North Babylon High School Wins $10,000 Technology Grant
Optimum Lightpath has awarded North Babylon High School a $10,000 grant this school year. Director of Science & Mathematics, Alison Offerman-Celentano, applied for these funds and, on behalf of the highschool, was one of eleven recipients of the award. The grant would not have been won without the help of Chemistry and Biology teacher Marysusan Noll, who spent time with the Director flushing out ideas for the grant and helping to research the best supportive technology to build into the grant application. AP Environmental Science teacher Renee Bandes will be implementing the grant award idea in her classroom this year. The project, entitled “A.P.E.S. Students Feed the World,” will bring the challenges of overpopulation and food production to life in our AP Environmental Science (A.P.E.S.) course.
Students will participate in an interactive learning experience through a series of videoconferencing sessions supported by classroom activities where they will connect with professional scientists to learn about the innovative ways we are exploring to feed the ever-expanding population of humans on this planet while still sustaining ecosystems for future generations. They will be given time to research the various ways in which feeding a growing population can be achieved and the environmental impact and potential health benefits or concerns that may impact upon their success. Students will then design their own plan based upon the information learned working in cooperative groups. Each team will be responsible for creating a PowerPoint or video presentation accompanied by a written report with a budget attached. The plans will be presented to a panel of science teachers and top students in the school who will utilize a rubric to choose the top three plans. These will then be forwarded on to the United Nations World Food Programme and the President of the United States.
Pictured is Alison Offerman-Celentano