September 27, 2012

Can you spell 'scholarship?'

By: Larry Rulison

Source: Times Union

ALBANY — Two local school districts — Berne-Knox-Westerlo in Albany County and New Lebanon in Columbia County — each won $5,000 from the first-ever "Be the Change for Kids" Innovation Awards, which were handed out Thursday at the University at Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering.

The NanoCollege funded the awards, which were developed in partnership with the New York State School Boards Association, Thirty-eight districts from across the state submitted applications.

Berne-Knox-Westerlo won for a second-grade program that uses local volunteers to teach students about math and science — on only a $1,000 annual budget, and New Lebanon won for its high school elective course on nanotechnology that has an annual budget of only $6,000.

The New York State School Boards Association developed its "Be the Change for Kids" campaign several years ago to help districts across the state make the most of limited financial resources and encourage the development of innovative programs on a budget.