[CALIBK12] one of us is in the news again !!!

[barbdon]

congrats to Grace Murphy-Jenkins, lmt, DeJean Middle School, Richmond,  
for receiving an EdFund grant for her poetry workshop AND for having  
her be the main focus of the news article (see below).....we're always  
saying we need to be more vocal and visible and "out there"....grace  
did this both by her poetry project AND by letting others know about  
it....

hurray, grace.....

...barb scheifler
NS newsletter editor

> Grant to boost writing skills: Ed Fund distributed $39,000 among 60  
> West Contra Costa programs
> By Kimberly S. Wetzel,
> Oakland Tribune     11/27/2007
>
> 	In formats ranging from free verse to rap, they voice their feelings
> on world events, discuss their goals and dreams, and profess their
> middle school love for each other. The poems' topics and styles  
> don't matter to DeJean Middle School  librarian Grace Murphy- 
> Jenkins, as long as students at the central  Richmond school get  
> their thoughts on paper and refrain from vulgar language.
> 	"The idea is really to provide more opportunity for students to   
> explore poetry as a viable literacy tool," said Murphy-Jenkins, who  
> came up with the idea to hold poetry workshops last year to help  
> students develop better writing skills. "It's to really provide an  
> avenue of self-expression."
> 	Grant to boost writing skills is one of more than 60 West Contra  
> Costa school district teaching and learning programs chosen this  
> year to receive money from the nonprofit West Contra Costa Public  
> Education Fund, which provides grants and scholarships to help  
> facilitate learning and succeeding.
> 	Teachers, principals and schools throughout the district received
> money ranging from $50 to $1,000 for everything from garden projects
> to field trips. This year, 129 applicants competed for the $39,000 in
> available grant money, said Ed Fund Executive Director Jennifer Henry.
> Murphy-Jenkins received $452.
> 	Henry said the Ed Fund board agreed that Murphy-Jenkins' poetry  
> project, as well as Ohlone Elementary teachers Danelle Dibble and  
> Craig Hammock's idea to transform the classrooms at their Hercules  
> school into restaurants to help students understand money, were  
> especially creative. ...
> 	"I was really impressed," Henry said. "There was a lot of thought put
> into the applications." In addition to the grant Murphy-Jenkins  
> received, DeJean received school-wide grants to start both a mobile  
> demonstration garden for use in different classrooms and a  
> personalized yearbook.
> Murphy-Jenkins said she could not have initiated the poetry project  
> without a startup grant she received from the Ed Fund in 2006 that  
> helped pay for reference books and other materials, and she could  
> not keep it going without the most recent cash infusion. "I'm  
> appreciative of the Ed Fund," Murphy-Jenkins said. "This not only  
> exposes the children to poetry, but exposes to the faculty that this  
> can be an important tool for learning."

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