Heart of the School Grantee Spotlights

Hazelwood Elementary/Middle School dedicated a portion of the Heart of the School Fund grant in fall 2023 to assist the school's robotics club. Principal Rice recognizes the importance of STEM programs for students and highlights the need for early preparation to ensure their readiness for life and the workforce. She strives to provide various school activities and educational programs to shape students holistically. The Heart of the Schools interviewed Ms. Cherry Amata, Hazelwood’s robotics coach and STEM coordinator, to learn more about the program, the school’s recent competitions, and the upcoming tournaments. “We had two teams compete at the VEX VRC Johns Hopkins Cup and emerged victorious over high school teams from around Baltimore City. Hazelwood RoboOwls played four qualifying matches to advance to the quarterfinals, secured a win in the semifinals, and demonstrated outstanding performance in the finals. In the ultimate showdown against Poly and Mervo, Hazelwood claimed the 2nd place after a challenging game. Our team also excelled in the Skills Challenge, earning us the title of Robot Skills CHAMPION Award with the highest combined score in the Programming Skills Challenge and Driving Skills Challenge.” On January 27th, Hazelwood's VEX IQ teams showcased their skills at the Johns Hopkins Robotics Cup. After participating in three challenging qualifying matches and interviews with judges, Hazelwood successfully advanced to the playoffs. The middle school RoboOwls performed exceptionally well, securing 1st place and earning the Champion title in the middle school division, surpassing 41 other teams. In the elementary category, competing against 42 teams, Hazelwood was honored with the Design Award. This award recognizes the team's thorough documentation of their Engineering Design Process in an Engineering Notebook. As a result of this achievement, they qualify to participate in the VEX Robotics State Championship in Hagerstown on Feb. 24th. At the CEO Cup on February 3rd, Hazelwood's RoboOwls were involved in six intense qualifying matches and ultimately advanced to the finals. During interviews, the RoboOwls impressed the judges by effectively defending their engineering notebook and providing thorough explanations about their robots. At the end of the tournament, they were recognized with the CEO Cup trophy and three awards: the Excellence Award, the highest honor at the robotics championship, for overall excellence in constructing a high-quality robot; the Judges Award, for displaying special attributes, exemplary effort, and perseverance; and the Design Award, acknowledging Team 80018A for their documentation skill and Team Interview. The dedication of the students to their team and competitions is truly inspiring. Ms. Amata shares: “The VEX IQ elementary and middle school teams practice in the morning, in the afternoon, during lunchtime and, sometimes, when we go to championship some of my students, if they do not think that the robot is perfect, [have us] stay [at school] until 7:00 o’clock! And I’m already exhausted! And they say [to me], ‘Ms. Amata we want to win, we want to win!’” In talking about her students, the robotics coach sang their praises: “We have amazing students at Hazelwood. Just so you know, we specifically serve underprivileged kids; our school is a Title I school. You can see their dedication through their hard work because they want to demonstrate to Baltimore that they have a place here and are capable of winning”. On February 24th, the RoboOwls participated in the 2024 Maryland Vex IQ State Championship for Elementary and Middle School Levels, a qualification for the Worlds Championship. On March 9th, the Hazelwood VEX VRC team took part in the Maryland State Championship and achieved 6th place. On March 11th, both middle school VRC teams travelled to Iowa for the National Robotics Championship as the only representatives of Baltimore City competing against teams from across the US, Canada, China, and Kazakhstan. This event convened 134 teams from the US and marked the team's first national competition. Despite facing formidable opponents, they clinched the 41st position following three days of demanding robotics challenges. Furthermore, the Hazelwood Robo-Owls have been invited to partake in Robotics Demo Day with the Senate AI Caucus on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at the Senate Office Building. Additionally, they will compete at the VEX Robotics Worlds Championship on April 28-30 in Dallas, Texas, where they will stand as the sole middle school representatives from Baltimore City among 498 teams worldwide. Six times a year, the Heart of the School Fund provides grants to Baltimore City Public School principals to support projects that enhance their school buildings, their students’ learning, and their staff’s growth. To read about additional Heart of the School Fund grants, click here .

