This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Springfield Resident wins Grant for her Work in Newark School

Betzabe Blondet was awarded the grant for her work helping students with improving keyboard skills.

Betzabe Blondet of Springfield has been awarded a grant from the Foundation for Newark's Future's Newark Teacher Innovation Fund.  

Ms. Blondet, a teacher for 30 years, is leading a team of four educators at the Rafael Hernandez School in Newark, which includes grades Pre-K through 8, in a project designed to aid students in need of assistance to improve their keyboard skills.  

Although the team members teach fourth and fifth grades, both regular and special eductiion, the students involved in the project covered by the grant will be all those with below level reading assessments, classified, bi-lingual and ESL.

Find out what's happening in Springfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The program itself, known as "RWT" (Read,Write and Type!), is based on a "learn by doing" approach. Using improved keyboard skills and a multi-sensory approach, it will enable them to read with greater fluency more easily and with greater comprehension and enjoyment.   

The teachers themselves will benefit from the program through collaborating, implementing and evaluating data and results. The team teachers will share skills and successes with other faculty, enabling the program to expand within their own schoool and eventually into others.  

Find out what's happening in Springfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Ms. Blondet, a Special Ed Inclusion Teacher for grades five and six at Rafael Hernandez for nine years, was responsible for choosing the category of the projects, providing an overview, goals assessment, implementation plan and budget to the Foundation. A total of 110 applications were submitted; Ms. Blondet's was one of only 25 to be awarded funding.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?