NA Foundation awards more than $22,000 to NA staff

A mountain bike skills park, a fly-tying club, and a library program for deaf and hard of hearing students are among the projects funded by eight grants awarded by the North Allegheny Foundation.

The foundation, which raises funds to benefit the school district, will provide $22,935 worth of grants, which were announced in January.

“The grant applications in this cycle were amazing,” said William Mascari, a middle school teacher at Marshall and staff liaison to the foundation.

“This really allows teachers to think big and allows their dreams to come true.” said Mascari, who is also a foundation trustee.

North Allegheny Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization governed by a 23-member Board of Trustees that represent a diverse group of community and business leaders. The foundation has grant application periods usually every first and second semester, Mascari said.

The foundation looks for projects that support its mission, which is to enhance and enrich the educational experience at North Allegheny. Any staff member can submit an application, which must show how the grant will impact students and how many students will be impacted.

“We always say ‘think big’,” Mascari said. “You don’t know until you ask.”

While foundation awards grants to fund the projects, the projects themselves must be approved by the school board. The school board unanimously approved the following projects:

Mountain Bike Skills Park — $7,000

A Mountain Bike Skills Park at Carson Middle School will be constructed potentially by the fall and will serve the entire CMS student body during the school day and indirectly serve any non-CMS student in the district after school, Mascari said.

CMS technology and engineering classes will design, engineer, build and install the park features while working alongside the district’s facilities department, local contractors and parent volunteers. The park can also be used by a club or physical education class.

Fly-tying club — $1,200

Students at Ingomar Middle School will use fly-tying kits, equipment, thread, hooks, and other materials to learn to tie a fly pattern in the club and some science classes.

North Allegheny Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Program Library — $398

This project will add materials with deaf or hard-of-hearing characters to the existing program library of fiction and nonfiction. Students served by the district’s deaf/hard-of-hearing program will have access to these books during direct instruction with a teacher of the deaf and to check out and read on their own, according to the application submitted by Peebles Elementary staff.

Padcaster Studio for Tablets — $1,100

Fifth-graders at Bradford Woods Elementary as well as any staff will use a Padcaster program to record morning announcements, as well as interviews and recordings of concerts.

Coding programming robot at library — $9,422

Students at all district elementary school libraries will benefit from implementation of Blue Bot, a basic programmable robot, thanks to an approved application submitted by Hosack Elementary staff. The robot teaches through hands-on, exploration while encouraging inquiry-based learning and innovative thinking. The device can be used by both primary and intermediate students.

Improving Articulation with Bite-R — $419

Students, typically in grades four through six, enrolled in speech therapy for the “r” sound can use this product for extra tactile support if unsuccessful with other therapy techniques. The application was submitted by Marshall Elementary staff.

Technology and Engineering Exploration Through Flight — $2,901

North Allegheny Intermediate submitted the application for this STEM-based flight project that will carry through grades four, seven, and nine through 10. Having a hands-on STEM based flight project through multiple grades will reinforce what they have previously learned and can take projects to the next level faster and with greater understanding.

Art Legacy Project – Mural — $495

The North Allegheny Senior High School art department received this award for a mural art project for students in its honors art; advanced placement art and design; senior high drawing; senior high painting and national art honor society.

NA School Board Member Elizabeth Warner said she was impressed with the grants and the work of the foundation.

“We are so appreciative of their fundraising efforts and the work they put into evaluating the grant applications,” Warner said. “These are eight fantastic projects and they’re all going to benefit students.”

There were 17 applications in this past cycle seeking approximately $45,600.

If a grant does not make the cut, Mascari said, the grant team provides feedback and applicants are welcome to try again.

Since 1989, the foundation has distributed more than $500,000 in grants to NA schools and thousands more in scholarships to graduating seniors.

NA fundraisers throughout the year benefit the foundation’s work, including the fall Trick-or-Trot and a Taste of NA, to be held April 21.

Mascari said scholarship submission forms are not yet posted on the NA foundation page — www.northallegheny.org — but will be soon. The submission dates are listed as April 19.