Spread the word about unique ways to support IPEI this season!

#GivingTuesday is Dec. 2

Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair is Dec. 6

AmazonSmile registration is always open!

 

 #GivingTuesday

 

We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, Dec. 2, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.

 

It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Join us and be a part of a global celebration of a new tradition of generosity.

 

Among IPEI’s top 10 reasons to participate are:

 

 #7 Reason to support IPEI on #GivingTuesday is that an anonymous donor will match every gift received online http://bit.ly/1yPOjeP

 

Countdown #GivingTuesday #6: Watch this video to learn more about convenient global day dedicated to giving back http://youtu.be/TF7D-n2oynU

  

Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair:

 

IPEI is participating in the Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair, Saturday Dec. 6, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with 55 other local nonprofit organizations, at the First Baptist and First Presbyterian Churches bordering DeWitt Park, near the corner of North Cayuga and Court Streets. Find IPEI at Table #55 in the First Baptist Church.

After the Alternative Gift Fair closes, its online shopping website will become live on December 7, and will remain open through December 31. At any time, gifts may be previewed and the site includes a way to create a wish list. www.ithacaaltgiftfair.org

The Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair unites the community around a common goal of a more meaningful, less commercialized holiday. It helps people bypass the annual stress of holiday shopping and accumulation of “stuff” while honoring friends and relatives with donations to causes that fit their values. Each of the 275 gifts being offered comes with a greeting card and an insert that describes the gift and the nonprofit organization.

Over $480,000 has been donated through the Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair since 2004.  Since all funds go directly to the participating organizations, all gifts are tax-deductible.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Transformative Action, with generous support from: Acorn Designs, First Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church, Just Be Cause Center, Tompkins Community Action, and Tompkins County Public Library.

 

IPEI gifts are:

$5 Buys a Book! One for every student every year encourages literacy and complements KDT! Ithaca experiences.

 

$10 Repairs an Instrument! Fine Arts Boosters repair used musical instruments so every student can play.

 

$15 Sparks Student Interest! In science, technology, engineering and math with IthacaSTEM Advocates.

 

$20 Helps a Teacher Dream! Turn an educator’s dream into reality, with IPEI Grants awarded to teachers.

 

$Open Amount Reach High with IPEI! To connect school and community, engage all students and enhance education.

   

Amazon Smile:

 

The Amazon Smile Foundation donates to nonprofits like IPEI when registered shoppers make eligible purchases. Please consider registering. We checked their privacy policy and it seems like a "win win"!

 

IPEI has signed up for this corporate partnership which may help us all do good while shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. (We also think Small Business Saturday is important!!)

 

The link is at www.ipei.org under the Reach! cover photo, or follow this link:

 

http://smile.amazon.com/ch/16-1506703

 

 

 

IPEI Announces 2015 Spelling Bee and New Teacher Grants

The community is invited to join an exciting school-community partnership event that occurs only once a year—IPEI’s 17^th Annual Adult Spelling Bee! This year’s Bee is scheduled for Sunday, March 1, 2015, at the Ithaca High School Wellness Center Gym.

 

The Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) Spelling Bee is a family-friendly community event run like an official spelling bee, with rules, a pronouncer, an MC, a timekeeper, and three judges. There are 28 spelling bee teams—three team members each—with entry fees paid by local businesses and organizations or by the spellers themselves. Entry forms will soon be found at www.ipei.org as well as tips for finding team sponsors. Contact the Spelling Bee Committee, ipei@ipei.org to get involved or with questions.

 

In addition to being good fun and intellectually stimulating, the Bee is IPEI’s signature fundraising event. Thanks to the Bee’s event sponsors, all other proceeds go directly toward funding IPEI grants for Ithaca City School District (ICSD) teachers. The Blue Ribbon Champion Sponsor is Chemung Canal Trust Company, and the Red Ribbon Finalist Sponsor is Wells Fargo Financial Advisors. Sciarabba Walker and Cayuga Radio Group are the Gold Ribbon Sponsors.

