The Bristol Warren Education Foundation (BWEF) recently announced the funding of $50,000 in educational grants for the 2024-2025 school year, bringing 15 academic enrichment programs designed by local educators to the Bristol Warren Regional School District.

Programs will engage students in a variety of areas including Business/Marketing, STEM, Health and Wellness, Reading, Writing, the Arts, Community Engagement, and Civics.

Since its founding in 2007, the BWEF has now funded over $800,000 in grants exclusively to programs in every school in the Bristol Warren Regional School District.

“We continue to be amazed by all the incredible ideas presented by the faculty and appreciate the amount of personal time they invest in submitting these applications. Bristol and Warren are lucky to have these educators in our community” said Mary Brabeck, Chair of the Grants Committee. “Supporting these creative ideas that promote student engagement and excellence in our schools is how we fulfill our mission.”

“A huge thank you to the individuals and businesses that make funding for these amazing ideas possible and to the grants committee for their commitment to rigorous review,” said Darcy DaCosta, Board Chair.

"Not only does this type of support enhance the education of our students,” said Ana C. Riley, Superintendent of Bristol Warren Regional School District, “but it sends an important message to our students and to our staff that our community truly values and cares about the work our educators are doing."

Award summary by school:

Mount Hope High School

Exploring Local Francophone Identity and Culture
This project will take students in Level 4/AP French to the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket to gain greater understanding of the Francophone identity, language and culture of French-Canadian immigrants to our state in the late 19th and 20th Centuries. Students will receive a tour of the museum in French from a museum docent.

RISD Museum Field Trip
This project takes students in Level 3 French to the RISD museum to gain greater insight into the visual arts, giving them background in art history, as well as an opportunity to see actual works and to interact with them. Students will be studying French vocabulary and expressions related to art; the historical context of the 19th Century and Romanticism; and aspects of analyzing and evaluating works of art, to culminate in presentations on various of the works housed at the museum.

Music Literacy and Performance Support for Choral Students
Through workshops and small group instruction, students will improve in the following areas of musicianship: sight reading, tone creation, and breath support. The funding provided will provide additional resources to the music department to support increased student proficiency in areas such as pitch matching and tone creation.

Unlocking the Power of AI Pilot Program
Brisk School offers a personalized learning experience for students by utilizing AI algorithms to analyze individual learning patterns and adapt feedback accordingly. This personalized approach allows teachers to cater to the unique needs and learning styles of each student, ensuring maximum engagement and academic growth. This real-time feedback mechanism enables teachers to intervene promptly and provide personalized support to struggling students.

Kickemuit Middle School

Beginning Band
This program brings professional musicians and instructors to KMS for individual instrument, small group instruction under the guidance of the music educators. This allows the students to hit the ground running when it is time to play together. Classes are held at the beginning of the year and benefit all grades through introductory lessons and refreshers.

Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is a national, non-profit organization that seeks to improve the quality of STEM education and expose students to rigorous, inquiry-based learning in many different STEM related fields. Students work with mentors such as teachers, parents and professionals in their community to learn new content and develop science and engineering skills. This collaborative atmosphere is fun and challenging.

Summer Bridge – Middle School Edition
The Summer Bridge Program at KMS is a collaborative vision between the BWRSD elementary schools and Kickemuit Middle School. As this program grows, KMS and district elementary schools will continue to work together to identify the needs of rising middle school students in order to provide them with a summer transition/bridge program to assist with those needs. The program includes programming to facilitate a more successful transition to middle school by providing social, emotional and organizational support as well as initiating engagement with the middle school community.

Elementary Schools

Boston Tea Party
The entire 5th grade community will be immersed in the events of the Boston Tea Party as part of their study of the American Revolution. A trip to the Boston Tea Party Museum will provide students with a creative and innovative opportunity to “join” Samuel Adams and the Sons and Daughters of Liberty at the meeting house where they protest the King’s unjust taxes. They will also play an active role in a riveting reenactment of the historic town meeting held just hours before the Boston Tea Party. Next, they will venture down to Griffin’s Wharf and board an authentic replica vessel where they will throw the Crown’s tea into Boston Harbor - the same body of water where this event took place over 240 years ago!

Art and Science
This project aligns with the second-grade curriculum exploring states of matter, plants and living things, habitats and animal adaptations through self-expression and creativity. Students will work with a local artist, over multiple sessions, to learn about the pottery process, make clay pots, and explore their learnings about animals and habitats through creativity.

Little Spot of Kindergarten
This program complements the Second Step Social and Emotional Curriculum. This project will help our Kindergarten students by teaching them to identify their feelings and learn strategies to cope with those feelings. They will also learn how to identify feelings in others and strategies to help them. The Social-Emotional Learning Educator’s Starter kit includes thought provoking lessons, discussions, and activities to help children identify emotions and feelings. This kit includes a box set of Emotion books, a box set of feelings books, an educator's guide as well as emotion flash cards and stickers. The add-on kit includes an educator guide for life skills and actions, a set of emotional regulation books, a set of life skills books, and a set of books discussing kindness, responsibility, patience, respect, honesty, diversity and safety as well as alphabet flashcards.

Science Concepts
This project will provide an opportunity for BWRSD second grade teachers to collaborate with the Audubon Society of Rhode Island in implementing five (one hour) hands-on, inquiry-based science lessons. These lessons will bring science to life right in the classroom, allowing all BWRSD second graders to interact with animal artifacts and live animals. Students will climb inside a life-size inflatable whale and see a real live bird of prey up close and personal right in their own neighborhood schools, to name just a few of the amazing experiences included in this project. Audubon educators and BWRSD teachers will be able to clearly illustrate concepts
and provide more in-depth learning experiences aligned with Next Generation Science Standards, such as making observations of animals to compare diversity of life in different habitats.

Mystery Science for 5th Graders
Mystery Science is based on NGSS standards and, at the fifth-grade level, is organized into 4 units: Watery Planet, Chemical Magic, Spaceship Earth, and Web of Life. Each unit is introduced through a real-world phenomenon which students return to throughout the unit. As they build scientific vocabulary and understanding of concepts, they apply new learning to explain the causes of the Dust Bowl, why the gargoyles on Notre Dame cathedral seem to be disappearing over time, how to engineer a solution to tell time by features of the night sky, and a plan for astronauts to feed themselves on Mars. These units consist of a series of lessons, each of which involves observing videos, discussing ideas, conducting hands-on investigations, writing responses, and applying learning to new situations.

District-Wide

Educator Wellness
Thirty-five interested educators, including teachers, professional support staff and teacher assistants, will receive a copy of the Whole Teacher Guidebook. Educator wellness is at the heart of educational success and student achievement. Kids learn better from teachers and teacher assistants who are emotionally healthy whom they can connect with and be inspired by. This project promotes mindfulness, i.e. collaboration between the educator and their own inner thoughts, self-reflections and well-being. The project will encourage teachers to engage organically in conversations on personal wellness, prompted by the monthly raffle based on responses to trivia and self-reflection questions.