Nine Madison School District employees have won grants totalling $45,677 to carry out projects including having students sit on large balls, rather than chairs, and connecting Madison students with their Honduran counterparts via the Internet, the district announced.
The grants range from $462 to $9,820 and were given out by the Aristos Scholars Academy, which the district describes as a “think tank” of staff members who “explore district issues.”
Of the nine funded initiatives, three are at the high school level, four are at elementary schools and one is at a middle school. One — to connect Madison students with students in Honduras — will be carried out at Nuestro Mundo Community School, a bilingual charter school.
The balls-for-chairs project, at Allis Elementary, will give first- and fourth-graders the chance to sit on balls during class as a way to improve their attention and the appearance of their written work, among other benefits, according to a district news release.