Classroom Grants
Contact Us
Are you interested in supporting classroom grants? For more information, please contact:
Jeff Abke ’96
Director of Development
jabke@perrysburgschools.net
419-874-9131 ext. 2274
You may also make a gift to support classroom grants using the “Donate Now” button.
The Classroom Grants Program was the first project instituted by the Foundation Board, and is still a large part of our work today!
These grants were designed to enable teachers at all grade levels to bring innovative educational ideas, techniques and resources to the classroom that were not funded by tax dollars. Since 1985, the Foundation has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding for educational programs in the district, impacting every student in the system and providing opportunities for educational enrichment both inside and out of the classroom.
New Sousaphones for Perrysburg High School
Thanks to a $14,000 grant from Perrysburg Schools Foundation, the Perrysburg High School band has purchased two new King sousaphones and cases.
“These are marching instruments that are replacing some of our more seasoned and loved instruments,” shared Ryan Williams, Assistant Band Director, PHS. “Our Marching Band has been growing and we got to the point where we needed to replace some aging instruments. These will be very eye-popping on the field and are sure to bring attention to our group during the games this fall during the marching season!”
The Perrysburg Schools Arts Council is charged with suggesting areas of funding from the Perrysburg Schools Foundation and its Campaign for the Arts that supports the visual and performing arts through student discovery, student experience, program growth and program sustainability.
PHOTO CAPTION:
(L to R) Jacob Stierman (Senior Drum Major) and Maggie Merriman (Senior Section Leader)
Orchestra Professional Development Conference
Kathleen Schnerer, Perrysburg Junior High School Orchestra Teacher, recently attended the American String Teachers Association Professional Development Conference, thanks to a $835 grant from the Perrysburg Schools Foundation. She presented a session titled Understanding Student Needs and Motivations: A Guide for Action in the Orchestra Classroom with Michael Hopkins, Professor of Music Education from the University of Michigan. She also presented her master’s thesis, Addressing Students’ Psychological Needs Through Participation in Orchestra, in a research poster session at the conference.
“Thanks to the Perrysburg Schools Foundation and the Arts Council for providing the funding for this experience!” shared Ms. Schnerer. “My presentation challenged me personally and professionally. Sharing my ideas and experiences with other teachers from around the nation helped me grow as an educator. I also had the opportunity to attend many sessions and watch many school orchestras from around the nation perform. I brought back new ideas to share with my colleagues and students in Perrysburg.”
The Perrysburg Schools Arts Council is charged with suggesting areas of funding from the Perrysburg Schools Foundation and its Campaign for the Arts that supports the visual and performing arts through student discovery, student experience, program growth and program sustainability.
Glow Gallery at Fort Meigs Elementary
During the 2022-2023 school year, the STEM and Art Department at Fort Meigs Elementary School collaborated to create blacklight experiences for students. In STEM, students participated in measuring and building activities during a “Glow Week” and throughout the spring, various art classes K-4 were able to learn about the effects blacklights have on neon colors. With the help of a $2,401 Fine Arts Grant provided by the Perrysburg Schools Foundation, display boards, easels, lamps and other supplies were purchased to create a “Glow Gallery” for the annual Fort Meigs Arts Festival. Students and their families enjoyed a tour through the STEM lab to view select artwork and manipulated STEM materials.
“This new experience has been extremely positive for our students to view STEM and Art as connected subjects and to expand their views of what art and STEM can be,” shared Joanne Cook, Art Teacher at Ft. Meigs Elementary School.
The Perrysburg Schools Arts Council is charged with suggesting areas of funding from the Perrysburg Schools Foundation and its Campaign for the Arts that supports the visual and performing arts through student discovery, student experience, program growth and program sustainability.
Choir Classes Piloting a Tool for Sight Reading Music
An $800 grant from Perrysburg Schools Foundation launched a pilot program in choir classes in grades 5-12 this past school year. Sight Reading Factory is a digital, on-demand sight-reading platform designed to help build music-reading skills for students.
