for students to engage in language-focused activities that promote literacy and social communication skills. YOU Nations Club works to foster a more inclusive community by celebrating connections, broadening perspectives, and teaching tolerance for all types of backgrounds. With these community-based activities, the YOU Nations Club continues the ongoing work of anti-racism education in our district.
Coding with Ozobot
The Ed Foundation is proud to support the newest addition to ERHS Makerspace, EVO the Ozobot! The Ozobot product offers an introduction to coding for all students. Students start coding device-free with color codes markers and EVO. As their understanding of the system with sensors builds, students advance to block-based programming with Ozobot Blockly on their Chromebooks. As students advance through block-based programming, their understanding of sequences, loops, and conditionals will allow them to build programs and innovate with this cool technology!
Flexible Seating at Rhame
Students need to move, and faculty at Rhame Avenue School embraced that need by applying for an EREF grant in 2020. Supporting staff who know their students’ needs, is easy business for EREF! Flexible seating allows them to wobble, rock, bounce, lean or stand, which increases oxygen flow to the brain, blood flow and core strength. It helps keep young minds more alert and focused. The option of flexible seating is linked to higher academic performance, better health, and improved behavior. Flexible seating encourages students to find their best spot to stay calm, focused and productive. As one teacher said, "There is no better way to show your support for a student-centered classroom, than creating a classroom from a child’s point of view." In her opinion, comfortable students are engaged students.
Opportunities with New Tech
East Rockaway Education foundation is proud to support the grant request for new tech at the High School level. In ERHS classrooms, technology is used for more than note-taking and researching assignments. Many high school students are engaging with new drawing tablets and a 3D printer to create innovative designs and 3D prototypes of their ideas. Future inventors, engineers, architects and manufacturers are learning in our schools, and EREF is proud to give them the tools they need to bring their innovative thinking to life. Technology is essential for encouraging critical thinking skills in students. Technology helps move students from restating information to creating new information.
Makerspace Materials at Rhame Avenue
Makerspace is a time for exploration, innovation, and fun! With this grant, Rhame Avenue students use makerspace materials to think, plan, build, modify and build again! Adding makerspace time to the classroom not only enriches mathematical concepts, it builds problem-solving skills, while encouraging kindness and empathy as students work together. Makerspace activities allow Rhame students to explore big ideas across content areas using design thinking and the engineering process. East Rockaway School District prides itself on promoting a growth mindset. Makerspace allows for failure and recovery which goes hand-in-hand with a growth mindset. Students see themselves as capable of growing abilities to accomplish great things.
Live, Laugh, Love, Oboe!
The Education Foundation granted Ms. Rode's wish, an oboe! Adding an oboe to wind instruments offered by our award-winning Music Department, gives ER students an opportunity to learn more diverse instruments while enhancing the scope of the band’s sound. Thanks, Ms. Rode for sharing your love of music with our community!