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  • February 7, 2024

A creativity wall was established in the Innovation Lab. The initiative aimed to offer a unique feature distinct from the media center’s LEGO wall. A large magnetic whiteboard was installed, enabling students to map out their projects and utilize a variety of magnetic building toys. This new addition provided a collaborative space where multiple students could work together simultaneously.

The creativity wall served as a tool for students to engage in the Design Process, which includes the stages of Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Improve, and Communicate, particularly during building challenges. It offered a substantial area for groups to visualize and organize their construction plans. Moreover, the magnetic aspect of the wall allowed students to experiment with building vertically using five different types of magnetic building materials available in the iLab, introducing unique challenges compared to building on a flat surface.

  • February 7, 2024

Funding was provided to support the travel and training of 8-12 SHS Writing Center consultants who attended the National Conference of the Secondary Schools Writing Centers Association. After participating in the conference, these students returned to SHS with the intention of implementing and disseminating the ideas, practices, tools, and activities they learned to the full consultant staff and all students through the SHS Writing Center.

In November 2018, four student consultants and two teachers had previously joined 475 other attendees at the 7th Annual Secondary Schools Writing Center Association (SSWCA) National Conference, themed “Process and Progress.” The grant enabled a new group of student leaders to attend the conference once again on March 17-18 at the Arlington campus of George Mason University, marking the first opportunity since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Writing Center consultants were considering presenting a proposal at the conference titled “Writing at the Center.” The funding also aimed to extend the opportunity to 11th-grade student leaders from the Center to foster a leadership pathway that would sustain their initiative.

  • February 7, 2024

The Saline robotics community for grades 4-8 had been struggling with the setup and teardown of large competition fields and the management of tools and materials 4-6 times each week, which consumed much of their practice time and left them with less time to focus on planning, designing, and building their robots and other innovation projects. A separate space for practice would not only have improved their performance but would have made their meetings more about learning and preparing rather than moving supplies.

The grant was proposed as a partnership between the Saline robotics teams for grades 4-8 and the Saline Middle School Media Center to repurpose an old book storage space into a thriving STEM lab by moving the books out of storage into the Media Center where all students could access them.

The grant covered the cost of making the books in storage available to students in the Media Center while also repairing water damage and outfitting the space as a STEM space with storage and simple, second-hand workspace furniture.

  • February 7, 2024

The Young Adult Program (YAP) extends beyond the core curriculum and academic goals: YAP students explored learning opportunities such as life skills and job skills. Lifelong fitness was an important goal, and an adaptive tricycle provided a fun way to work on that goal. With the adaptive trike, students were not limited by issues that prevented them from riding a traditional bicycle or tricycle, such as balance and coordination issues, low muscle tone, or physical impairments. The YAP Adaptive Tricycle (Rifton Model #R140) featured a large base of support, trunk and waist safety belts, Velcro straps, and a pulley system for the pedals. A firm brake locked the wheels to provide safe mounting and dismounting. A detachable rear steering bar allowed staff to steer and push students, offering opportunities for even the most inexperienced riders. The adjustable seat and handlebars accommodated riders of diverse sizes.

Goals included fitness, coordination, balance, and endurance. Developmental aspects were also addressed: learning to ride a recumbent bicycle could lead to learning to ride an upright trike. Therapeutic benefits of tricycling included lower extremity strengthening, reciprocal leg motion patterning, balancing skills, using visual skills and spatial patterning skills, and social interaction with peers and neighbors.

Social aspects included being part of a cycling class, as well as rides on school grounds and into the community. Dan Hunt also hoped to build a trike “cycling club” whose members could meet with volunteers and other local cyclists. The program explored collaboration with PEAC, an Ypsilanti-based advocacy and cycling training program for people with disabilities (referenced at http://www.bikeprogram.org/).

  • February 7, 2024

Inclusive Designs was a radically inclusive opportunity for the SHS Life Skills Program to collaborate and create special edition t-shirts, with additional opportunities for stickers, ornaments, etc., supported by the Cricut Software. Phases were implemented for students to create and share with the SAS district and community.

