Thanks to all the fundraising efforts of the PTC, including challah and lox box deliveries and your participation in those efforts, on behalf of the entire community we were able to award $14,000 in grants through the Be Innovative Grant (BIG) program created by the PTC to support our faculty and staff to implement innovative projects and ideas that otherwise wouldn't be funded.

Here are the list of grants awarded:

1. Dive Deeper into Electricity and Electronics: Avraham Sosa, Deanna McBeath and Beth Sanzenbacher

Funds will go toward purchasing Spintronics and Snap Circuits, which will benefit seventh graders for the next five years. These tools will give students tangible access points to learn the difficult concepts of voltage, current, resistance, and transistors. This simple and durable system will allow students to build and understand printed circuit boards found in most electronic products.

2. 3D Printer Carts: Andrew Grabowski

Funds will purchase three mobile printing carts which will allow BZ to expand the 3D Printing program outside the Innovation Lab, increasing the current capacity to generate content while allowing students and faculty to showcase projects to the greater community.

3. Oven for the Innovation Hub: Miri Allali

An oven will bring great opportunities for all students to explore baking/cooking throughout the school year.

4. Early Childhood Sensory Room Updates: Tami Mizrachi and Rena Grosser

Funding will allow for much-needed updates to materials in the current sensory room used by the Early Childhood Department.

5. Build our own Passover Haggadah: LS Jewish Studies Teachers along with Rachel Jury, Charki Dunn, Shana Rybeck and Karen Leavitt.

Funds will go toward designing and printing our own student-made BZ Haggadah that students will enjoy for years to come.