 

IPEI’s Annual Adult Spelling Bee supports enhanced educational opportunities for students in classrooms at all grade levels throughout the ICSD. Teachers and others involved with the ICSD apply for funding through the four IPEI grants programs: Teacher Grants, Red and Gold Grants, Community Collaboration Grants, and Connecting Classroom Grants.

 

In November the once-per-year Teacher Grants were announced allocating almost $25,000 for 17 projects involving community partners and impacting 1700 students across all ICSD schools and all grade levels, Pre-K-12^th Grade. Visit www.ipei.org for the complete list, and for information about upcoming opportunities to apply for other grants.  The second round of Red and Gold Grants applications are due Dec. 8.

 

IPEI is a community based not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that develops supportive community and private sector relationships with the Ithaca City School District. Founded in 1996, IPEI is committed to connecting school and community through collaboration, engagement, gifts and grants. For more information, see www.ipei.org or contact 256-IPEI (4734) or ipei@ipei.org.

 

IPEI Teacher Grants 2014-15

Ithaca to El Salvador: Bridging Communities in the Spirit of Volunteerism!
Cara Salabrici/Boynton
Mauricio Rosa, El Salvadoran; Margit Chamberlain, Peace Corps, Rio Abajo El Salvadore

 

Music for Unity and Social Change; Motivational Assembly and Workshop Series
Ahrayna Zakos/Beverly J. Martin
Elisa Sciscioli, musician and Harmony Graves, Community Unity Music Education Program

 

Music for Unity and Social Change; Motivational Assembly and Workshop Series
Samantha Little/South Hill
Elisa Sciscioli, musician and Harmony Graves, Community Unity Music Education Program

 

Playing – Out of the Box or In!*
Nicole Dauria/Northeast
Ithaca Children’s Garden

 

Extending the Growing Season at DeWitt’s Vegetable Garden with High Tunnels
Wayne Gottlieb/DeWitt
Keith Thomson, Gardener

 

Enfield Shines at Literacy
Georgette Graham/Enfield
Carol Hockett, Johnson Museum of Art and Doug Levine, State Theatre of Ithaca

 

Planning and Printing a Community
Allison Trdan/Belle Sherman
Hod Lipson, Professor of Engineering at Cornell University and Gabriella D’Angelo, Professor of Art and Architecture Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges

 

Continuing to Leveraging Students’ Access to Literature
Monica Sherman/DeWitt
Karen Yearwood, The Village At Ithaca

 

Spanish Brass Concert and Master Class
Michael Allen/Boynton
Aaron Tindall, Professor of Tuba at Ithaca College School of Music and the International Tuba Conference

 

Phun with Physics
Chris Bell/Fall Creek
Xraise Outreach Program, Cornell University and Erik Herman, Ithaca Physics Bus

 

Powered By Poetry
Rachel Valenzano /Beverly J. Martin
Sarah Wolff, Poet

 

Animals in the Garden: Making Friends through Literature, Storytelling, and Permaculture
Kathleen Downes/Caroline
Ithaca Children’s Garden; Regi Carpenter, storyteller

 

Songs, Music & Movement and Literacy
Sharon Ciferri/Enfield
Judy Stock, Musician

 

Emotions through the Arts-Mad, Sad, Glad with Music
Larissa Anderson/Northeast
David Plaine and Mark Sammo, Musicians and ICSD Bus Drivers

 

Emotions through the Arts-Mad, Sad, Glad with Visual Art
Kathleen Downes/Caroline
Carol Hockett, Johnson Museum of Art and Susan Zhender, Artist

 

Emotions through the Arts-Mad, Sad, Glad with Dance
Kelly Craft/Beverly J. Martin
Lisa Tsetse, Choreographer

 

Dancing through the Pages
Arne Van Leuken and Marnie Ecklund/Beverly J. Martin
Lisa Tsetse, Choreographer

 

Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair is December 6

Join IPEI at the 11^th Annual Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair!

