Program Development Assistance Fund (PDAF)

Successful Project Profiles

Senior High Level

School Year
2025-2026	2024-2025	2023-2024	2022-2023	2021-2022
2020-2021	2019-2020	2018-2019	2017-2018	2016-2017
2015-2016	2014-2015	2013-2014	2012-2011	2010-2011

2022-2023

Outside for All
22-23/10/S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 11-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Greg Albers

We are adding an outdoor education class at Citadel High School. This course will involve modules in shelter building, outdoor cooking, canoeing, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, hiking and skiing. In order to be able to make this an equitable opportunity for our diverse cross section of students - and especially to allow access for our ANS students - we are using the gear purchased from this grant to have a stock of outdoor equipment that can be borrowed and used by students in order to facilitate their participation in the course. This will allow us to grow this class specifically with students who identify as African Nova Scotian as well as others for whom resources are not always available to take in outdoor pursuits.

Supporting Social-Emotional Skills at BFEC
22-23-18-S

School: Bedford & Forsyth Education Centre
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Elizabeth Sheridan
Project Team: Lisa Ritcey

The purpose of this project is to provide students at BFEC with opportunities to connect with one another and support student wellbeing. At BFEC we receive many students who may struggle with social anxiety. Lunchtime can be a stressful time for these students. We currently have no lunch time activities. Students want to make friends but need opportunities to do so in a safe environment. Students also need a space to move about before afternoon classes. This PDAF grant would help provide social and physically active opportunities during lunch for students with similar interests to connect. This project would provide activities for students to do together such as art, games, and physical activities. It would teach leadership skills as the students can take on the planning of the activities under the supervision of the guiding teachers

School and Community Yoga
22-23-21-S

School: South Colchester Academy
Grade: 10-12
Employer: CCRCE
Project Coordinator: Kelly Nelson

South Colchester Academy’s “School and Yoga Program” is both incredibly grateful and fortunate to have received this grant from the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. With this grant, our school will be able to expand our yoga programing within the Yoga 11 course (offered both semesters) and into the remaining school and Brookfield community. The importance and benefits of yoga are incredibly important in today’s busy world. It gives people the opportunity to take a step back, disconnect from technology/society and focus on both their physical bodies and mental well-being to allow them to live a more mindful life.

360 Degree Video
22-23-22-S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 11-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator:Tim Coombs

Cameras that can shoot 360 degree video capture video from all angles at the same time and allow the students to frame their video in post-production. Students will be able to shoot video using moving or stationary cameras without the need for framing their subjects while filming. The students can then edit the video in the software to get the framing they want. Students will be able to shoot shorting events, student council events, drama productions, etc. with minimal time commitment during the production. They will then be able to edit the videos afterwards to get the final product they seek.

Film and Video Upgrades
22-23-23-S

School: Northumberland Regional High School
Grade: 11-12
Employer: CCRCE
Project Coordinator: Jonathan Grant

With the assistance of PDAF grant funding we were able to purchase reference monitors, microphones, an audio interface, headphones, handheld recorders, and cameras capable of shooting high definition 4K video. This gear was used to set up a sound studio that can be used to complete automated dialogue replacement, sound design, sound effects and scoring for student films. The new film cameras will enable students to familiarize themselves with state-of-the-art film equipment through hands-on student-direct projects. This equipment also puts NRHS in a position to explore interest in offering Audio Recording and Production 12 as a course offering.

Advanced Console Editing
22-23-24-S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Mike Bowdridge

This project will see students design and create videos using not only software, but specific film-editing console hardware that significantly enhances program scope and the learning experience for the students. By utilizing editing console technology, students will be exposed to industry processes used in the professional development of feature and short film. This goes way beyond anything that can be accomplished simply with the use of editing software alone. Students will model real-world post-production techniques used in console-controlled editing that provides a significant learning opportunity in the field of professional film-editing.

Disc Golf Design and Play
22-23-25-S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Chris Sutton

This project is designed to introduce students in physical education and PAL classes to a new sport, Disc Golf. Students will learn new skills and with the purchased equipment have an opportunity to practice and play in the surrounding school community. Students will not only have an opportunity to learn a new skill and activity but they will also get the experience of designing and setting up a disc golf course around the school. This is a great chance for students to learn a new activity to promote lifelong physical activity.

Target Heart Rate
22-23-26-S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: David Barrington
Project Team Members: Amber Cowan, Ami Nixon

Our project is focused on teaching students how to best utilize technology to benefit their physical fitness levels. The students will learn how to calculate their heart rate training zones and use heart rate monitors to exercise at their optimal level to reach their fitness goals. The equipment provided by the grant will allow the students to see their heart rates in real time while exercising and be able to see what heart rate zone they are training in. This will also be a helpful tool for students to see their effort in the different activities done in physical education class.

