2007 Mini-Grant Recipients

The PCMH school partners with Pitt County Schools to serve children in grades K-12 hospitalized > 4 school days or with chronic illness requiring repeated hospitization. Children with cancer miss many school days in their home schools and they and their families face the additional challenge of returning to their home schools with many physical and emotional concerns.  Educating the Child with Cancer, A Guide for Parents and Teachers is a written resource that discusses these fears and concerns as it pertains to school. The family with a newly diagnosed child is often overwhelmed with new information. This book was written to help families and teachers cope with all aspects of educating the child with cancer. It combines the best information from top experts, and covers learning issues from infancy through adulthood. Edited by Nancy Keene, the book is balanced with more than 100 personal parent perspectives. This book is a great resource for families and schools who are facing the childhood cancer diagnosis. 

Toys for autistic students have varying degrees of autism and developmental delay  to allow a place for them  to play that will not involve desks and chairs. They need more safe, controlled, calming sensory input.  Occupational therapy research,  has shown that sensory input is not only soothing, it is instrumental in helping children focus, improve muscle tone, regulate respiration and improve academic performance. They will also benefit from the soothing effects of ooey gooey fidgets that they can hold and manipulate during stressful or active times.  The materials will be used at school. They will be housed in our "sensory room" so that the children can use them for "sensory breaks" and they will be integrated into the classroom, as appropriate.  All of the materials are reusable and designed for use with children who have special needs. The children will be encouraged to interact with the materials repeatedly throughout the day, every day. The school also has many ECU students (Special Ed and Psychology) and educates them on the need for a sensory curriculum for children who have sensory needs.

This project will expand Special Education students’ knowledge of the world of science and increase their reading skills.  Many of the magazines and reading materials in high school are at a much higher reading level than is comfortable for the students, so they do not read as much as they could or should. The two requested weekly magazines cover ocean science and health science at a 5-6 grade reading level.  With the additional skill building skills books, they would also build skills the student's reading, writing and vocabulary skills.  A designated 45-minute reading time two times per week will be used to read the magazines as a class and discuss different articles and the different areas of science in which the articles are written. Students will  review the different known and unknown vocabulary and once a week will write a paragraph or more on what was learned during the reading time, including the use of newly learned vocabulary.

K-2 Developmentally Delayed, Mentally Handicapped, and Learning Disabled students have difficulty with take home readers because they do not correlate with the books that they are currently reading in regular education classes.  Scholastic: My First Little Readers Reproducible Mini-Books Levels A-C been recently purchased and the students have taken them home to continue to practice their skills. Because they are made of only paper, by the end of the week, these books often have become torn from so much use. This grant would purchase Scholastic Little Leveled Readers Box Set Levels A-D to supplement what is currently being used. Students will then have a more durable and colorful book which resembles books used by their regular education peers for in-class reading.  The boxed Little Leveled Readers would remain in the classroom and the reproducible mini-books which correlate with the readers would continue to be sent home for students to keep and practice reading skills with a parent.

Request funding for Don Johnston's Start-to-Finish Literacy Starters.   Third to fifth grade class for students with significant disabilities ages eight to eleven years.  These books include real pictures, are high interest, and include low vocabulary. They also include a CD¬ROM of the book that can be accessed by our students on the computer through use of a switch.  Recently, curriculum for students with disabilities has shifted to a more academic focus and they are required to take state tests.  IEP goals focus on literacy, math, and other academic areas. The books would also help reinforce their learning both in the classroom and at home.  Books are read independently by students in the classroom, through the use of a switch on the computer, and hard copies of the books can be taken home to be read with the parents.  With three sets of Start-to-Finish Literacy Starters, each family would also be guaranteed a book to read each night, during the school week. With stories about various subjects like science, social studies, and life skills, families will be able to learn facts together with books that are age appropriate.

Severe and Profound classroom at EB Aycock Middle.  LeapPAD for each of the students in the class would enable literacy to grow in the classroom and be available for the students to take home with them as well.  The LeapPAD is an interactive way for the students to read and be introduced to literacy.  The LeapPAD will serve as a fun and interactive learning tool that the parents can use at home to help their children with phonics and literacy.