 IPEI, the Ithaca Public Education Initiative, is participating in the Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair, Saturday December 6, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with 55 other local nonprofit organizations, at the First Baptist and First Presbyterian Churches bordering DeWitt Park, near the corner of North Cayuga and Court Streets. Find IPEI at Table #55 in the First Baptist Church.

After the Alternative Gift Fair closes, its online shopping website will become live on December 7, and will remain open through December 31. At any time, gifts may be previewed and the site includes a way to create a wish list. www.ithacaaltgiftfair.org

The Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair unites the community around a common goal of a more meaningful, less commercialized holiday. It helps people bypass the annual stress of holiday shopping and accumulation of “stuff” while honoring friends and relatives with donations to causes that fit their values. Each of the 275 gifts being offered comes with a greeting card and an insert that describes the gift and the nonprofit organization.

Over $480,000 has been donated through the Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair since 2004.  Since all funds go directly to the participating organizations, all gifts are tax-deductible.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Transformative Action, with generous support from: Acorn Designs, First Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church, Just Be Cause Center, Tompkins Community Action, and Tompkins County Public Library.

 

IPEI gifts are:

$5 Buys a Book! One for every student every year encourages literacy and complements KDT! Ithaca experiences.

 

$10 Repairs an Instrument! Fine Arts Boosters repair used musical instruments so every student can play.

 

$15 Sparks Student interest! In science, technology, engineering and math with IthacaSTEM Advocates.

 

$20 Helps a Teacher Dream! Turn an educator’s dream into reality, with IPEI Grants awarded to teachers.

 

$Open Amount Reach High with IPEI! To connect school and community, engage all students and enhance education.

  

 

 

Smile while Shopping and Supporting IPEI!

The Amazon Smile Foundation supports nonprofits when shoppers register following these simple instructions. Please consider helping the IPEI Annual Fund every time you use amazon.com.  Thank you!

http://smile.amazon.com/ch/16-1506703

What is AmazonSmile? 

AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support IPEI or another charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same prices, selection and convenience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price. You can choose from nearly one million organizations to support.
 

How do I shop at AmazonSmile?

To shop at AmazonSmile simply go to smile.amazon.com from the web browser on your computer or mobile device. You may also want to add a bookmark to smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile.
 

Which products on AmazonSmile are eligible for charitable donations?

Tens of millions of products on AmazonSmile are eligible for donations. You will see eligible products marked “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” on their product detail pages. Recurring Subscribe-and-Save purchases and subscription renewals are not currently eligible.
 

Can I use my existing Amazon.com account on AmazonSmile?

Yes, you use the same account on Amazon.com and AmazonSmile. Your shopping cart, Wish List, wedding or baby registry, and other account settings are also the same.
 

How do I select IPEI to support when shopping on AmazonSmile?

On your first visit to AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), you need to select a charitable organization to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. We will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation.
 

Can I change my charity?

Yes, you can change your charity any time. Your AmazonSmile purchases after the change count towards your newly selected charity. Sign in to smile.amazon.com on your desktop or mobile phone browser and select “Change your Charity” in “Your Account.”

KDT! Ithaca Brings "Buddies" Together

KDT! Ithaca Brings “Buddies” Together

Each spring, second-graders sit in pairs at tables at the Sciencenter. In front of them are wood bases, tape, popsicle sticks, styrofoam balls, and string. The museum educator leads an experiment about wind power challenging the students, who are paired with buddies from another elementary school, to design blades for a windmill that spins when placed in front of a fan. 

Students work together, cutting paper shapes and taping them to the end of popsicle sticks. They hurry with excitement attaching sticks and blades of various shapes to their windmill. Once they are ready to test their designs, they step in front of the fan.   

