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• 1,000 Books Project - an ongoing effort to have 1,000 books read to all Ossining children between birth and 6 years of age.

• Book Buddies Reading Program - first and second graders will be paired with trained high school students who will read to them at the library over the summer.

• Theater Road Show - OHS theater students and drama club members will create a theater piece, present it to elementary and middle school students, and work with the younger students on improvising and creating their own one-act plays.

• Instrument Purchase Fund - to allow the Director of Cultural Arts to acquire musical instruments too expensive for most students to purchase or rent on their own.

• Staff Development Project - to support the district’s Balanced Scorecard program and 21st Century Learning initiatives for teachers and staff. 

• Slim Goodbody - a second year of interactive assemblies, which deliver messages about good nutrition and help to establish positive practices.

• Brookside Sustainability Garden - a coordinator for the garden, which demonstrates sustainable food production though composting, growing, harvesting, and eating fresh produce - which will be used in the lunch program.

• Mbira in Me - students will study the musical history of the mbira and the movement of African music and will create an mbira (or thumb piano), working with the artist in residence, Kevin Nathaniel Hylton. Third year of this extremely successful project, reaching the entire fourth grade.

• Fourth Grade Character Development - as part of the p.e. curriculum, all fourth graders will be exposed to Tae Kwon Do, introducing them to a philosophy that encourages positive character development and to a physical activity that they can continue outside of school.

• Claremont Wigwam Project - with the help of a consultant, all fourth graders will spend 15 days working to build a structure in the Claremont garden that will be used to support the Native American Studies curriculum.

• iPads for Success - four iPads and apps to be used in the self-contained classroom, to encourage and support the development and language acquisition of students with multiple disabilities.

• Listen and Learn - through the continuation of a project first funded in 2008, audio books will be accessible to third, fourth, and fifth graders, to expose them to literature that will challenge and encourage them.

• iPads: The Reading of the Future - iPads for a fifth-grade dual language section, to increase motivation, engagement with books, and reading stamina. Also to provide targeted interventions to support achievement in literacy plus exposure to a range of literature and content-area texts.

• Bullyproof Program - five assemblies for all fifth graders about what bullying is, why it happens, and how to resist and help prevent it.  An evening presentation for parents will be also provided in the fall. Master Chris Berlow of UMAC to present

• Elementary Ukulele Program - introducing students in fourth through sixth grades to a stringed instrument they can accompany themselves with when they sing, a key skill for developing a lifelong involvement with music.

• Summer Science Academy - a summer science program on the grounds of Brookside school for 30 fifth and sixth graders, investigating invasive species of plants and aquatics which threaten indigenous plants and local biodiversity.

• Jump with Jill/I Cannot Be Bought - two assemblies covering the influence of advertising on body image, nutrition, substance abuse, and peer pressure, and helping give students the skills to make health-enhancing choices.

• Snowshoeing and Winter Outdoor Activities - snowshoes to be used during gym classes in the winter, expanding the p.e. program's capacity to use the outdoors during the winter. All OHS students will be exposed to the outdoor activities unit at least once.

• Summer Mural Project - teachers and students will work together to plan and execute painted murals at OHS. The grant provides summer art enrichment as well as enhancing the aesthetics at OHS. Phase three of a successful project first funded in 2009.

• Guidance Discretionary Fund at OHS - to help college-bound students who have financial needs by making scholarships available for important courses and fees. 

See a video of
Ossining MATTERS in action!
Take a look at some of the grants and programs we’ve funded in
our schools, and hear what teachers and students have to say about them.