Towards Inclusive Music Education
22-23-41-S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Frances Farrell

Project Team Members: Nathan Beeler, Kate Gillis, Sarah Overmars

In an effort to broaden the scope of musical experiences offered at C, itadel High School, I am asking for musical instruments that are typically found in Middle Eastern music i.e. doumbeks, riqs, to better reflect the cultural background of newcomers to Canada who attend Citadel High School, many of whom are from Turkey, Syria, and Egypt. I would also like to purchase instruments featured in West African music traditions, e.g. shekeres, gankoguis, djembe, to support continuing efforts to celebrate musicmaking approaches that are representative of African-Nova-Scotian culture. Lastly, acquiring a BOSS RC505 Looping machine would help to promote improvisation - a performance practice that is featured in virtually every region in the world, but is often underutilized in North American music education settings.

Digitization of Traditional Woodworking Techniques
22-23-47-S

School: Charles P Allen High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Sam Evanson

The Shaper Origin has introduced students to the future of CAD/CAM and CNC technology with accessible tools. By exposing the students to the core concepts of digital design and fabrication in a more engaging, more hands-on and safer environment resulting in faster acquisition of concepts and lasting retention. The Shaper Origin will allow for students to design larger projects as they are no longer limited by the physical size of the CNC machine through the addition of the Shaper Workstation students can integrate more sophisticated elements and handcrafted details to solid wood projects and bespoke furniture.

Learning "On the Fly": Coding Aerial Drones
22-23-49-S

School: St. Mary's Bay Academy
Grade: 7-12
Employer: TCRCE
Project Coordinator: Erin Mullen

This project is for a class set of Robolink Aerial Drones as well as a competition course set to be used within the Grade 9 Technology Education curriculum to will help build a technology program within the school which gives these students skills which are becoming increasingly attractive to future employers and higher education programs: writing code and drone control/robotics. The goal of this project is to provide students with the skills they need to move forward in the areas of STEAM: science, technology, engineering, arts and math. Furthermore, the use of these kits will benefit the developing robotics club within the school by providing the students with innovative products related to the field of robotics and potentially increasing diversity in this field.

École Laboratoire : Tablettes à dessin
22-23-50-S

School: CRE/CSAP
Grade: 11-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Cody LeBlanc
Project Team Members: Lucie Michaud, Jesse Waterman

La bourse FAEP du NSTU nous permet de développer un nouveau programme à l'intérieur de l’École virtuelle du CSAP. Cette initiative est la création des cours transdisciplinaires. Ces nouveaux cours faciliteraient l’utilisation des approches par enquête ou par projets. Avec ces fonds, nous avons acheté des tablettes à dessin. Ils nous aident à moderniser les technologies qu’on offre et nous permettent d'offrir plus d'activités virtuelles pratiques. Par exemple, en combinant les cours de Design 11 et d’Entrepreneuriat 12 nos élèves peuvent créer une entreprise, concevoir des produits qu’ils pourront rendre au marché et faire la promotion. J'ai aussi attaché mon reçus et la lettre d'entente signée. Si vous m'envoie le cheque par la poste, mon adress est;

Encouragons nos jeunes entrepreneurs
22-23-56-S

School: Ecole Virtuelle
Grade: 11-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Chritine Deveau
Project Team Members: Lise Deveau

Le but du projet « Valorisons nos jeunes entrepreneurs » est de mettre l’accent sur les caractéristiques personnelles et professionnelles que les entrepreneurs établis en Nouvelle-Écosse (notamment des anciens élèves du CSAP) possèdent en début et à long terme dans leurs carrières. Les élèves qui se trouvent actuellement dans le cours d’Entrepreneuriat 12 auront la chance de travailler avec des entrepreneurs bien établis afin de répondre aux résultats d’apprentissages du cours, tout en leur donnant un aperçu du marché de travail réel. SVP me laisser savoir si je dois faire parvenir quelque chose d'autre. Bonne journée.

2021-2022

Hands on Design and Creation in a Mathematics Classroom
21-22/02/S

School: Breton Educatin Centre
Grade: 10-12
Employer: CBRCE
Project Coordinator: Jaclyn MacLeod

This project has been designed to allow high school students in Essentials and At Work Mathematics the opportunity to participate in a hands-on learning project based on the outcomes of their particular subject to develop a better understanding of the mathematical modeling process. Students will have the opportunity to create a prototype of a product based on an identified need within their school or community. The prototype will be created using 3D-printing technology. Students will also have the opportunity to create a proposal for their project and a final report that outlines future steps and a reflection piece. Each project will be individualized based on a student's interests and abilities.

