Report of the Dickinson School Committee Trust

The Dickinson School Trust awarded grants to three Southwick Tolland Regional School Teacher groups to help support innovative programs that they designed and hope to implement with students at each of the Region’s three schools. The grant recipients are Heather Ferguson, Jessica Torone, Jan Tingley, Kevin Clark, and the High School English Department. The grants represent the fifth round of grants in what the Dickinson School Trustees hope will continue to be an annual program to support the efforts of teachers that go above and beyond to develop innovative programs for the district’s students.
 

The grant proposal submitted by Kevin Clark and Jan Tingley seeks to implement an ambitious technology program for special needs students at Powder Mill Middle school. The program will train students to be expert in the communication of learned concepts through the development of podcasts in math and science that can be used for tutorials and reference for their peers.
 

The proposal submitted by Heather Ferguson and Jessica Torone targets students at Powder Mill Middle School who are motivated and eager to learn, but have difficulty with reading comprehension that effects their MCAS scores. The program will set up an afterschool book club based on Linda Mood Bell verbalizing and visualizing training.
 

Shakespeare provided the inspiration for the grant proposal put forth by the High School English Department. Students at the High School will participate in interactive workshops led by two experienced Shakespearean actors who will demonstrate a honed teaching style to make Shakespearean text accessible to all students of all ability levels. The actors will lead the students through Shakespeare’s language and times, literary devices and universally-themed scenes featuring student performances. Students will have the opportunity to work with professional actors and interpret classic works through student analysis and performance.
 

The Dickinson School Trustees continue to work to make the Trust more useful in its role to support education in the community. To that end, we hope to encourage and support our teachers as they reach beyond to provide innovative and exciting programs to the district’s children. We also call on members of the community to help us make that happen by supporting the trust with donations. Since we first announced this program, a number of people have shown interest in our efforts, either through direct donations or through their willingness to volunteer to help us in our efforts to increase the value of the trust. If members of the community wish to donate money, please send a check to the Town of Southwick Dickinson School Trust, Southwick Town Hall, Southwick, MA 01077. If you are interested in volunteering to help raise money to increase the trust, please contact Ken Haar, at 569-0381.
 

Respectfully submitted,
 

Trustees:

Dean Rankin

Marion Dugan-Markos

Ken Haar