2021-22 Ten Proposals Approved For PA Grant Support

This year the Bullis Parents Association (PA) is excited to announce partial and full funding for the following 10 Faculty Enrichment Grants. A sincere thank you to all of our faculty and parent volunteers for supporting this school grant program.

Below is a complete list of the approved grants moving forward to become official school programming. 

1. The Published Author Competition (LS): A short fiction contest for students in grades 3-5 to write and illustrate a short story. Students will vote on the best story. The winning story will be “published” and 160 copies purchased for each Lower School student, Lower School teachers, and Lower School library.
2. Shakespeare Enrichment (MS): 7th grade students will take a field trip to Shakespeare Theatre Company to see Much Ado About Nothing while studying A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The performance will include a student workshop either before or after the show.
3. Community Mural Project/Artist in Residency (MS & US): Work with a local artist to design and create two murals to for the walls in Blair (one created by 8th grade art majors and one created by Upper School Advanced Studio Art II students).
4. A Visit with Henry David Thoreau (US): Richard Smith, a historian and historical interpreter, will work with teachers to plan his visit to the 11th grade in conjunction with their study of Thoreau’s Walden, “Civil Disobedience” and other texts, lectures, and interactions with contemporaries such as Emerson and Garrison, and subsequent activism.
5. Community Day (MS): Community building event for grades 6-8 prior to Spring Break with Calleva leading team building activities and games and a special lunch and dessert.
6. Spoof School (LS): Assembly for K-5 with Drew Anderson to introduce students to “Spoof School” using a multimedia presentation of music, video, and live performance to get students excited about the possibilities of parody and how they can be applied in the classroom. Additional request for a “residency” where Drew Anderson works with each class in grades 4 and 5 to create a parody and perform them at the end.
7. Signature Programs Speaker Series (MS & US): Series of six speakers to talk about the areas of signature programs (STEM, Entrepreneurship, Global Studies, and Visual & Performing Arts) with two speakers targeted to each division. Upper and Middle School speakers would be over lunch and provide pizza.
8. Lower School Fair-Well Carnival (LS): One day event at the end of the school year for K-5 to have Squeals on Wheels Mobile Petting Zoo visit campus, shaved ice, popcorn, and carnival games.  Goals are to allow students to relax, connect with each other, culminate STEM units on animals.
9. History of Art and Social Activism (US): Njabulo Hlophe, a contemporary storyteller, creative director, illustrator, and artist in South Africa will work with students in four sections of Studio Art (58 total students) to have “virtual fieldtrips” to learn about his process, preparation, and motivation for making art and his personal journey. Students will also engage in class discussions about history of art and social activism.
10. Active Minds: Suicide Prevention Training (US): Grades 9-12 will attend an assembly on November 15th with Active Minds, a national leader for young adult mental health advocacy and suicide prevention on more than 800 campuses. There will also be a webinar for parents/guardians for one hour in the evening.