From Brookline to Nicaragua: Building Global Awareness through Cross-Cultural Exchange - Three world language teachers will travel to Brookline’s sister city, Quezalguaque, Nicaragua, to begin a new partnership between schools in both cities. Brookline students will acquire a personal understanding of Nicaragua and its language through videotaped interviews, pen pal relationships, and authentic materials the participants will bring back to Brookline.	Zoë Kern Kristen Kenney Colleen Boyle	Lawrence Lincoln Runkle	$3,000 (Gelfand Award)
Wilson Reading Program Certification - Two special educators will become certified in a multi-sensory, systematic reading instruction program that helps students struggling with reading and spelling to acquire a better understanding of letter-sound relationships.	Cathy Stahl Michiko Hattori	Runkle	$3,600
Canoe the Susquehanna River from NY to the Chesapeake Bay – The Susquehanna bears the imprint of the first 200 years of American economic development, including the French and Indian War, the age of canals, the Industrial Revolution, and the emergence of railroads, nuclear energy, and the environmental movement. This BHS social studies teacher will canoe a 300-mile length of the river, studying its influence on American history.	Robert Grant	BHS	$1,000 (Baker Legacy Award)
Reducing Stress in an Academic Culture – Six BHS teachers from multiple disciplines will participate in the Education Initiative of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine. The Initiative teaches response-based coping skills and life management tools to help teachers and students better manage daily stress and improve students’ academic performance and health.	Mary Angione Elizabeth Gorman Sally Noteware Jill Sifantus Meghan Kennedy-Justice	BHS	$3,200
National Science Teachers Association Conference – Attendance at this national conference will provide Brookline’s K-8 Science Curriculum Coordinator the opportunity to learn new ideas in science education, including curriculum design, inquiry learning, and science notebooks, to be shared with science teachers throughout Brookline.	Janet MacNeil	Systemwide	$1,250
Google Earth – Creating Virtual Field Trips – Lincoln’s technology specialist and 7/8 grade science teacher will learn about Google Earth, GPS devices, and other technology used to create “Virtual Field Trips” (guided online explorations). Virtual field trips will enhance student learning and develop skills critical for success in the 21^st century.	Sabrina Avnor Sue Zobel	Lincoln	$2,320

Advanced Placement Statistics Summer Institute - A BHS statistics teacher will attend a summer institute in AP statistics to explore concepts and techniques to help her standard and AP students become serious mathematical thinkers and problem solvers.	Kari Buys	BHS	$995
Bringing Latin Dance to Sixth Graders – Heath School’s world language and music teachers will learn to salsa and samba and develop teaching units to provide students with a deeper understanding of Latin culture and Spanish language through dance.	Lindsay Davis Meredith Huntley	Heath	$1,220
Modeling a Growth Mindset – This grant provides professional and personal renewal for three veteran teachers who will attend a seven-day course to fulfill the American Sailing Association requirements for sailing certification. By challenging themselves, they will revitalize their teaching and model a “growth mindset” for their students.	Sarah DeBlois Elizabeth Williams Elizabeth Gelotte	Devotion	$5,985
Yoga Teacher Certification – A Pierce fifth grade teacher will be certified to teach yoga to children. He plans to use yoga to help students focus, reduce stress, control emotions and deal with the challenges of adolescence.	David Vitale-Wolff	Pierce	$1,500
Iceland: The Land of Fire and Ice – Devotion School’s 7th grade science teacher will explore the unique geology of Iceland and view the results of millions of years geological processes, including the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and tectonical plate movement. She also will observe active volcanoes and other geothermal phenomena, including geysers.	Deb Allen	Devotion	$2,500
The Examined Life: Greek Study Tour (2 grants) – Brookline’s K-8 Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator and a first adopter of new 7^th grade curriculum will participate in a study tour of Greece. The tour is the culmination of The Examined Life: Greek Studies in the Schools course they have taken at Brandeis University. The tour will provide authoritative content knowledge and primary resource material to support development of curriculum for the Ancient Greece unit to be introduced in Brookline 7^th grade classrooms in 2013.	Jonathan Greiner Geoff Tegnell	Lawrence Systemwide	$5,000 (2 grants)