Inclusive Designs supported the students’ functional academic learning by providing opportunities to apply their functional math skills in selling t-shirts, handling transactions, and making change. It also gave them access to writing strategies and tools to design shirts with words, while utilizing the differentiation of technology supports through Cricut Designs. The use of Cricut tools in the preparation phase of the product supported and enhanced student fine and gross motor skills with bilateral movement, which allowed students from all ranges of motor skills to increase their occupational therapy skill sets. Social Thinking concepts were practiced as students worked collaboratively with peers and connected as a team through the following phases of design: Brainstorm, Design, Prep, Sell, Create, Finance/Final Sell.

  • February 7, 2024

The grant was awarded to create a collection of literacy resources aimed at educating on inclusion, accessibility, acceptance, and justice for people with disabilities and differences. It followed up on the previous year’s “Celebration Station” grant, which provided a diverse range of books on different holidays, cultures, and celebrations. The grant sought to enhance the existing collection by adding new books that cover a significant aspect of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) related to disability awareness, ensuring there was no overlap with books already acquired. The project was designed to extend DEI initiatives, assist teachers with more inclusive instruction, challenge oppressive systems for people with disabilities, and enrich the core curriculum by reflecting diverse experiences and perspectives.

  • February 7, 2024

The grant was requested to obtain financial assistance from the FSAS for two international service-learning trips to Mexico and Ecuador organized by SHS. The need for support arose due to increased travel expenses, which were attributed to higher costs of building materials and inflation affecting both nonprofit trip organizers. The service-learning activities were highlighted for their educational benefits, including enhanced academic knowledge and engagement, connections to broader global issues and communities, and a deeper comprehension of the students’ roles in the world. These trips were designed to extend students’ learning experiences beyond the classroom and into international settings.

  • February 7, 2024

The grant facilitated the P.A.L.S. (“Peers Assisting Language and Speech”) program, which provided additional iPads to peers in classrooms with students who have severe communication deficits and use AAC devices (iPads with picture-icon programs for communication). These iPads were utilized by peers during recess, playtimes, and partner-reading sessions to engage with the target student in conversation, identify sight words/core vocabulary, and practice interactive reading comprehension.

The initiative offered general education students the social-emotional benefit of forming friendships and interacting with students with disabilities and diverse needs. It also allowed target students to learn age-appropriate language, sentence structure, and social language skills from typically developing peers using the same AAC devices. The program aimed to promote inclusion and acceptance of students with disabilities and severe communication deficits. Both target students and their general education peers gained additional practice with Core Vocabulary/Dolch sight words, constructing grammatical sentences, and responding to WH questions during paired book-reading activities.

  • February 7, 2024

The grant provided chromatic tuners to a large-format music classroom of 50-80 students at Saline Area Schools, where individual teacher attention was limited. These electronic devices offered immediate feedback on tuning and intonation, which are foundational skills in music, indicating to the musician whether a note was in tune and, if not, whether it needed to be adjusted higher or lower. The chromatic tuners enabled students to receive the necessary feedback to improve their sound independently, which is crucial for playing in tune—a fundamental aspect that enhances the overall quality of music and facilitates the development of higher-level skills and satisfaction in the music classroom.

Through the use of these tuners, students demonstrated key educational skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity. They worked in various sized groups, including partnerships and sections, to learn how to play in tune. This collaborative approach not only helped build a sense of community among the students but also made creative use of the learning space, providing numerous learning opportunities.

  • August 24, 2023

As Physical Educators, it’s our job to instill knowledge in our students that will last a lifetime. The knowledge they can take with them and use as they grow in their understanding of various fitness concepts and ideas. It’s important that our students have the confidence and ability to perform a variety of movements that they enjoy and can repeat. But also, that they acquire the desire to push their knowledge and abilities forward with a focused intent to pursue health and wellness for a lifetime. Our goals are bigger than just 1 trimester, our classroom goals are inherently learned over time so that our students may draw on their time in the Weight Room at Saline and share it with others. We truly believe this project is student-centered and delivers the necessary messages that are incredibly important in our classes every day at Saline High School.