GEM Grants Cycle 6 Announces Winners

Five campus teams recently learned that their proposals will be funded for implementation next school year as the district’s in-house program called GEM Grants enters Year 6.    

When CFISD won the large-district award in the H-E-B “Excellence in Education” program in 2012, Dr. Henry decided to take that cash prize and invest it in teacher-driven initiatives.  The district’s Gap Elimination Measures (GEM) grant-making program was born.  With the initial award money now expended, the superintendent continues to support innovative projects with continued funding for GEM. 

Dr. Linda Macias, associate superintendent for curriculum & instruction and accountability, agrees with the approach of honoring teachers’ ingenuity.  She maintains a keen interest in devising and piloting creative and engaging ways to reach students, and she supports her team as they assist the campus GEM teams with project implementation.

GEM is open to all campuses to address any content-area or behavioral initiative.  In this year’s competition, a volunteer committee of campus administrators scored 23 applications.  Rank-ordering those scores is GEM’s method for determining which projects receive funding.  The five projects selected for GEM funding are listed below.

1.     At Bane Elementary, Crystal Rodriguez will lead her GEM team’s project called “Paperbacks and Playaways.”  Their plan is to transform second-language learners and struggling readers into lifelong, successful readers by improving their reading skills, reading levels, and test scores. “We know that using audiobook players and reading companions will be the catalyst to this everlasting change.”

2.     At Birkes Elementary, GEM leader Jeananne Curington will implement her team’s project, called “Motivating Readers through Graphic Novels and Book Clubs.”  Visual literacy is an essential part of today’s 21^st-century reading curriculum.  Graphic novels are motivational and appealing for young readers, and they make complex text available to all.  In addition to purchasing graphic novels, the team will establish student “lunch bunch” book clubs.  Students will increase reading stamina and comprehension.

3.     At Jowell Elementary, “For the Love of Reading!” is the project headed by Natalie Silva.  Its objective is to develop increased reading rigor using high-interest authentic literature in various genres to increase students’ vocabulary and to motivate their desire to learn.

4.     At Langham Creek High School, the project to be led by Christian Casillas is called “Implementing Effective Practices to Close the Minority Achievement Gap in Science.”  By providing relevant experiences that can be carried into future courses and employment, this team’s objective is to close the achievement gap for African-American and Hispanic students by improving performance in science courses and state assessments and by increasing enrollment rates in advanced courses.

5.     At Salyards Middle School, Eric Kessler will lead “Reinventing Interventions with Innovation: A Twist on Genius Hour.”  This GEM team seeks to determine whether incorporating a genius hour/PBL curriculum will improve engagement, achievement, motivation, and attitude toward learning for students in a math and reading intervention class.