Wristbands for 5th Graders!

Education goes beyond the walls of a school building. The Mayor created a City Task Force to review processes and increase safety for students as they walk, bike, ride or take the car or bus to and from school every day. The Task Force is created with stakeholders in our community including but not limited to Peabody Public School staff, parents, Peabody Police Department, Peabody Health Department and more. One of the goals within this committee is to educate all of our students with magnified focus on fifth graders transitioning to middle school. All fifth graders are receiving safety information along with a wristband funded by the Peabody Education Foundation. Wristbands are very popular for this age group, and it serves as a reminder as they wear it about the safety education they have learned.

Tell the Story: Reading, Writing, and Wampum

The PEF Grants program funded ‘Tell the Story: Reading, Writing, and Wampum’ for all third-grade students at the Brown School. Museum docents and historian experts from Plimoth Patuxet Museums presented to the entire third-grade student body over a course of three sessions. This program taught students how to write with a real quill and ink and create a 17th-century piece of writing. In addition, they also learned about wampum belts and created their own original designs.

Students in third-grade study the history of Massachusetts and New England. This program helped students learn about the adaptation of Native Americans and English colonists to the Massachusetts environment and how English Puritan ideas shaped the development of Massachusetts from colony to state.

Curious Creatures

With funding from the PEF Grants program, the Captain Samuel Brown Elementary School arranged a visit from Curious Creatures for students in grade 1. Curious Creatures is an educational live animal program. The presenter brought animals such as alligators, lizards, snakes, mammals, turtles, tortoises, bugs, and amphibians to help students learn about animal adaptations through first-hand observation. Students were able to touch and interact with the animals.

The program engaged students and allowed them to learn about animal adaptions, which is a first-grade science standard, in an engaging and interactive way!

Grooversity – Brazilian Beats

Through the PEF Grants program, the Thomas Carroll Elementary School received funding to bring the Grooversity – Brazilian Beats program to students in grade 4. Grooversity is an innovative drumming network led by Brazilian percussionist Marcus Santos.

The goal of the program is to promote Afro-Brazilian percussion as an educational resource, entertainment, and catalyst for social change. Grooversity has been a staple in the fourth grade for the past three years at the Thomas Carroll School. Students feed off Grooversity’s music, energy, and diverse background, forming great connections with the performers!

Play for All

Funds provided through PEF Grants helped support the successful implementation of the new ‘Play for All’ program across eight elementary schools within the district. These schools needed essential recreational equipment to encourage active play among their students. With funding from the PEF Grants, the schools were able to get comprehensive recess bags and supplies, including basketballs, soccer balls, footballs, kickballs, jump ropes, hula hoops, cones, bases, and a bat and ball set. These items cover a broad range of activities suitable for diverse interests and skill levels, ensuring every child finds a preferred way to engage in physical play during recess.

Resources provided through the ‘Play for All’ program will positively impact the overall school environment, promoting physical health, social interaction, teamwork, problem-solving skills, and emotional well-being among elementary students!

STEAM Museum at the West

With funding from PEF Grants, the West Memorial Elementary School was able to provide students with an enriching learning experience through the ‘STEAM Museum: A Hands-On Museum.’ Through this program, students got to explore state-of-the-art, immersive, and hands-on exhibits focused on STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math). Stations students could experience included robots, virtual reality, 3D printing, art, engineering, and more!

In today’s tech-driven world, it’s helpful for students to be aware of the role that science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics play in their day-to-day lives. The STEAM Museum exhibits were able to extend and reinforce many of the concepts and skills addressed in the classroom curriculum. The hands-on nature of the program also allowed students to apply and develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Family Science Night

The PEF Grants Program funded the ‘Family STEM Night’ for the John E. Burke School. With PEF support, the school got educational entertainment company, Top Secret Kids, to run a 90-minute STEM Night for 200 students in grades K-5. During the program, the school community, parents, and students were able to learn together by participating in hands-on activities that included teachings about motion, light, earth science, and more.

The Family STEM Night was designed to promote STEM education and help students see the real-world applications of these concepts. Further, by bringing parents and students together, the program helped strengthen family bonds and create positive memories.