“Yes!” exclaim students proudly as they watch their turbines circle in the wind. “It worked!” shout others. 

This experiment is just one example of the kind of hands-on education students engage in every year through Kids Discover the Trail! Ithaca, a collaborative effort of the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI), the Discovery Trail (DT), and the Ithaca City School District (ICSD). This year marks the 10^th anniversary of the program, which gives every district student the opportunity to visit a DT site each year during elementary school. KDT! Ithaca partners all 3000 Ithaca students in more than 150 classrooms with another classroom at the same grade level for the trips and pre- and post-trip activities.

Visits to DT sites connect two of the district’s elementary schools (except in Grade 4 since the Eight Square Schoolhouse can accommodate only one class at a time). Students are paired with “buddies” from the other school, and they often meet each other before the visits through pre-trip activities or modern-day pen pal messages using email or Skype. Students may share bus rides to the sites, eat lunch together, participate in structured field trip activities and/or open-ended exploration together, depending on the plans made by the DT site and classroom teachers.

In addition, KDT! Ithaca encourages the linked classrooms to keep in touch during the rest of the school year through “Buddy Up” trips.” Classes meet at local parks, or visit another DT site together. In 2014, these interactions happened in a variety of settings, such as trips to Taughannock Falls State Park, Bement-Billings Farmstead, Camp Comstock and the Alex Haley pool.   

"KDT! Ithaca's buddying of students is a significant part of what makes the program special,” said DT Coordinator Nancy Grossman. “Mutual experiences foster understanding among students. When they enter middle school there are more familiar faces. We know that through KDT! programs students have made important connections that have led to long-lasting friendships."  

"The KDT! program epitomizes our unrelenting goals of community and learning here in Ithaca,” said Ithaca High School Principal Jason Trumble. “Kids connecting and learning together across elementary schools is a great introduction to the relationships they will develop in middle school. Our yearbooks are filled with pictures of students on the trail, and students readily recollect their experiences with one another. As a longtime secondary administrator, I continue to marvel at the deep impact KDT! has had, and continues to have, on our youth preparing them for middle/high school and beyond."

Many partnered teachers use the district-wide KDT! Ithaca planning meeting to pair their students, while others take different approaches. For example, some teachers developed “student interest surveys” and use their students' responses to pair buddies. Other teachers create and use their own “get to know you” activities to help facilitate in-person student interactions.     

Teachers across all grade levels report that meeting and getting to know their buddies is an exciting opportunity for students. “Although there are many important impacts of KDT! trips, the one that stands out the most is the friendships that are formed between the students in different schools before middle school starts,” said Jennifer Emerson, a fourth-grade teacher at Fall Creek Elementary School. “I have had many students talk about how they kept in touch with their buddy through fifth grade and then had another friend in middle school.”

According to its annual program evaluation, KDT! Ithaca’s social component appears to be effective. Of sixth-graders surveyed about their experiences with KDT! Ithaca, 94 percent said they remembered their buddies, and 77 percent said they had seen one or more of their buddies, in middle school, said IPEI President Jennifer Engel. “That had positive impact,” she said. “The outcome is a much calmer transition to middle school.”

Parents, too, recognize the positive impact the social interaction aspect of KDT! has had on their child’s school experiences. Asia Bonacci, a parent of two Fall Creek Elementary students, said her fifth-grade daughter has expressed excitement over the years about meeting a new friend and seeing the friend’s school. “The KDT! program is a great way to introduce area kids to all the wonders of living in and around Ithaca,” Bonacci said. “The buddy system, in particular, broadens their tiny elementary school experience to include other kids from all over the community—suddenly they become common citizens of a much larger world.” 

By Heather Zimar

New Red and Gold Grants Awarded at Nine Schools!

IPEI Announces Red and Gold Grants

 

The Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) announced the first round of its quarterly Red and Gold Grants for the 2014–15 school year. Twenty-four grants totaling $10,671 were awarded for projects and programs that will serve more than 3,500 ICSD students. The grants assist teachers, students, and community members with projects that strengthen and enrich the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) curriculum, have a positive impact on students, and actively engage students.

