Fed funds to 'stimulate' Lincoln students

LINCOLN - Stimulus funding doesn't only build roads or fix bridges.

In the Lincoln school district, it's about to secure a printing business, build a greenhouse, and give middle school kids a chance to view an eclipse or constellation in their own planetarium.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the district will get $854,000 in stimulus funds that will be targeted for K-12 students with disabilities or for students who are at risk for academic failure. The funds, determined by a state formula, are restricted by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

However, all students in the district will have access to these programs, including the greenhouse and printing businesses.

"It holds with our theme in Lincoln that education starts in the least restrictive environment as possible and with students' peers," said Superintendent Georgia Fortunato.

"Big things are happening in Lincoln," agreed Maryann Struble, director of student services.

Struble pointed out that, unlike other school districts, she organized a committee. She brought all stakeholders to the table, including parents, teachers, staff and administrators.

"I felt it was very important to get a district-wide feeling of what we needed at every level, so we can spend the money appropriately," said Struble.

One of the big pushes in the district is moving toward rigorous college and career-ready standards and high-quality assessments for all students, including limited English-proficient students and those students with disabilities.

The printing and greenhouse businesses were chosen specifically because they help students learn how to engage in inquiry-based learning. The greenhouse project is drawing a lot of attention, Struble said.

Struble said industrial arts students would build two 20-by-40-square-foot greenhouses on the pavement behind the high school. That's on tap for early spring or sooner. The state has to approve plans, which are still in the making.

School officials will consult with members of the University of Rhode Island master gardeners program to get the greenhouse up and running. The idea behind the greenhouse is to give students a hands-on opportunity to run a business, and perhaps expand their interest in gardening that could include landscaping, horticulture or masonry.

Teacher Tom Reeves, who teaches a combined botany and zoology class at the high school, wants to split the class, so the botany students can participate in greenhouse projects.

Students running the greenhouse would sell flowers and vegetables so the greenhouse would be self-sustaining and would continue after the stimulus funds end; they are spread out over two years.

With so many artistic students, school officials wanted to tap into a business that would give students an opportunity to explore another area: printing.

A printing consultant will help high school students decide how they want to run that particular business and what they sell, all part of the entrepreneurial course and experience, said Struble.

And imagine middle school students seeing a meteor shower in a classroom dedicated to a digital planetarium system. The middle school would get a portable planetarium that would accommodate some 10 to 12 students at one time. The planetarium will support the 6th- and 8th-grade Earth and space curriculum.

"It's such an opportunity for students studying astronomy," said Fortunato.

At the elementary level, a wide range of "assistive technology," including smart boards, would be introduced, as well as supplemental math and socially oriented programs. At the pre-kindergarten level, the stimulus funds will benefit new programs such as a portable sound system for those students with hearing difficulties. "It's like surround-sound in the classroom," said Struble.

For the same age group, school officials would purchase a vision screener for child outreach screening. Similar to binoculars, 3-to-5-year-olds look into the screener. It "reads what's in the eye," said Struble, adding few people can provide that kind of early childhood screening.

Both the vision screener and the sound system are important because it is "very difficult to get an accurate picture" of young children's ability to see and hear, Struble said.

The vision screener would arrive just in time for spring screening in March.