Johnny the K

With funding from the PEF Grants Program, The Center School brought award-winning musician and teacher, Johnny the K’s Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) character-building presentation to students in grades K-5. Johnny the K combines his experiences as a teacher and his talents as a musician to create a unique performance that uses lively music, humor, and creativity to inspire social awareness, social skills, learning and self-respect.

The program was designed to support mental wellness within the school community, encouraging students to develop a positive attitude about themselves and the world around them; demonstrate a sense of pride in their accomplishments; always be determined to do their best; and learn to cooperate with one another.

South School Store

The PEF funded the South School Store to benefit South Memorial Elementary School’s students. The store is intended to increase students’ motivation to read and achieve their Accelerated Reader goals.

The school rolled out the Accelerated Reader program to help build a culture of reading. The program helps students find ‘just right’ books and allows them to analyze their own data. To boost student buy-in for the Accelerated Reader program, the school decided to open the new South School Store. With Accelerated Reader, students earn points that translate into spending points for use at the store. Each grade has differentiated levels, which includes purple, green, blue, gold, and platinum clubs. Every club requires a certain number of points, allowing for reachable yet rigorous challenges for all students.  

Since its launch, the store has helped drive success for Accelerated Reader! Students have been working hard to meet the goals of the program and join the leveled clubs!

Mindfulness in the Classroom

On January 3rd, 2023, the Welch Elementary School welcomed Christopher Willard, PsyD, to their school for an author talk for students in pre-k through 3rd grade. Dr. Willard is a clinical psychologist at Harvard Medical School and author of more than 19 publications for children and adults. During his visit, he read aloud from his book, Breathing Makes It Better, which helps students understand the power of breath and introduces them to basic mindfulness practices when dealing with new and difficult emotions.

Welch teachers received copies of Breathing Makes It Better, Alphabreaths, and Alaphabreaths Too, so they may use the books as simple guided practice with their students throughout the rest of the school year and beyond. The grant money was also able to purchase a copy of his book in Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese to allow our ELL students and their caregivers equal access to the resources.

Stay Sharp Barbering

The PEF Grants Program funded ‘Stay Sharp Barbering’ for 10th to 12th grade students at Peabody Veteran’s Memorial High School. To support an uptick in the popularity of barbering, the funding was used to purchase professional and high-quality barbering equipment for students in the school’s cosmetology program. Through ‘Stay Sharp Barbering,’ students now get the real-world experience of working with equipment that they will eventually use in barbershops and hair salons.

This new equipment will also allow students to discover new services they can offer to clients, ultimately providing them with more opportunities to be successful once they launch their careers in the field. ‘Stay Sharp Barbering’ will benefit students by helping them expand their skill set so they stand out from the crowd.

Spectrum Yoga

The PEF Grants Program funded the ‘Spectrum Yoga’ initiative for students with special needs in grades 6 to12 at Higgins Middle School and Peabody Veterans Memorial High School. ‘Spectrum Yoga’ is a four-month program designed to help students with special needs manage anxiety and emotional regulation as well as improve concentration and memory.

The program is being taught by Ms. Amy LaFave, a certified Yoga instructor who holds many certifications in Yoga for children with special needs. Ms. LaFave is certified in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), which is a behavior program for students with autism spectrum disorder. She has also completed a training program called Voice Colors Yoga, which is Yoga geared specifically toward children with special needs. 

Peabody Learning Academy Music/Guitars

The Peabody Education Foundations PEF grant program funded Music/Guitar lessons at the Peabody Learning Academy. This program is an elective offered to students and is one of the first music/art classes at the school! Math and Science teacher, Kevin Tanglis, requested 5 guitars for his students to help provide a creative outlet during their day.  Because many of the classes at PLA are taken online, the guitars offer a great way for students to express their creative side and allows for a hands-on learning approach. This program combined music theory along with guitar lessons to help the students grow creatively. Thank you to Kevin Tanglis for this great idea!

Hands On STEM Math Enrichment Program

The Peabody Education Foundation funded materials for the Hands On STEM Math Enrichment Program for the 4th grade classroom at the South Memorial School. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. These four fields share an emphasis on innovation, problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork and collaboration. Teacher, Jennifer Hincman, requested materials for the program to incorporate this curriculum into monthly engaging activities. The benefits of this program include project based learning, school community and collaboration, life skills, teamwork and more.

