Oh, what a night! – 2025 Innovation Showcase Recap

February 4, 2025

Thank you to all who attended and supported the Arlington Education Foundation 2025 Innovation Showcase on January 27. It was an inspiring night of collaboration between Arlington Public Schools and AEF.

See the list of awardees represented below or check out a recap of the night on our Facebook page!

District Investment Grant

Strategic Initiatives Working Groups
Dr. Elizabeth Homan, Superintendent
2023 – Grant Amount $42,000

This grant provided the Arlington Public Schools with funding for stipends, texts, and resources for Working Groups that each focus on one or two initiatives of the Five-Year Strategic Plan. The groups 

  • Gather input related to their initiative(s)
  • Analyze data from the school district related to their initiative(s)
  • Consider, test, and refine ideas for implementation
  • Recommend and lead actions

Groups include building leaders, curriculum directors, teachers, families, and students.

Performing Arts Innovation & Expansion Grants

Multicultural Concert Series iPads for Performance
Jing-Huey Wei, Performing Arts Director
2023 Grant Amounts Totaling $19,000

In the last few years AEF has sponsored several grants for the APS Performing Arts Department.  Today, we are showcasing two grants brought by Jing-Huey Wei (Performing Arts Director and Chelsea Austin (Grants Administrator and Performing Arts Facilitator). 

These grants aim to make the performing arts more informed by multiple cultures and more agile in their ability to perform in various venues.  Students will demonstrate how they use the iPads for String and Band performance.

Innovations Grant 

The Pondercast
Brenda Mahoney, AHS – Library Assistant 
Fall 2023 – Grant Amount $4,000

Students of the Pondercast Club aim to inform and engage the Arlington High School community through a weekly broadcast announcements/news program. The club gathers, records, and presents various happenings and issues involving Spy Ponders to the AHS student body and staff.

Funding from AEF allowed the Pondercast Club to purchase the video and audio equipment as well as peripherals needed to reliably produce a program that aims to bring the entire Spy Ponder community together.

Development & Expansion Grant

Building a 21st Century Visual Arts Program
Leo Muellner, Director of Visual Arts
Fall 2023 – Grant Amount $15,000

In the last two years, AEF has sponsored several grants from the Visual Arts Department.  Today, we are showcasing this Development and Expansion Grant which established new Visual Arts programming at AHS in Animation and Filmmaking, which expanded access to the Digital Photography programming.  The new entry level classes have been popular with students and very successful and the department has recently launched new advanced classes in these subjects.

Development & Expansion Grant

Books to Enhance Literacy
Christina Cooney, English Language Arts Director
Gretchen Vice, Brackett Elementary School Principal
Karen Donato, Thompson Elementary School Principal
Winter 2024 – Grant Amount $15,000

This grant was submitted by Dr. Mona Ford Walker, Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, and Chelsea Austin, APS Grants Administrator to support Reading Curriculum for Arlington’s K-6 students across seven Arlington Schools.  

The grant allowed APS to purchase decodable texts to support struggling readers, and audiobooks to support over 1000 students learn pronunciation.

Interdisciplinary Problem Solving Robotics

Rashmi Pimprikar, Director of Digital Learning
2023 – Grant Amount $24,000

This grant expands on a grant from the AEF in 2022 which created a robotics curriculum for grades K-2. This 2023 grant funded the creation of a robotics curriculum for grades 3-5, introducing Microbits and Finch robots at all seven elementary schools.   

This goal of using these robotics education tools in the classroom is to provide a starting point for developing basic programming skills, and practicing the directional language, measurement, problem-solving, and collaboration, with an interdisciplinary approach.

Innovations Grant

Reading Across America
Karen Donato, Thompson Elementary School Principal
Jennifer Mansfield, Thompson School – Diversity and Inclusion Group (DIG) Member & Parent
Fall 2023 – Grant Amount $4,000

The scope of this project is to provide Thompson grade K-3 classrooms with a picture book each month, and grade 4-5 classrooms a chapter book each month, “that explore a topic related to diversity and inclusion”, for the 2024 calendar year.

Innovations Grant

National Academy of Science Transportation Design Competition

Talia Askenazi, AHS Student Class of 2025
Petru Sofio, AHS Student Class of 2024 & Northeastern University Class of 2028
Fall 2022 – Grant Amount $2,255

This grant allowed two AHS students (a sophomore and junior at the time) and their guardians to travel to Washington, DC to present their CADD design solution to the National Academy of Science Transportation Design Competition.

Innovations Grant & Continuing Scholar Award 

STEAM Circuits in Art 
Maker Project Teaching Program
Stacey Greenland, Dallin Elementary School Art Teacher
Spring 2023 – Grants Totaling $1,451

Ms. Greenland’s grants allowed her to work with students across all grade levels to incorporate simple circuits, LED lights and whirring motors into their 2D and 3D art projects, incorporating the Science of circuits into the Art Curriculum and building the foundation for a Makerspace at the Dallin School.  

Continuing Scholar Award

Massachusetts Foreign Language 
Teacher of the Year
Na Lu-Hogan, World Language/Mandarin Teacher – Ottoson Middle School
Fall 2024 – Grant Amount $2,300

Na Lu-Hogan was selected as the Massachusetts Foreign Language Teacher of the Year and will represent Massachusetts in the Regional Teacher of the Year Program in late February 2025.  AEF was pleased to support her participation in the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association Conference (October 2024) and Regional Foreign Language Association Conference in New York City later this year.