“Sight reading is the ability to look at a piece of music and you are able to sing or play it with little to no preparation,” explained Shelvin J. Burns, M.M.Ed., Assistant Director of Choral Activities, Perrysburg High School. “This skill of music literacy is extremely important for musicians. Every day when students come in, there is an 8-24 measure melody on the screen. Students are then given a few minutes (or seconds, depending on the level) to look through the passage and figure out the solfege for the melody. After time is called, the students then sing through the excerpt.”
“Having access to this program is greatly improving students’ ability to identify notation and prepares them for the next level of the choral program,” explained Joel Hamilton, Choir Director, Hull Prairie Intermediate and Perrysburg Junior High Schools. “The students’ confidence with sight reading is improving as well. The differentiation that is possible with this program is phenomenal.”
“Sight Reading Factory is already making a huge impact on my classroom,” shared Mr. Burns. “Not only have I noticed a big difference in my students’ music reading ability, but it has also already demonstrated its effectiveness, specifically when starting a new piece of music and when being evaluated at Large Group Contest.”
Large Group Contest is one of the highlights of the year for music ensembles. They prepare three pieces to perform for a panel of adjudicators and must participate in a sight-reading component. “All three of our concert choirs received superior ratings, which is the highest possible rating, in sight-reading at Large Group Contest this past March. Some credit definitely goes to Sight Reading Factory for helping us prepare,” Mr. Burns stated. “It has also been very nice to assign sight reading progress checks for students to complete at home, which helps their skills stay fresh, even when not in class.”
The Perrysburg Schools Arts Council is charged with suggesting areas of funding from the Perrysburg Schools Foundation and its Campaign for the Arts that supports the visual and performing arts through student discovery, student experience, program growth and program sustainability.
PJHS Bands Welcome New Brass
Thanks to a $16,000 grant through the Perrysburg Schools Foundation and distributed by the Perrysburg Schools Art Council, the Perrysburg Junior High School Bands welcomed five new tubas and four new euphoniums to their band family! These low brass instruments will ensure the growing number of students in the PJHS Bands will have quality, working instruments for many years, and enables more students to be able to take instruments home to practice.
“The instruments sound great and the kids have been so excited!” shared Jason Jordan, Band Director, Perrysburg Junior High School.
The Perrysburg Schools Arts Council is charged with suggesting areas of funding from the Perrysburg Schools Foundation and its Campaign for the Arts that supports the visual and performing arts through student discovery, student experience, program growth and program sustainability.
PHS Teachers Use Grants to Expand Student Experience
Lyndsey Curson ’15, Perrysburg High School Intervention Specialist, and Abigail Miles,
Perrysburg High School Orchestra Teacher, utilized two grants to expand services to students this school year!
United Sound
Ms. Curson and Ms. Miles started a United Sound Orchestra chapter at Perrysburg High School within the high school orchestra program. Perrysburg High School is the first school in Northern Ohio to have a United Sound Chapter implemented into their existing music program.
United Sound is a non-profit organization that has cultivated a curriculum for teachers and
students to teach instruments and music to students with special needs. The mission of United Sound is to remove barriers and foster change through music.
Within the United Sound chapter at the school, students with special needs become new
musicians who are paired with current orchestra students to learn how to play an instrument of their choice. They also learn to read music in their own unique way and at their own pace.
While all students involved are learning how to play in the orchestra, they are also learning how to build and foster friendships and relationships with others. The chapter is almost entirely student-led.
The Perrysburg High School United Sound chapter would like to thank the Perrysburg Schools Foundation for their support in funding the start-up costs and fees for the United Sound program and for recently approving funding for the upcoming school year. The Chapter would also like to thank Rettig Music for donating the instruments on which the new musicians learn, play and perform.
Lyndsey Curson ’15, Perrysburg High School Intervention Specialist (left), and Abigail Miles, Perrysburg High School Orchestra Teacher
The Perrysburg Schools United Sound Chapter
Adaptive Music
Ms. Curson and Ms. Miles also began a new elective course at PHS called Adaptive Music this school year geared towards students with unique needs and students with a passion for
education/music/peer mentoring.
The Adaptive Music course offers an exploratory music experience for students with unique
needs while offering general education students the opportunity to serve as peer mentors and gain teaching skills and experiences. Students explore music through listening and creation, and they have the opportunity to select and perform various instruments as well as work on performance skills.
