Berkeley, CA & Washington, D.C., November 20, 2014 — Producing, tinkering, experimenting, making, performing, digitizing and creating are just a few forms of innovation proposed by fourteen nationally recognized recipients of a LRNG Innovation Challenge Grant from the National Writing Project (NWP). The LRNG Innovation Challenge is a new program sponsored in partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and John Legend's Show Me Campaign.
"We have so much genius in our teachers today and the LRNG partners are excited to celebrate and support it," stated Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, NWP executive director. "Individually, the teacher-led projects were chosen because of the remarkable vision to challenge everyday norms of teaching and learning. Among the recipients are dedicated teams of teachers seeking to engage students through creative application and use of digital media and technology; to reconfigure and rethink the space where students think and learn; and to help students thrive as part of an inclusive school community."
Singer/songwriter and LRNG partner John Legend said, "One of the most consistent things we hear from teachers across the nation is that teachers are ready and even eager to lead the way in creating a more powerful and equitable education system. Through LRNG, I hope to support teachers in identifying and addressing the biggest challenges they face in their classrooms. Our teachers will create our classrooms of the future—we need to lift up their voices and invest in them and their ideas."
Funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Show Me Campaign, and individual donors, the LRNG grantees will develop, pilot and share promising teacher-powered strategies and solutions to strengthen connected and deeper learning for the widest range of young people. To learn more about LRNG, visit http://www.educatorinnovator.org/LRNG2014/.
A full list of grantees is provided below.
2014-2015 LRNG Award Recipients
- Digital Arts/Media Production: Kenilworth Junior High School, Petaluma, CA
- Passion Project: Liberty Elementary School, Riverside, CA
- Supporting Game Design for Students: Critical Design and Gaming School, Los Angeles, CA
- We, Too, Are Connecticut: Staples High School, Joel Barlow High School, Central High School, Bassick High School, Darien High School, Brien McMahon High School, Fairfield, CT
- Tilden Talks: Tilden Career Community Academy, Chicago, IL
- Learning Studio with iPads: Eastern Heights Elementary School, St. Paul, MN
- Making Our Worlds: JM Alexander Middle School, Randolph Middle School, Albemarle Road Middle School, Kannapolis Middle School, Charlotte, NC
- Pop Up and Make: J.H. Rose High School, Greenville, NC
- After School and Summer STEM Labs: Aldo Leopold Charter School, Silver City, NM
- Maker Rings: The Birch School, Circleville, NY
- Connected Learning & Youth Participatory Action Research: School 127, Bronx, NY
- International Community Voices: International Community High School, Bronx, NY
- Linked Communities & STEM: Central Catholic High School, Pittsburgh, PA
- Real World Histories: Center for Inspired Teaching, Washington, DC