 

Red and Gold Grant recipients in this cycle include three first-time recipients highlighted below.

 

Janet Gordinier, Caroline Elementary School’s secretary, will provide all classrooms with Wilderness Campus Outdoor Bags—containing field guides, water testing kits, nature journal books, and animal track identification guides. The materials will help students study and identify plants and animals as they explore Caroline’s Wilderness Campus.

 

Vinnie Alcazaren, a Boynton Middle School Social Studies teacher, will ask his students where and how New Yorkers could survive a fantasy epidemic caused by zombies. Role-playing as teams for the Centers for Disease Control, the students will research the spread of pandemic diseases in historical outbreaks through graphs, charts and data tables, and analyze how best to predict and increase survival rates in various populations.

 

Cassidy Fisk, an Ithaca High School Social Studies teacher, will take students to Cornell’s Johnson Museum of Art and Kroch Library to work with and analyze ancient artifacts and artwork from Europe’s Medieval and Renaissance periods. This educational exploration will allow students to compare the two historical periods and learn how art and architecture reflect cultural values.

 

"The amazing variety and ‘bang for the buck’ are the best part of IPEI's Red and Gold Grants,” said IPEI Board President Jennifer Engel. “They excite and ignite the imaginations and learning for Ithaca's students and teachers!”

 

Newly awarded Red and Gold Grants are listed below. All 2014-15 grants can be found at www.ipei.org under Grants. The deadline for Red and Gold Grants second round is December 8.

 

 

Boynton Middle School

 

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse: A Study of Pandemics and Geography, Vinnie Alcazaren

 

Pourin’ Petri Dishes, Victoria Benson

 

Creative Science Projects, Dennis Carbone

 

Biathlon: Running and Archery, John McNally, Jeanette Palmer, Shane Taylor

 

 

Caroline Elementary School

 

Wilderness Campus Outdoor Bags, Janet Gordinier

 

Fitness Program Equipment Grant, Samuel Trechter

 

The Pre-K Rock Box, Johanna B. Rice

 

Blurry vs. Clear: An Up-Close Look of Our World, Deanna Crossgrove

 

Using Play Pods to Support Positive Peer Interactions, Aileen Grainger

 

Farm to Table School Garden and Food Processing, Eric Woodward and Mary Grover

 

Miles, Movement and Mapping: Caroline Kids Create Their Own Movement Routes on the Wilderness Campus!, Amy Seldin-Murphy

 

 

Cayuga Heights Elementary School

 

Differentiated Instruction Organization for CHES Kindergarten, Eileen Coller

 

 

DeWitt Middle School

 

DeWitt Beautification Project, Callie Bryant

 

Combining Visual Resources for Geography Awareness, Andrea Volckmar

 

 

Fall Creek Elementary School

 

Materials for Visual Thinking Strategies, Lisa Trent

 

Encouraging Independence through Game-Based Learning, Catherine Hart

 

Yoga Ball Seating for Second-Grade Children of Fall Creek Elementary, Diana Lamphier

 

 

Ithaca High School

 

Ithaca’s Youth Study the Biodiversity of Costa Rica, Leslie Zolnik

 

Audio Books to Enhance Literacy, William M. Asklar

 

Digital Photography Grows, Gina Cacioppo

 

Medieval and Renaissance Extravaganza, Cassidy Fisk

 

 

Lehman Alternative Community School

 

Building a Garden Tool Shed, Debbie Cowell Mandl

 

 

Northeast Elementary School

 

Adventure to Fitness: Learning and Movement during Indoor Recess and More, Elizabeth Bolton

 

 

South Hill Elementary School

 

Optimizing Focus/Attention in the Classroom, Cynthia Buchanan, Marianne Stuart