This course allows students in the general and special education populations to not only work on their musical skills, but also their social and emotional skills. Students develop their
knowledge of how to use/identify music to portray emotions, translate ensemble skills into
social situations as well as use music to reflect and relax in varying real-life scenarios.
The materials for this course were supplied and funded by Perrysburg Schools Foundation. The Perrysburg Schools Arts Council is charged with suggesting areas of funding from the Perrysburg Schools Foundation and its Campaign for the Arts that supports the visual and performing arts through student discovery, student experience, program growth and program sustainability.
PHS Visual Art Projects
Teachers in the Perrysburg High School Art Department were able to see projects and experiences that would enhance the experience of students in their classrooms they had envisioned become a reality, thanks to $15,713.60 in grant funds awarded through Perrysburg Schools Foundation. The PHS Art Department has seen the acquisition of new ceramics materials, art show presentation materials, display easels and a printmaking press for the department.
“It is incredible the impact these projects have made on our classroom environments in such a short time. Students, employees and families have taken notice of the new opportunities and equipment acquired from the generous donation of Mary Cranker and the Perrysburg Schools Foundation,” shared PHS Art Teacher Candra Boggs. “We are all greatly appreciative!”
Something as simple as an easel greatly improves our students’ experiences by giving them the opportunity to paint projects upright, explained Ms. Boggs. Painting on a table does not allow you to fully see the perspective at which you are painting, skewing the image beingcreated. Easels allow students to view the work from far away as well. This addition to the classroom is expected to increase students’ technical painting skills and provide opportunities to perform better.
Printmaking is an artistic process that requires mathematics, fine motor skills, organizational skills and higher levels of thinking and project planning to complete. Students can now use the printmaking press to make wood carvings, linoleum carvings, mono prints etching, calligraphs, lithographs and more. Because of this investment, students can now learn to master their process through editions, teaching them control as an artist while exploring the process of highly technical printmaking skills. The press is now being used for introductory to advanced classroom settings.
“The PHS ceramics students and I are so grateful for the additional wheels, kiln furniture and studio equipment that was funded by the PSF,” shared PHS Art Teacher Meghan Yarnell. “The additional wheels ensure that each student will have at least one class period a week to throw and trim, and the kiln furniture enables us to fire both kilns at the same time! We are so grateful to the Foundation for valuing and funding our program!”
These projects were funded by a combination of support from Edwin H. Simmons Scholarships and ProMedica. The Perrysburg Schools Foundation awarded the grants as identified by the Perrysburg Schools Arts Council. The Perrysburg Schools Arts Council is charged with suggesting areas of funding from the Perrysburg Schools Foundation and its Campaign for the Arts that supports the visual and performing arts through student discovery, student experience, program growth and program sustainability.
Band Clinicians at HPI
Thanks to a $5,000 grant from Perrysburg Schools Foundation, Hull Prairie Intermediate School band students received supplemental instruction from clinicians this past school year. Clinicians are professional musicians or retired band directors in the area who come into the classroom to teach students in a small group setting. They are used to help supplement and reinforce the daily teaching they get in the regular classroom.
“With the growing number of band students, the more small group help students can receive is
essential to their learning,” shared Kraig Bentley, Band Director, Hull Prairie Intermediate School and Perrysburg Junior High School. “Our needs for supplemental instruction are growing at a rate that our Boosters cannot completely subsidize.”
The Perrysburg Schools Arts Council is charged with suggesting areas of funding from the Perrysburg Schools Foundation and its Campaign for the Arts that supports the visual and performing arts through student discovery, student experience, program growth and program sustainability.
“This has a huge impact in my classroom,” shared Mr. Bentley. “Without the clinicians, the bands would not be nearly as developed as we are currently. I feel that the retention of students year-to-year, the ability of our groups and basic development wouldn’t be what it is today.”