Continuing Scholar Award

Esquela Playa Spanish Teacher Training, Malaga, Spain
Sarah Franford, Ottoson Spanish Teacher
Spring 2024 – Grant Amount $2,500

This grant sponsored travel to a language learning program in Spain which allowed Ms. Franford to build conversation skills in day-to-day activities with both children and adults.  She was able to bring back videos, artifacts and other inspirations for her work teaching Spanish to middle school students in Arlington.

Over $25,400 Awarded to APS for Innovative Projects

January 7, 2024

At the end of 2023, AEF proudly awarded $25,465 towards the following Innovation Grants:

  • Engineering Maker Space for K-5 at Peirce, combining critical-thinking, problem-solving skills, collaboration with others.
  • Read Across America for K-5 students , bringing books to all elementary schools that support diversity and inclusion.
  • Translator Devices at AHS, to support new students, those fluent in a language other than English, and those with limited or interrupted formal eductions.
  • The Pondercast Club at AHS, providing equipment to support a newscast show and announcements for students and staff.
  • Empowering Student Voice through Microbits, in grades 3 and 4, throughout the district. Engaging students in STEAM learning using innovative, hands-on devices.
  • Backyard Youth Theatre for K and grade 2 at Thompson, providing theater games and creative workshops for “Let Your Imagination Run Wild”.
  • Multicutural Concert Series, inviting musicians from diverse cultures to demonstrate instruments, music genres, and to coach authentic styles to students.
  • Lego Spike Sets for STEAM Enrichment in grades 1-5, engaging students in hands-on investigation concepts, while building literacy, math, and social-emotional development.

AEF Awards $72,000 to Arlington Public Schools

December 12, 2023

The Arlington Public Schools (APS) recently received three grants totaling $72,000 from the Arlington Education Foundation (AEF), whose mission is to support innovative projects and enhance teaching and learning in Arlington Public Schools.

 According to AEF President Elizabeth Goodsell, the $15,000 “Innovation in Education Grant” for performing arts was approved last September. An important objective is to make the learning process in orchestra and jazz band more accessible and efficient by using modern digital means to display music.

 “The iPads will replace the paper sheet music, which will also save on printing costs and alleviate the issue of sheet music being lost, for the nearly 170 students in the orchestra and jazz band at Arlington High School,” Goodsell said earlier this month. “The iPads will allow more time to be focused on the lesson rather than flipping through paper music, and new music can be uploaded to sight-read instantly.”  

Schools official describes benefits

The grant to provide students with iPads in instrumental ensembles was further confirmed by Jing-Huey Wei, director of performing arts for the local public school district.

 “Using this technology for performing and studying musical scores is now preferred by many professional musicians,” Wei told YourArlington. She further highlighted that the access to the iPads “gives the students experience using a technology that is expanding in the world of music.”

 In addition to providing students with access to iPads in performing arts, Wei mentioned how the grant positively affects the APS drama/theater program. According to her, “with the grant, Drama/Theater Director Michael Byrne along with Arlington High School theater students [recently] presented a children’s musical, “Strega Nona” [based on the popular children’s picture books by New England native Tomie dePaola] to more than 1,900 Arlington K-3 elementary school students and 450-plus community members.”

 The grant “helped establish the first step of the theater program for elementary school students, which currently does not exist in all elementary schools,” said Wei. 

Two other grants help in other ways

Another $15,000 AEF grant to APS was approved earlier in November: “Building a 21st Century Visual Arts Program.” This grant is dedicated to provide all students with new tools regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds. According to Goodsell, “This grant helps to bring new cutting-edge equipment to expand programming and student access to new filmmaking, animation and digital photography courses.”

 As well, last June, AEF gave APS the $42,000 “District Investment Grant,” being implemented to “help expand the district’s shared leadership and action through Working Groups,” Goodsell said.

 The AEF has devoted this grant to support the district’s five-year Strategic Plan. “AEF proudly supports these working groups that are [made up of] of not only educators, but also students and families,” said Goodsell.

 According to its website, “AEF awards grants at all levels of Arlington Public Schools – Menotomy Preschool, all seven elementary schools, the Gibbs School, Ottoson Middle School and Arlington High School.” 

This story by YourArlington freelancer Crystal Lin was published Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, based on information from officials of the Arlington Education Foundation and of the Arlington Public Schools.

A Letter from Our President About Grants 2021-2022

September 19, 2021

Dear AEF donors and community,

Despite the various challenges that our schools faced last year and continue to face this year, AEF is as committed as ever to enhancing public education in Arlington. Thanks to our generous community of donors and sponsors, AEF met its fundraising goals during the 2020-2021 school year, and we have an ambitious goal to provide over $100,000 this school year in grant funding for innovative programming in the Arlington Public Schools.

AEF Partners with Arlington Public Schools to Expand the Conversation About Race

January 14, 2021

Arlington Education Foundation (AEF) is pleased to award $7.5K for a Development and Expansion grant to Arlington Public Schools for a special discussion with APS faculty and Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, following a community event for Arlington Reads Together (ART).  

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