2016 Initiatives
The Elkhart Education Foundation ignites the power of community, connects generous hearts with education, and provides the resources needed for EVERY child to excel inside and outside of the classroom through extraordinary learning experiences. Here’s how we plan to promote that mission in 2016…
Speak Truth to Power Curriculum (Year 2)
As an educational tool for students at every grade level, the STTP Human Rights Education Curriculum shows students that they, too, can make a difference in the global struggle for justice. STTP uses stories of courageous heroes from around the world to teach students about human rights and empower them to become defenders themselves.
Teachers who use STTP in their classrooms express time and again that the curriculum fills important gaps in young peoples’ learning experience. STTP was designed with the understanding that education is about promoting the fullest
development of a human being.
Total Project Cost per year: $14,535
The Living Libraries Project
The Elkhart Education Foundation feels it is imperative to bring our elementary school libraries into the 21st century. Our libraries need to provide creative environments for collaboration and active learning.
As content becomes more accessible online, the role of the library should become less about housing tomes and more about connecting learners and constructing knowledge. The Living Libraries project proposes a plan to reimagine ECS elementary libraries with bright, welcome learning environments that will integrate innovative teaching practices and play-based learning that shares the joy of reading. This project will impact 7,225 students in our district, 70% of whom are classified as low-income.
Projected Cost: $10,000 per library x 14 = $140,000
ECS Faculty Professional Learning Center
If we want our teachers to be innovative, we must provide them with collaborative professional development space that models the kind of innovation we want them to mirror in their classrooms.
Our vision for the Learning Center includes:
• Tech-friendly furniture
• Walls of whiteboards for brainstorming
• Collaborative break-out areas for small group work
• Coffee-house comfort
• Spaces for presentations & tech integration coaching
• Cutting-edge technology
With the help of in-kind donations from community partners and some materials and labor provided by ECS, we aim to keep the cost of this project in the range of $20,000.