This grant provides funding for the Webster Hill Pre-Kindergarten students to take part in three diverse learning experiences. Earlier this month, the first of these experiences took place as Westmoor Park naturalists brought animals to the classrooms. This experience allowed students to develop an understanding and respect of animal habitats and the impact our community can have on them. Later this school year they will travel to Moscarillo's Garden Shoppe and Stew Leonard's Market to learn how garden and greenhouses work and begin to understand the food to table chain.  Additionally, the books and puppets funded by this grant will be used throughout the year for continuous learning about our community ecosystem.

Julie Ann Collier, in-residence Raptor Rehabilitator, will visit 3rd grade inquirers at Charter Oak International Academy for two captivating programs. These experiences, not available through books or internet research, will bring learning to life! The first visit, entitled The Native American Artifacts, occurred just over a week ago. During this visit, the students dove into the Native American culture through artifacts such as shields, headdresses, clothing, jewelry, beadwork, quillwork and basketry while experiencing 2 live birds of prey. Julie Ann Collier will return in March with at least 5 live birds of prey to present the second program, North American Birds of Prey.

Experimenting with KIBO robots allowed kindergarten students at Charter Oak to build on their language arts, science and technology skills. In addition to programming the screen free robot with “tangible code” made of wooden blocks, the students built, decorated and created a character to put on the robot platform. Their robots were brought to life with these characters and story telling. This exciting grant provided an opportunity for these young scientists to better understand the world, other people and themselves through educational and fun experimentation!

The grants we award fund opportunities above and beyond what the school budget allows. That is why your support is so important to the work we do. Please donate now and help us continue to create excellence beyond the school budget limits!

For 2022-2023 sponsorship opportunities, email us at fwhps@westhartford.gov