Articulate 360/Storyline
PHS Honor Chemistry
Mr. Charles Brigode
This past fall, Charles Brigode, Physical Science and Honors Chemistry Teacher at Perrysburg High School, was awarded a Perrysburg Schools Foundation Grant to pay for a license to create online modules for all Honors Chemistry classes using Articulate 360 and Articulate Storyline software. The eLearningmodules are now part of the required coursework for the Honors Chemistry classes.
The modules take approximately 3-5 hours total for students to complete and are intended to prepare students for further chemistry courses. They cover the historical models of the atom, the arrangements of electrons around the nucleus and conclude with molecular geometry.
“The goal is for all students to walk away from Perrysburg High School with a deep understanding as well as a broad understanding of chemistry,” explained Mr. Brigode.
While the modules do utilize videos, they are also very interactive. The students will be challenged to form conclusions from experimental evidence, manipulate variables to observe the results and complete interactive questions. The lessons follow a model-based learning philosophy to mirror the instruction that they receive in class.
Left Photo
The modules follow principles of model-based learning in which the students construct the knowledge as much as possible. On this slide, the students must select the appropriate conclusions based on experimental results.
Center Photo
This slide shows an interactive feature in which the students may click and drag the blue electron to change the distance between the two charges. The amount of force between them charges as a result.
Right Photo
The Articulate Software allows for interactive assessments as well. Students match the compound to the correct image in this case.
Architecture Blocks Grant
Toth Elementary Art Class
Mrs. Amanda Lake Drummond ’00
Through a gift from Mercy Health Mrs. Drummond was awarded a grant to purchase architecture blocks for her art classroom at Toth. These are now one of the studios that she offers in her classroom. It is part of the teaching pedagogy that Mrs. Drummond has adopted called Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB). This allows for an open concept with student-led choice during their time in art each week. Using TAB has expanded the students’ interest in art, but also allowed for them to understand better how art, in all of its forms, can be applied to other subjects. Here is a recent video of these blocks in action.
Senior English Reading Choice Grant
PHS Senior English Classrooms
Funded by the Class of 1967
In recent years the Senior English classes at Perrysburg High School have moved to a student-choice/student-taught curriculum or a Reading/Writing Workshop. The approach is that students are encouraged to choose which books they would LIKE to read throughout the year. The students are then required to write about what they are reading and share that with their classmates. The faculty is finding that students are reading more, and comprehending much more, about their chosen books. They are also encouraging each other to read different types of books than they were before. One classroom, which included the shelving and books, was funded through the district and a second classroom was funded through a grant provided by the Class of 1967, in honor of their 50th reunion. The program has been such a success that PSF is in the process of converting a third classroom for this style of teaching English. Here is a video of Ms. Deb Drew talking about what she has seen by teaching in this style.
Jim Gill Visit
Perrysburg Preschool
Award-winning musician and author Jim Gill recently visited the teachers at Perrysburg Preschool for a half-day training session focused on inclusion and music play for all young children. Play is the context where children begin to develop abilities essential to school success, such as self-regulation. With the presentation of music play activities as a starting point, participants deepened their understanding of the opportunities that play activities provide for children to develop these abilities. The professional development session included child development research, anecdotes from the presenter’s own work with children and families, video footage and group discussion.
The night prior, the preschoolers and their families were invited to concert with Mr. Gill. Over 200 attendees had the chance to meet the musician while dancing, playing and singing along with their classmates and friends.
Walk-Up Week
Hull Prairie Intermediate School
Following the events in Parkland, Florida in February of 2018, a group of 6th graders from Hull Prairie Intermediate School approach the PSF about organizing a “Walk-Up Week” at HPI. It was an attempt to address the overall attitude in schools that might make someone feel unsafe at school. They wanted to put on a week of programs, initiatives and challenges for their classmates to be nicer to each other, notice the student who may be sitting by themselves and just genuinely make the day better for everyone. These students took it upon themselves to develop a proposal for funding from PSF for bracelets for each student and staff member saying “I am HPI” and to create a positive atmosphere that week that they knew would continue beyond those 5 days in their school. They reached out to PHS alumnus and MLB Pitcher, Burke Badenhop ’01 and Mayor of Perrysburg, Tom Mackin to get them involved with videos that were shown to the entire school. It was a great example of how young people can effect change.
