Innovation has no sense of time. Inspiration springs forth without concern for the calendar. So, how do we respond to those innovative opportunities that arise in the middle of the academic year—opportunities to foster new initiatives, explore fresh ideas, and implement cutting-edge technologies?
Enter CA’s Parent Teacher Administration Alliance (PTAA).
The PTAA Grants Program helps to seed innovation by supporting small projects, equipment, and activities that enrich and enhance student interests within and beyond the classroom. This past academic year alone, the PTAA provided more than $23,000 in grants for eight student and faculty initiatives.
Middle School math teacher Leslie Williams received funding to purchase a larger capacity and finer-detailed Ultimaker 3D printer that can print in dual color. The new printer, which is available to all Middle School students and faculty is part of a larger effort to ensure that every Middle School student is well-versed in Computer Aided Design (CAD). This past year, the printer was utilized by seventh-grade math students for their Change the World engineering challenge, in addition to other projects.
To learn and teach critical life-saving skills, a grant sought by Parker Perkins (’20) and Upper School science and math teacher Delia Follet will enable the CA Search and Rescue Team to fully establish their presence on campus through the purchase of key equipment and materials.
Helping to interweave art into projects across campus, Upper School art teacher Caycee Lee secured funding to construct and outfit a mobile art cart to support and augment humanities projects.
A farsighted PTAA grant will provide a clear vision for CA Athletics for years to come. Working in conjunction with Athletics Administrative Assistant Rebecca Watkins to identify needs, the Communications Department received funding for new lenses and camera equipment that will be on long-term loan to the Athletics Department.
Last March, many parents and students attended Duke University Professor Wilkie Wilson’s talk, “Healthy Brain: Understanding the Effects of Alcohol, Vaping, and Drugs on the Teen Brain.” The presentation, made possible with funding provided to Upper School Learning Specialist Laura Werner, was so impactful that several students consulted with Dr. Wilson for their capstone senior projects or other research they were pursuing.
How do you take a hands-on approach to diving into microscopic subjects? PTAA funding will allow Upper School biology teacher Marissa Scoville’s students to explore DNA and protein molecules through cutting-edge physical models that will allow for abstract ideas to be more accessible, thereby enriching and enhancing the learning experience.
How do you take a hands-on approach to diving into microscopic subjects? PTAA funding will allow Upper School biology teacher Marissa Scoville’s students to explore DNA and protein molecules through cutting-edge physical models that will allow for abstract ideas to be more accessible, thereby enriching and enhancing the learning experience.
Eleventh-grade English students will have their voices heard, thanks to the purchase of audio production equipment to explore podcasting in the classroom. The process of recording audio, both personally and through interviews, is an ideal blend of the humanities and technology, invoking expressive storytelling and analytical expression as an alternative to traditional essay writing. According to grantee Jamie Roszel, the format promotes the creative synthesis of ideas and provokes civil discourse and discussion, while also giving students more agency over their educational outcomes.
Starting this summer, members of CA’s U.S. Association of Young Physicists’ Tournament (USAYPT) team, Will Aarons (’20), Cameron Fisher (’19), Paul Ibrahim (’21), Aidan Sher (’20), and Abraham Weinstein (’19), and other Upper School physics students will reach for the stars through a new computer-guided telescope. Under the guidance of science teachers Matt Greenwolfe and Charlotte Kelly, and internal substitute Dick Mentock, they’ll use the telescope to collect data for USAYPT astronomy problems, produce spectacular astronomical photographs for the classrooms, and observe the heavens with a clarity and precision of which CA’s 20-year-old existing telescope was incapable.