Seeking, Now Found!  Teachers with Great Ideas to Teach Children Math in Somerville!

Many teachers have great ideas on how to make their classrooms a better place for their students to learn math.  The teachers’ ideas frequently outrun the budget schools have for supplies and their own ability to subsidize their classroom.  The Somerville Mathematics Fund tries to fill this need through the generosity of their donors:  John Bullock, Jay Landers and Jasper Lawson, the Apple Tree Fund supported multiple grants and Ersin Dur, William Kuhlman, Winter Hill Bank and Rebecca Wood-Spagnoli each sponsored a teacher’s grant.  The following teachers won grants to encourage and support mathematics achievement in the classrooms of Somerville.

The Math Fund wants to thank John Bullock for generously underwriting the following teacher grants:

• Julia Allen, East Somerville Community School Unidos (1st), Math Centers Materials
• Rebecca Byard, Brown School (K), Math Manipulatives
• Janice Fahey-Flynn, Argenziano School, (ELL 1st, 2nd), Math Games
• Michael Fitzpatrick, St. Catherine School, (1st), Measurement Manipulates
• Diana Garity, Argenziano School, (4th), Sumdog & Math Manipulatives
• Lindsay Garofalo, ESCS (1st SEI), Fire Kids Tablets
• Evelyn Gibson, SHS (Alg. Special Ed), Algebra Manipulatives
• Caitlin Harper, WinterHill Community Innovation School (integrated K), Math Manipulatives
• Rene Holtzman, Argenziano School, (1st, SEI), Little Math Readers Classroom Library
• Debra Hurley, Kennedy School, (2nd), Hubbard Orbiter Planetarium
• Leah Jaenicke, Argenziano School, (1st, SEI), Math Manipulatives
• Julie Marie Jasper, Brown School, (4th), Math Learning Centers
• Julie Jones & Lauren McGlashing, Capuano Early Childhood Center, (K), Family Math Night
• Aileen Martinez-Garced, ESCS (1st), Math Games & Math Nights
• Alexandra Mastria, Winter Hill Community Innovation School, (6th), Coordinate White Boards
• Maddie Mayerson, Healey School, (1st), Math Manipulatives
• Joan McGinty, WSNS (K), Light Table
• Mary Beth Morgan, Healey School, (K), Math Manipulatives and Math Story Books for Reading Bags
• Cassie Regan, Healey School, (1st), Math Manipulatives
• Amanda Saillant, Winter Hill Community Innovation School (SMILE), Ellison SureCut Math Die Set
• Tracy Selig, St Catherine School, (2nd), Math Manipulatives
• Danielle Shulman, WSNS, (4th), Math Games

The Math Fund wants to thank  Jay Landers and Jasper Lawson for generously underwriting the following teacher grants:

• Elizabeth Amero, Argenziano School, (ELL K-8), Math Manipulatives
• Yasmina Belatreche, Winter Hill Community Innovation School, (6th-8th math SEI), IXL

The Math Fund wants to thank the Apple Tree Fund for generously underwriting the following teacher grants:

• Lorin Desrochers, Brown, (6th), Math Manipulatives and Games
• Donna Driscoll, Argenziano & ESCS (math coach), ThinkTank

The Math Fund wants to thank each of the following for generously underwriting a teacher grant:

Ersin Dur:

• Kim Conley, Healey School (K), Math Manipulatives and Math Story Books for Reading Bags

Jay and Lali Haines:

• Samantha Song, Kennedy School (1st), Math Manipulatives

William Kuhlman:

• Denise Marie Lavey, ESCS (1st, SEIP), Math Manipulatives and Games

Rebecca Wood-Spagnoli:

• Sarah Soares, Argenziano, (K), Math Manipulatives

Winter Hill Bank:

• Julia Kimball, Healey School (K SEIP),Math Manipulatives and Math Story Books for Reading Bags

And Last, but not least, we have a group of generous donors who together made each of the following grants possible:

• Lukas Sisco, Winter Hill Community Innovation School, (after school coordinator), Student-Driven Business and Engineering Math Nights
• Kristen Tuxbury, St Catherine School, (1st), Legos for Math
• Scott Weaver, ESCS, (7th-8th), IXL for 4th graders

The Somerville Mathematics Fund, an affiliate of the national scholarship organization Dollars for Scholars, was chartered in 2000 to celebrate and encourage achievement in mathematics in the city of Somerville, Massachusetts.  Over sixteen years, the Somerville Math Fund has awarded $92,676 in teacher grants in the city of Somerville.

In early April, the fund will be seeking applications from outstanding math and science students who reside in Somerville for college mathematics scholarships.  The Somerville Math Fund scholarships are $1,000/year for up to 4 years for students who lived in Somerville while in high school.  Links to the scholarship application form is available at  www.somervillemathematicsfund.org   For more information, to volunteer or to make a tax-deductible contribution, please contact Erica Voolich (617-666-0666 or mathfund@gmail.com).