While many Arlington students and teachers enjoyed the long summer months, several APS educators went back into the classroom as students themselves. Arlington Education Foundation’s Continuing Scholars Awards (CSA) offer educators up to $2,500 to deepen their own knowledge in ways that yield dividends for their students. This summer, educators received CSAs to participate in programs that supported their professional growth in visual arts and in the teaching of writing to students with disabilities, among other endeavors.
Molly Atryzek, an art teacher at Ottoson Middle School, is excited to bring the fruits of her summer experience into her work with students this fall. With support from a CSA, Atryzek attended the Montserrat College of Art’s Japan Institute to learn about woodblock printmaking, Manga drawing, calligraphy, and fabric art. “These workshops gave me the opportunity to learn techniques and processes that I can now better understand and share with my students,” says Atryzek, who traveled to Japan for the program with fellow APS art teacher Samantha Bolger. “Experiencing these art forms through hands-on practice helped me appreciate the traditional techniques and process. I also find any opportunity I get to be a student helps me further understand what my own students go through in the process of art making.”
Hilary Dawson, Team Chair for Special Education at Ottoson Middle School, is also eager to bring summer learning into her classroom this fall. Dawson applied for and received a CSA to participate in a six-week online workshop called “Written Expression: Scaffolded Strategies for Beginning Writers.” Dawson says the workshop, run by Landmark Outreach, offered her new ways of assessing the best interventions for young writers with language-based learning disabilities and of measuring their progress. The curriculum also introduced her to a new rubric she is finding especially helpful. “It means that when we talk about whether a student has achieved a goal, we have something concrete and tangible,” she says, adding that she plans to share what she learned with her team in department meetings this fall, and use the Landmark curriculum when writing goals for students with Individualized Education Plans.
In addition to CSAs for professional development, AEF offers four additional grant programs to support creative new initiatives, projects and clubs in the Arlington Public Schools. An all-volunteer-led organization funded through the generosity of individual donors and local business sponsors in the community, AEF operates independently of the school district and the school committee. The foundation is made up of committed parents and local residents eager to fund great ideas and excellence in the schools.
