Amazing Grants Award Schools With Innovative Digital Projects

• By Michael Hart
• 08/14/14

The Lightspeed Systems Foundation, the charitable arm of the Lightspeed Systems firm, will distribute just under $100,000 to four schools or districts via its Amazing Grants program.

Through its foundation, Lightspeed annually gives out financial awards to K-12 schools which are planning digital learning projects that, in one way or another, result in inspiring teachers, engaging students, challenging IT staffs and involving parents.

The Anaverde Hills Middle School won for its flipped math project. The school in the Westside Union School District in Quartz Hill, CA, plans to involve the entire school in a modified flipped class for its mastery-level math program. With a $25,000 Amazing Grant and using mobile devices and other digital tools, students will watch videotaped lectures on the math content at home and then use classroom time for more individual one-to-one interactions between students and teachers and more detailed workshop-structured instruction.

Cyber Snow Days earned a grant for the Conneaut School District. Since the school district in Linesville, PA already has a cyberschool in place, it got permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Education for a pilot program called Cyber Snow Days that will enable students to work virtually from home on the winter days when schools will be closed because of bad weather. A $25,000 Amazing Grant will help the district get a learning management system from Lightspeed that will allow students to turn in assignments, complete assessments, collaborate on group projects and ask questions of their teachers — all from home on snow days. Along with keeping students engaged while at home because of bad weather, it will also require the school district to schedule fewer make-up days at the end of the school year.

The Effingham Unit 40 District Schools won for its ACCTT: Addressing Common Core Through Technology program. The Effingham, IL, district will use a $22,204 Amazing Grant to develop a professional development program that will help teachers prepare to meet Common Core standards. Using a flipped-classroom model with online training modules and collaborative workshops, the program will help teachers draw up technology-infused, inquiry-based lessons that will be in line with Common Core standards.

John L. Compton Junior High School secured a grant for its technology-based Common Core training and journalism and public relations elective. As part of its larger goal of establishing a 1-to-1 Chromebook initiative, the school in the Bakersfield City School District in Bakersfield, CA, will use a $25,000 Amazing Grant for two projects. First, it will develop a bimonthly professional development program to help teachers incorporate technology in preparing lessons that are in line with Common Core standards. Second, it will use a number of digital tools and resources to create a new journalism and public relations elective for students.