#WhatliftsPVMHS? – Kelsey Montague Inspired Murals 

During the 2018-2019 school year, we funded #WhatliftsPVMHS – Kelsey Montague Inspired Murals for Peabody High School. This program invited Art students at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School to research, read and respond to the street art murals by artist Kelsey Montague and her initiative #WhatliftsYou. Together, students identified the uniqueness of Montague’s style and discussed the content in her imagery, such as wings, hot air balloons and kites. Using Montague’s artwork as inspiration, as a group, students discussed and brainstormed potential locations inside PVMHS, and content and message for three murals in their own school. They then interpreted and illustrated sketches for murals for their walls and proposed ways that their peers, faculty, staff and visitors could interact with the unique and personal images that are special to the PVMHS school community.

SkyDome Planetarium 

The SkyDome Planetarium was requested by Cindy Littlefield at the Welch School. This program incorporated a portable, inflatable planetarium that could accommodate up to ninety students at a time. The students entered and took part in a 45 minute journey through the universe. There was a navigator who guided the students through the stars which were exactly how they appeared on the presentation day. The students learned about all of the stars and constellations as well as how to identify them in the sky. They were also able to see the sky during different seasons from different global perspectives. Thank you Cindy for this great experience!

7th Grade Outdoor Classroom Water Quality Study

The 7th Grade Outdoor Classroom was designed by science teachers at the Higgins Middle School as a way to provide students with regular and seasonal access to the diverse learning environment of the Higgins trails and wetlands. Through weekly forays into the natural area within walking distance of the school, students are asked to become citizen scientists as they collect authentic data, analyze pond and soil health, monitor phenological changes and conduct short- and long-term studies of biological change. This program aligns the Higgins 7^th grade classroom science curriculum to place-based examples at both the ecosystem and habitat level. The Peabody Education Foundation proudly funded the biochemical test kits and supplies which included dissolved oxygen test kits, pH water test refill, infrared thermometer, Celestron binoculars and more!

Whalemobile

Our PEF Grant Program funded ‘The WhaleMobile’ for the second-grade students at the Center School in Peabody. Whalemobile gave students a rare opportunity to see a life-size model of a real whale!  Each class spent a half hour inside the inflatable whale where they got to see just how big the insides of a whale are! From the heart to the stomach, the students got a clear representation of what a whale looks like from the inside. The students watched in awe as the instructor taught them how the whale operates. Students were also able to touch baleen, bones and teeth from real whales!

Makerspace STEAM Weekly Classes

The South Memorial Elementary School created the Makerspace STEAM Weekly Classes program to promote creative thinking and problem solving through student-led, inquiry-based tasks and challenges. During these classes, students work in a team or individually to build different types of robots, design sail cars, complete engineering and design challenges, build and race cars, and design and print 3D ideas. These inquiry-based learning activities encourage students to explore different ideas and ask questions to help them become self-learners who are capable of out-of-the-box thinking. The funds helped the school purchase materials, such as several build sets, learning kits and games, and more, to get the program up and running. The PEF Grant Committee is excited to see the students work together to creatively tackle various projects! Check out the video and pictures below!

Intergenerational Book Club

The Peabody Education Foundation funded the ‘Intergenerational Book Club’ for 4th grade students at Center School in Peabody. As part of the program, students and their ‘literacy grandparents’ read and discussed the book, ‘The War with Grandpa,’ as well participated in activities together. At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, community seniors were required to completely isolate, which meant fewer interactions between students and their elderly grandparents.

The ‘Intergenerational Book Club’ helped revive the bond between students and their grandparents and/or community elders. The program also fostered a respect of the elderly among students and allowed them to learn about what life was like in the past compared to the present. Besides helping students and community elders reconnect, the ‘Intergenerational Book Club’ also provided a great educational experience for the students. Using the literature unit, ‘A Guide for Using The War with Grandpa,’ the program’s learning objectives include reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, critical thinking lessons, and art.

Photos courtesy of Cheryl Millard!

Higgins Green Screen Studio

Building off of a previous PEF grant, Librarian Sudi Smoller was looking to transform a study room off the library into a Green Screen Studio. The studio would be used to help students develop their media production skills and also gave the students a space to complete video assignments for their classes.

