Faculty Innovation Awards

Brian and Ina's grant will enhance the current Grade 5 Science Program. They plan to completely replace the final unit, cell biology, with a STEAM investigation on renewable energy. The performance outcomes of this curriculum change will be evident in the types of solutions (i.e., projects) the students devise. 

Cecelia's grant was used to purchase a MiniOne BioScience Classroom Kit. This relatively inexpensive kit contains both PCR and Electrophoresis systems for teaching hands-on biotechnology labs in the classroom.

Will and Christine's grant was used to fund the summer workshop at Mass Art on “Handmade Books.” In addition it funded the purchase of supplies needed for a capstone interdisciplinary project for 7th grade English and Art. Students will create hardcover notebooks in October and then spend the rest of the year filling their pages.

Ms. Rudolf's grant was used to purchase fluency readers for several classes – specifically, for all Mandarin levels, Spanish I and 2, and French I and 2. She worked with each teacher in the department to carefully select readers of their choices, as well as books for a library collection, that will be used by students to increase their comprehensible input skills in reading fluency.

Ms. Golas used her grant to purchase a variety of audio solutions for the Lower School Library. These books and devices are used in the library, for teachers to borrow for classroom use, and for student borrowing. Most of these tools are already being deployed in public libraries and have been well tested for reliability and quality.

Andrew and Julia's grant was used to implement a Yoga/Pilates/Mindfulness program within the Wellness curriculum for students in grades 6-8. The program will be woven into the existing Life Skills curriculum, will extend into afternoon clubs, and will also be incorporated into assembly scheduling and homeroom meetings. 

Luca's grant was used to purchase two digital pianos, five MIDI keyboards, and Sibelius notation software. This will allow students to create and record their own digital compositions, play along with backing tracks, and practice performing on high-quality instruments.

Jennifer's grant was used to purchase a set of iPads for Technology 9 to work with Apple’s Learn to Code curriculum. This will further strengthen the scope and sequence of our Technology Program in the Upper School.

Matt and Kathryn's Grant was used to develop a curriculum that systematically builds essential technology skills for Middle School students over the course of their three-year experience at Brimmer.

Kenley’s grant was used to purchase audio recording technology for use in the Humanities Department with the goal of the AP Literature students producing a weekly podcast and exploring the process of backwards design.

Megan and Bethany's grant was used to purchase tower garden systems to enhance the plant unit in the seventh grade science curriculum. These systems allow the seventh graders to work on gardening throughout the year, on both experimental units carried out over several months, and year round food production for the dining hall.

Sara Murray's grant was used to purchase physics and design building blocks and outdoor classroom equipment to enhance the STEAM programming Grade 1. She wrote in her proposal, "I attended a screening of the movie “The Land” at the Boston Children’s Museum.

Christian's grant allowed him to implement the first phase of building the infrastructure for a fully equipped media lab in the Hastings Center. The equipment gives Brimmer faculty the opportunity to offer a pedagogically sound film production curriculum, one that offers students comprehensive opportunities to learn best practices in pre-production, production, and postproduction of their original creative works.

Matt's grant provides resources to help integrate a STEAM design component into the Middle School earth science curriculum to encourage students to not only gain a better understanding of how these natural processes occur, but to also provide them with an opportunity to apply that understanding to designing unique and original solutions for mitigating the effects of environmental change on those communities most affected by them.

Andrew's grant funded an expansion of the Lower School Garden Classroom. It provided all Lower School students increased opportunities to garden and study environmental science and ecology. Solar covers and raised bed greenhouses extend the growing season of vegetables and flowers and teach the students about the power of the sun and the importance of renewable energy. Indoor grow stations allow students to garden in their classrooms and make scientific observations year round.

Kathryn's grant money allowed her to purchase five iPad Pros and five Apple Pencils for the Upper School Visual Art Department. This proposal strengthens and further develops the mission of our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) initiative and also increases the amount of exposure students have to digital technology within the visual arts curriculum.

Ina Patel is a fourth grade teacher. The grant money will allow her to design an interactive, dynamic science/maker’s space for Lower School students. This space, called the Design Lab, will not only house traditional science equipment such as beakers, graduated cylinders, rulers, and eye droppers for our future biologists and physicists, but the new space will also be home to our aspiring engineers and design architects.

The grant money will allow PK teachers to expose their students to the components of simple machines to provide our early engineers with the necessary tools for solving everyday challenges. Demonstration models will provide hands-on independent and cooperative learning opportunities that will generate conversation and develop multiple solutions to creating a simple machine out of recyclable materials. 

Kathryn Lee is a Middle and Upper School Creative Arts teacher; Jason Bock is a Technology Coordinator and Middle/Upper School teacher. The innovation grant allows for funding to create a maker space in the Corkin Visual Arts Center—a collaboration between the Technology Department and the Visual Arts Department. This space will feature two 3D printers and access to 3D rendering software that will be used by Middle and Upper School art classes. This will broaden the current art curriculum in a contemporary direction and expose students to collaborative learning environments.

Sara and Molly's proposal will allow for the creation of a dynamic and integrated STEAM Lab program for first graders. Innovation grant funding will allow teachers to implement a year-long, weekly STEAM lab with lessons that integrate hands-on engineering, math, science, art and technology projects.

Cecelia Pan is the Chair of the Science Department at Brimmer and May. The grant money will allow her to purchase LabQuest 2 probes which will connect wirelessly to iPads and computers and will allow students to analyze scientific data more effectively and efficiently as working groups of students can collect data and store it on their own iPad. The LabQuest 2 also contains built in sensors such as GPS and accelerometers, which allow for the taking of data remotely, which increases the flexibility of taking data in experiments. Generally, these devices will allow Brimmer and May scientist in grades 6-12 to more effectively analyze and manipulate data and make conclusions about what the data means.

Chris Harman is an Upper School Science teacher and the designer and coordinator of the newly minted STEAM Diploma Program (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). The grant money will allow him to purchase the additional materials needed for a Mobile Maker Lab at Brimmer and May. Materials such as CNC router/miller/engraver, vinyl cutter, power and hand tools, and an electronics prototyping suite would be added to the currently owned 3D printer to allow our students to fabricate solutions to a wide range of scientific and engineering “problems”. The Maker Lab will be mounted on three large mobile tool carts that can be moved to appropriate spaces such as the four science labs, the computer lab, the scene shop, and the art barn.

Elizabeth Wooster is a Lower School Music teacher. The 2012-2013 grant money allowed for a wireless connection between an iPad, speakers, and a ceiling-mounted projector through AppleTV.

Yuhong Xu is a Mandarin teacher and founder of the Chinese program at Brimmer and May. The 2012-2013 grant money allowed her to purchase new iPads and Pleco Mandarin software licenses. Her students in grades 5-12 have the opportunity to use these additional tools in the classroom and at home.