Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • November 24, 2010 Ridgewood The Ridgewood Education Foundation recently presented several classroom grants for board of education approval at last week’s board meeting. The foundation presented 11 grant awards for six different Ridgewood schools, totaling $11,851. At Somerville School, Lauren Clark received a grant for kindergarten reading enrichment. This grant will enable Somerville to purchase high level, high interest books for the kindergarten classroom for advanced kindergarten readers. Ridge School will have a science fair coordinated by Parent Krista Leonard. Her grant will help generate interest in this annual event, which includes assemblies prior to Super Science Saturday and the fair. At Ridgewood High School, Harold C. Nelson, Ph.D. will teach the physics of hearing. This grant-funded program will tie together multiple elements of the physics curriculum at RHS and expand and enhance the educational experience of students taking physics. Students will be trained by Dr. Nelson to use all equipment necessary for the investigation. Travell School has received funding for Music Ace Maestro, which will be taught by Cynthia Feeney and Greg Fiorentino. Funding will be used to purchase related software that will be used throughout the school during the general music class time. This program allows students to work independently and individually, reinforcing and expanding the music theory learned from kindergarten through grade five. Travell has also receiving funding for a robotics program. The application was submitted by Greg Fiorentino and Margy Leininger. This grant will help extend the systems in motion science unit for fifth grade students and will provide an application for some of the skills learned in science. Funds have also been provided for “Bridging the Literacy Gap for English Language Learners,” a program at Foundation funds multiple projects Travell proposed by Zsuzsanna Nagy, Donna Antonellis, and Margy Leininger. This grant will provide bilingual reading material for ESL (English as a Second Language) students. Books in Korean and Japanese will be purchased to help students maintain their first language while they learn English. At Orchard School, the students will experience High Tech Treasure Hunting, lead by Jim Ross. This grant will provide for the purchase of Geocaching. This project will be used as a motivational tool to enhance the wellness program at Orchard. “Picturing America: American History through Our Nation’s Art,” will be presented at Ridge School by Deborah Tworek. The focus of this grant is the “Picturing America” program, which will bring some of the nation’s most significant images into the classroom, helping students to better understand the history of America. The Ridgewood High School Jazz Band will benefit from world music in “Jazz Ensemble without Fear” taught by Jeff Haas and Gary Fink. This grant will provide members of the RHS Jazz Ensemble and curricular bands with outstanding instruction from one of the nation’s leading experts in Latin jazz education. Latin students at the high school will discover that “Latin is Scrabulous.” This creative concept, submitted by Stephanie Gigante, involves the purchase of Scrabble games to help Latin students to acquire and retain vocabulary. Students in the RED Program will benefit from a visit by Healthbarn USA. Karen Price and Amy Sellars want to spark students’ interest in nutrition, and how to make good food choices. Since 1989, the Ridgewood Education Foundation has awarded more than $400,000 in grants for projects created by teachers, parents, students and alumni. The foundation receives no government funding and is solely sponsored by its members. REF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Artistic endeavor ‘Sunflowers’ by Celeste Manfredini is one of the works that will be displayed at the Ridgewood Art Institute’s Members’ Holiday Show & Sale, Nov. 28 through Dec. 18. An opening reception will be held Nov. 28 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Ridgewood Art Institute, 12 East Glen Avenue in Ridgewood. For further information call (201) 652-9615 or visit www. ridgewoodartinstitute.org. REFINANCE COST�������� NOW! ��������������NO CLOSING ����������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������ Please specify if you prefer: 1) Advertised rate 2) $0 closing cost option � ����������������������� ���������������������������� ������������������������ ��������������������������������������� �������4.5%�������4.5%��������3.875%�������3.875%� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������ ��������������������������������������������������������������������� Mike Blasius� �����������