The Heart of the School Fund provides grant funding for principal-identified school enhancement projects that support classroom instruction and student learning, staff professional development, and school site improvements. Some examples include beautification projects, outdoor classrooms, and community food pantries. During the pandemic, when schools remained closed, the Heart of the School Fund focused on supporting COVID-friendly projects. Principal Tamika Daniels, then the new principal of Joseph C. Briscoe Academy, took a student poll to see what activities students would like to do to promote unity, self-pride, as well as help ease the anxiety and low morale that resulted from the lockdown. There was an overwhelming call from students to re-establish the school’s Bike Club! Thanks to a discount from Race Pace Bicycles, the Heart of the School Fund was able to provide 5 bikes, helmets, and safety vests that the school intended to use for weekly rides throughout the summer. Check out our 2021 grantee spotlight story for more detail! Three years later, the bike club is still going strong! The Heart of the Schools caught up with Principal Daniels and Mr. Sanders, the JCBA bike club advisor and Middle School Social Studies teacher, to hear how the club is doing: “Well, I think it's great to give the students the opportunity to get out the building and they can relax and enjoy something that they normally don't get opportunity to. We explore different communities. We even went to D .C. and we try to just get them to experience something different, to exercise, and learn about bike safety and things of that nature, so I think it's a great addition to our program.” – Mr. Sanders The club takes place every Wednesday, weather permitting, and they typically bike around Lake Montebello and Columbia Lake. It remains a popular after-school activity and every JCBA student gets the opportunity to participate. When asked about the program, Principal Daniels had these wonderful words to say: “One of things we love about the Heart of the Schools is that they always support our district. And so for us, we were on for the awardees for one of the grants that got us bikes. The kids will fix the bikes. So every Wednesday, our students travel out of the city or within the city to go bike riding for a half day. Mr. Sanders is the leader of that. He fixes lunch for them. They’ve been from Montebello all the way to DC riding the bikes. We appreciate the Heart of the Schools for all they do for inner city schools. Thank you very, very much.” Check out some recent photos of the Bike Club below! This is one of many examples of the outstanding projects principals are implementing through the Heart of the School Fund.

In November 2022, ACCE applied for a Heart of the School Fund grant to support two larger scale ‘Taste of ACCE Cultural Celebration’ events that aim to increase cultural awareness and understanding for students, families and the community. The first of which, held in May, honored AAPI Heritage month. Over 200 students, families, staff & community members attended the evening of cultural exploration. Following the opening ceremony, guests went classroom to classroom participating in various workshop sessions that varied from dance, cooking, creative writing, baking, language, music and art. Nearly all of the workshops were designed by students and were student and family led.. The evening culminated with a celebration of food, representing the AAPI student population at ACCE, with some food catered by local restaurants but the majority was prepared by ACCE staff members and families. Check out WBAL’s coverage of the event: Baltimore academy marks AAPI Heritage Month with multicultural celebration--click the image above for the full story The Heart of the School Fund awards grants on a year-round basis to principals for projects that enhance their students’ learning, their staff’s growth and their schools. To read about additional Heart of the School Fund grants, click here .

The Heart of the School Fund provides funding for principal-identified school enhancement projects that support classroom instruction and student learning, staff professional development and school site improvements such as beautification projects, outdoor classrooms and community food pantries. At the start of this school year, Booker T. Washington Middle School applied for a Heart of the School Fund grant to create a staff appreciation lounge and a student-run school store. In an effort to maximize momentum built in the previous school year around cultivating belonging and student's voice, the school opted to pursue projects that prioritized the needs of both staff and students. Among the strategies outlined in their school climate and culture plan is a focus on teacher’s well-being. The school encourages educators to practice self-care and restorative techniques to ensure they are prepared to serve their students. Students are able to showcase their leadership skills with the student-run school store. Students are also able to earn points to buy store goods through the school’s rewards incentive program that celebrates and acknowledges students' positive behaviors and contributions. Take a look at what Booker T. Washington staff and students had to say about the impact of these projects: “The school store will make Booker T. a better place by providing students with a reason to be a better version of themselves!” - Donjay Jones, Grade 8 “Our school store has encouraged more of our students to be their BEST daily and it has improved our students' engagement during instruction. Students are excited about earning points to purchase school merchandise.” - Jasmine Ward, Grade 7 ELA “The school store is a great way to show students how doing their BTW B.E.S.T pays off!” - Janill Bobbitt, Special Education “I love the teachers' lounge color scheme and it looks very inviting.” - Kimberly Randolph, Paraeducator “Thanks to the Heart of the Schools Grant, we have further been able to support the social-emotional well-being of our students and staff. The renovated Teacher's lounge has provided a space to further cultivate wellness and community amongst our staff, while the school store has created opportunities for student leadership and positive rewards to support our schoolwide B.E.S.T. system!” - Principal Ford This is one of many examples of the outstanding projects principals are implementing through the Heart of the Sc hool Fund.

In January 2023, Hampden Elementary Middle School applied for a Heart of the School Fund grant to build a community sculpture project on school grounds. Eighth grade students, led by a MICA graduate student, work during art class and after-school designing and building a playground ‘Buried Creature’ out of chicken wire and cement. Once completed, students will cover the creature in ceramic tiles and mosaics that they have designed. The finished sculpture will rest beside the school playground, the advantage of it appear partially buried is it looks bigger than the parts. The final sculptures will remain on the grounds of the school and become an interactive part of the environment that both students and the surrounding community can utilize. Check out WBAL’s coverage of their progress: Students at Hampden Elementary/Midde create large buried dragon sculpture--click on the picture above for the full story Six times a year, the Heart of the School Fund provides grants to Baltimore City Public School principals to support projects that enhance their school buildings, their students’ learning, and their staff’s growth. To read about additional Heart of the School Fund grants, click here .