The Peabody Education Foundation funded this creative studio and was able to see it live in action during a visit to the middle school. While we were there, Higgins students demonstrated how their Green Screen Studio works by creating a short ‘Safari’ themed video.

Wake-Up Brain Bins

The PEF Grants program funded ‘Wake-Up Brain Bins’ for students at the Brown School. Wake-Up Brain Bins are morning tubs that are integrated into the classroom to promote problem solving, boost creativity and engage students in open-ended activities. Each morning, the students pull out these bins to help them wake up and warm up for the day ahead!

American Sign Language (ASL) Materials Library

Our PEF Grants Program funded the ‘Sign Language Materials Library’ for Pre-K students at McCarthy Elementary School in Peabody. The library includes educational materials such as magnetic American Sign Language (ASL) letters, sign language classroom practice book, sign language posters, flash cards for quick access to signs, and phonics book. These materials will help the school support learning for students with autism, hearing impairments, cochlear implants, and other language needs, as well as non-verbal students. Besides aiding and promoting total communication in the classroom, these materials will also help in normalizing the use of sign language and encouraging general education students to accept and learn alongside their peers.

Sensory Walls

The PEF Grants Program funded ‘Sensory Walls’ for students at Captain Samuel Brown School. The ‘Sensory Walls’ program was created to provide a stimulating environment for students with developmental delays. The funds will allow the school to purchase tools and kits to build various sensory walls that provide tactile sensory input to children’s hands and fingers.

The walls will allow students to discover the world around them and provide comfort to distressed and overactive individuals. The ‘Sensory Walls’ program will benefit students at the school by facilitating an increase in concentration and attention, promoting cognitive development through increased brain function, improving coordination and motor development, and much more.

Field Trip to the House of the Seven Gables – Salem, MA

Our PEF Grants Program funded a field trip to the House of the Seven Gables for the third grade students at the West Memorial School! During the trip, students got a tour of the house and were able to see first hand how daily life was during the 17th Century. This hands-on field trip aligned perfectly with the third grade social studies curriculum. 

Food Truck & Clay Food Design

The PEF funded the Food Truck and Clay Food Design Project for the Center School with the goal of encouraging innovative thinking and problem solving in students.

For this program, the school’s third and fourth graders created their own 3D model of a food truck with paper and designed food with model magic clay and markers. Students also came up with an original name for their food truck and developed a logo and menu.

The program taught students the value of graphic designers, logos, color in creating an aesthetic product. Using clay to design the food also helped students understand the basics of ceramics.

Sports Museum Field Trip – TD Garden

The PEF Grants Program funded a tour of The Sports Museum for third graders at South Memorial School. This exciting tour of the Museum, located at TD Garden in Boston, was intended to help students understand the rich heritage of Boston sports and the influence of sports on the social history and evolution of the city. The field trip also aligned with the students’ Social Studies programs that focused on the growth of cities and towns, and on identifying historic buildings, monuments in the cities and towns of Massachusetts. The students had a wonderful day at the Museum and enjoyed visiting the famous TD Garden that houses two of our beloved sports teams!

Soldering Time

The PEF Grants Program funded soldering kits for the electronics/robotics club at PVMHS. The kits are used to build electronic circuits, such as FM radios, and help students learn the skill of soldering metal to connect components together. Soldering is a STEM process of technology engineering and manufacturing, using science and mathematics to determine design. These kits assisted students in enhancing their fine motor skills for building and repairing electronic circuits, as well as for designing engineering projects, engaging in manufacturing processes, and ensuring the quality control of electronics. Vocational Electronics Instructor, Dale Larocque M.Ed., stated “These soldering stations are fantastic and allow us to expand our training to teach better skills to our students.”

A Book for Every Reader: Manga & Graphic Novels

The PEF Grants Program funded ‘A Book for Every Reader: Manga & Graphic Novels’ for the PVMHS library.  PVMHS Librarian, Julie Pease, requested a large number of graphic novels and manga books to help add to and  build up their collection. Graphic novels and manga are a growing trend in Young Adult (YA) publishing, and they are extremely popular among the students at PVMHS. These genres also help support reluctant readers, English learners, and, student interests.