Junior League of Greater Winter Haven
Grants for Greatness Teacher Mini‐Grant Application
Junior League of Greater Winter Haven Mini‐Grants provide funding and volunteer hours to local educators to
assist with the implementation of projects and/or purchase of necessary classroom items not available
through school funding.
Please Type or Print
Date of Application:
_____October 21,
2010___________________________________________________
School Name:
_____Eagle Lake Elementary
School________________________________________
School Address:
_____400 West Crystal Beach Road_________________________________________
_____Eagle Lake, FL
33839_______________________________________________
School Telephone:
_____(863) 2915357_____________________________________________________
School Website:
_____schools.polk-fl.net/EagleLake_________________________________________
Teacher Name:
_____Debra LoCicero, School Social Worker_@ 298-5463_______________________
Email Address:
_____debra.locicero@polkfl.net___________________________________________
Grade/Subject Taught:
_____School Social Work / PBS CoLeader____________________________________
Number of Students to be Served: __ _600 ____ students participating, but roughly 180 will be
rewarded_________
I am requesting a monetary grant only ____X____
I am requesting a volunteer hour grant only
________
I am requesting a combination of monetary and volunteer hour grant _______
Please provide the following in your application:
__X__ Project Description (1/2 page) ‐ Provide a title for your project proposal. Clearly define project goals.
List
examples for project need.
__X__ Budget (1/2 page) ‐ Specifically, site how JLGWH funds and volunteer services will be used.
Applications may be sent electronically to: grants@jlgwh.com with the subject: JL Teacher
Grants.
Applications may be also mailed to: JLGWH, Attention: Teacher Grant Coordinator, PO Box 7161,
Winter Haven, Fl 33883
Junior League of Greater Winter Haven
Grants for Greatness Teacher Mini‐Grant Application
Project Title: Positive Behavior Support for Attendance
The Student Services Department of the Polk County School Board purposes to enhance the mental and
physical health of students thereby resulting in their optimal achievement and personal success. One of
the many responsibilities under their jurisdiction is student attendance which is performed through Social
Work Services. The School Social Workers continually monitor student attendance to ensure statutory
compliance for compulsory attendance. They provide the Tiers I and II services of the Response to
Intervention-Behavior Model as the home/school liaison for truancy prevention and intervention efforts in
order to protect children from risk factors and to identify family needs that result in poor attendance.
Response to Intervention-Behavior Tier I services are provided through Positive Behavior Support (PBS)
which is an evidence based program that support students who make appropriate behavior choices.
Schools set school-wide expectations, teach and model, then reward students who display the
expectations. Research tells us that a positive relationship between teacher and student has a major
impact on student achievement. Poor attendance and tardiness are addressed by Positive Behavior
Support, because students cannot learn if they are not in the classroom. Data has shown that schools
that use PBS practices often have dramatic decreases in behavior issues, therefore increasing academic
learning time in the classroom.
At Eagle Lake Elementary our school expectations are reflected in the acronym SOAR; S for Show
Respect, O for Observe Safety, A for Accept Responsibility, and R for Resolve Problems Peacefully.
Students are taught these expectations by their classroom teachers through direct instruction, at the
beginning of the year, after long breaks and any other time a need arises. They are taught throughout the
year by embedding examples to reinforce them in the curriculum. The students who follow the
expectations are rewarded by receiving Eagle Bucks that they can spend to participate in some preferred
activity time , eating lunch outside, the school store, etc.
This year the PBS team at Eagle Lake is working on an intervention plan to decrease our attendance
issues of being absent and tardy. Students are referred for social work services when they have at least
15 or more unexcused absences. This marks the beginning of student and family interventions and as the
school social worker, I would go out to the home which is considered an intensive service or a tier III
intervention. Tier I and II interventions are provided by the teacher and other school staff. Tier I would be
the school-wide SOAR expectations provided to all the students. Tier II would be interventions done in the
classroom environment with individuals or groups of individuals with attendance issues. Young children
respond well to small incentives to reinforce their positive efforts, however sometimes it is the student
motivating their parents to get them to school particularly in the elementary grades.
This proposal would assist Eagle Lake Elementary School in implementing our PBS intervention plan for
attendance. We would implement all 3 tiers to motivate and encourage attendance. The attendance data
would be reviewed at the end of each semester. It would be pulled by grade level and the class with the
best attendance would be recognized at the awards ceremony, receive a banner to place in their
classroom, and have a pizza party. At the awards ceremony school administration would announce the
winners. Even though it isn’t necessary for the success of this plan, we would love for a representative of
the Junior League to participate in the ceremony and present the banners and be acknowledged as
sponsors for the pizza parties.
Seventy-eight percent of students at Eagle Lake Elementary are receiving free or reduced lunch.
Socioeconomic barriers prevent some of our students from fully participating in the school’s social world.
Barriers arise when economic resources prevent students from being able to participate in extracurricular
activities or when they are treated differently because of visible markers that communicate the student’s
low socioeconomic status.
Students from poverty or from different cultural and economic backgrounds may feel alienated,
unwelcome, or out of place leading to disengagement or attitudes and behaviors that result in poor
attendance. Preventing absenteeism may mean the difference between a lifetime of problems and a
lifetime of accomplishments. Truancy is costly. School districts lose Federal and State funds based on
daily attendance figures, businesses must pay to train uneducated workers, taxpayers must pay for more
law enforcement and welfare costs for people who are not employed, but most of all it costs the student.
Students who miss school frequently are more likely to drop out of school and are at a greater risk of
being drawn into drug or alcohol use, or behaviors that involve violence.
Establishing positive adult and peer relationships, healthy beliefs, and clear standards of behavior, will not
only result in better attendance, but may change the way at-risk children respond to risk factors. With this
grant, we would provide the opportunity for our students to experience these positive factors.
Semester
1st
Ending
January 21, 2011
Grades
KG-5th
# of Classes
6
2nd
June 9, 2011
KG-5th
6
Cost of Pizza
$20.00
Total
$120.00
$20.00
$120.00
$240.00