Princeton NJ Schools Press Releases

Princeton Education Foundation Mini-Grant Funds Princeton High School Program

March 20, 2013 (Princeton, NJ) - For the past ten years Janet Felton has worked as a
speech-language specialist at Princeton High School. Last fall, after attending a workshop
on executive functioning – the set of skills we use to plan, organize, initiate, and complete
activities - she shared what she learned with her colleagues in the Princeton Public School
District. The workshop was full of useful student-friendly tools to assist students in
managing their emotions, their time, and their school assignments.

Executive functioning skills help us to sustain our attention and persist in the face of
frustration. For many of Ms. Felton’s language impaired students, concepts regarding time,
time management, and self-regulation need frequent reinforcement. It is important to
provide easily remembered cues for students to use when expressing themselves,
especially in writing assignments. With school budgets already in place, Ms. Felton turned
to the Princeton Education Foundation’s Mini-Grant program to secure the funding needed
to bring a variety of these tools into her classroom through the Executive Functioning and
Emotional Regulation Program.

“What has been really exciting about introducing these materials to my students is learning
which ones help build up the students’ confidence in expressing themselves. I have been
discussing these tools with the District’s Student Services office and have made
suggestions to incorporate a few of them at the elementary
and middle school levels, so that students can get the
benefit of these organizational tools earlier in their
schooling,” said Felton. One especially helpful tool is a
simple string of seven colored beads that helps students
remember the important components of telling a story.
Another “helps students organize their homework tasks by
using SMART, a conceptual framework that stands for
Sheets, Materials, Actions, Resources and Technology,”
continued Felton, who works along side many teachers in
the classroom to integrate these time management skills
when the students participate in classes alongside their
peers.

Felton received an $876 Mini-Grant from the Princeton
Education Foundation to buy materials for she and four
other teachers she is training. The Executive Functioning and Emotional Regulation
Program is one of twelve projects across the district that received a Princeton Education Foundation Mini-Grant during the 2012  -2013 academic year. The Princeton Education
Foundation established the Mini-Grant program to help fund innovative classroom projects
that teachers wish to try in their classes.

Among the many projects funded this year are elementary level reading initiatives, middle
school applied science and technology projects and enhancement of a high school STEM
(science, technology, engineering and math) program with Mindstorm Robotics.

The Princeton Education Foundation was established in 1995 to serve as a bridge between
our community and our public schools -- encouraging private philanthropy to enhance
public education for students at all levels. Since its inception, the Princeton Education
Foundation has contributed over $1,200,000 to the Princeton Public Schools for capital
improvements, educational programs and teacher support.

For more information please contact:
Jill Morrison
609-994-4441
Jill.a.morrison@gmail.com