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Michael Jordan has made a fundamental grant to Lincoln Schools
September 9, 2005
Lincoln Intermediate School has been selected to receive a $2,500 Jordan Fundamentals Grant, which will be used for "Making Magnificent Mathematicians."
That is the title of the project that Lincoln Title I Math teacher Peggy Kulczewski submitted to Jordan Brand, a division of NIKE Inc., for consideration in its grant program.
"Michael Jordan has made a fundamental grant program, and in 1999 he gave out 200 grants to high schoolers, but in 2004 he opened it up to elementary," Kulczewski said. "I applied last spring, and we recently received $2,500 to improve mathematics and technology."
Kulczewski said by receiving the Jordan Fundamentals Grant, Lincoln Intermediate students in Monmouth will have the opportunity to increase their skills in problem solving, reasoning, and communicating mathematics in real world situations.
In her grant application, Kulczewski noted that the greatest employer of Monmouth's 9,500 citizens is the pork producing plant.
"Since the year 2000, our Hispanic population has grown rapidly, mostly to work at Farmland," Kulczewski wrote. "The business is projecting to add 400 new jobs in the next two years, which is very good because there is a high number of unemployed people.
"Our schools are working diligently to teach English as a second language, purchase materials for bilingual students, and to provide training to help staff do a better job with all the diversity in what used to be a traditional rural setting.
"By collaborating with the Monmouth College Physics Department, students will learn what Global Positioning System (GPS) is, the math involved in the technology, and how it is being used in our world. College students and faculty will have an assembly and lessons in the individual classrooms. To tie in the math/soccer lessons, students will map the previous years' locations of the World Cup, and locate other famous soccer stadiums in the world."
All Lincoln students will participate in the lessons that Kulczewski is developing, with the help of current sixth graders, on "The Math in Soccer."
"Our Hispanic students love the game of soccer and are playing it after school whenever possible," Kulczewski noted. "By connecting with their love of the sport and lessons in measurement and number and operations, their math capabilities will improve. A sixth grade field trip to the Monmouth College Soccer Field will be part of the unit for measurement. The sixth graders will develop presentations to teach to the fourth and fifth graders."
"Making Magnificent Mathematicians" is aimed at empowering Monmouth fourth, fifth, and sixth graders - especially our Hispanic population.
"We're using GPS technology for students to understand where futbol- or soccer - stadiums are throughout the world," Kulczewski said. "We're going to have the Hispanics write books in both English and Spanish on soccer and the math of soccer, that they will share with the first graders in the district. We're going to have a great time with it.
"The grant will target our high mobility students by providing rich experiences with math manipulatives, math software, GPS technology, and math literature in both English and Spanish. All students will participate in lessons on 'The Math in Soccer.' "
Michael Jordan's commitment to the fundamental values necessary for personal excellence, and his passionate belief that education offers choice and opportunity led to the development of the Jordan Fundamentals Grant Program.
"It's a big thing to receive a national award," Kulczewski said. "I like to dream big, and I like to be persistent, and it pays off."
Source : reviewatlas
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