Advanced Digital Art Print Center
21-22/26/S

School: Citadel Hgh School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Michael Bowdridge

This project will see students create print works of their digital art and technical drafting pieces used in a variety of classes. The advanced print medium will range from in-house photo-quality printings, banner-style long-form prints, canvas-grade large prints, and physical builds of their 3D modelling and digital clay creations. The print center will be student-run, and will involve leadership initiatives from our school’s Student Council to support our art and tech students in this project. Through this project, digital art will be properly and equally represented in large-scale gallery presentations for other students, parents, and the greater community.

Portable Classroom
21-22/28/S

School: St. Mary's Bay Academy
Grade: 10-12
Employer: TCRCE
Project Coordinator: Steve Andrews

The tools purchased for our portable classroom have allowed students at St. Mary’s Bay Academy the flexibility to work on construction projects that would have been otherwise impossible. Students are able to work on projects outside without the constraints of being near a power source. The portable classroom has already been used by a couple of classes. Visual Art 9 students are currently making canoe paddles which they plan on using during a future canoe trip. The Community-Based Learning 11 class have constructed several benches and picnic tables they plan to place around the school and in the SMBA trail system.

Making Tracks Biking Program – Maintenance Phase
21-22/30/S

School: Cobequid Educational Centre
Grade: 10-12
Employer: CCRCE
Project Coordinator: Jason Williams

This aspect of the program is designed to teach students the basics of bike repair and maintenance. One of the major draw backs of a quality bike program is the high cost of maintenance which comes with having a larger fleet of bikes which get regular use. I have estimated that we are putting roughly 200kms on the bikes per semester, so 400kms per year. This is a lot and puts a significant strain on the bikes condition over time. In speaking with other schools who have had a bike program, lack of proper maintenance, is one thing that jeopardizes the longevity of the program. Many bike shops charge between 30 and 60 dollars per tune up, which is simply not feasible.

Broadcasting and Digital Media
21-22/45/S

School: North Nova Education Centre
Grade: 10-12
Employer: CCRCE
Project Coordinator: Scott Bowman
Project Team Members: Bryant Vance

This project is designed to “put technology in students' hands” and allows for practical kinesthetic learning opportunities to occur authentically. Experiential based learning is an essential part of all Communication, Video and Media Technology curriculum and is the foundation for this project. Students will achieve outcomes through guided discovery methods allowing further development of problem solving and critical thinking to create valuable source material for our school and community. Working in groups, students will develop the combined technical qualities of the methods, materials, or stagecraft skills used in the production of a motion picture, artistic performance and sporting events. Activities and programs applicable to this project include live stream events (sports/cultural), school news broadcast, video year booking, and community video journalism.

Scan to Print (Rapid Prototyping)
21-22/46-S

School: Charles P Allen High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Sam Evanson

Technology is changing the way people learn in the classroom. Teachers are harnessing the power of computers, software, and programs to create an interactive space for students. A 3D scanner is an important element within STEAM Labs; scanners directly link the arts, sciences, and technology sectors in one activity. The 3D scanner scans small to medium sized objects and creates 3D models. These models can be manipulated for artistic design, measurement, and 3D printing. 3D scanners are changing education in these areas: Accelerating three-dimensional learning; Introducing the design process in a quick, easy way; Bridging the physical and digital within the classroom.

Direct to Garment Transfer Printing
21-22/49-S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 10-11
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Tim Coombs

Students in the High School Design courses have been making garments using ever-evolving methods. We started with screen printing and have evolved to vinyl cutting and pressing HTV. This method is very reliable, but has many limitations. The direct to garment color transfer printer gives students more options to get their ideas from the digital screen onto a physical garment. Students can print in full color and transfer their designs to fabrics, wood, metals, ceramic and many other surfaces. This enhanced freedom allows students to be even more creative and will allow future expansion of ideas when new transfer medias become available.

Lighting for Creative Live Performances
21-22/56-S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Derek Thibault

Our goal is to create enthusiasm for the arts by creating a performance space that looks visually appealing and exciting to perform on. The LED lighting bars will provide students the ability to develop their stage setup and will provide additional stage design complexity that creates thoughtful decision-making. Our Fine Arts department collaborates on performances and these lights will have several functions throughout the year – for enhancing the Drama and Dance collectives, used as a Theatre techniques study, as part of a unit on stage setup and tear down in Audio Recording or for Band performances throughout the year.

NRHS Fitness Centre Facelift
21-22/56-S

School: Northumberland Regional High School
Grade: 9-12
Employer: CCRCE
Project Coordinator: Shelley Atkinson
Project Team Members: Mandy Little, Kyle Fraser, Alex Wolf

At Northumberland Regional High School, our Phys Ed. Department recognizes the importance of a healthy mind and body. We thrive to instill in our student population, physical literacy, and what it means to be active for life. We are committed to delivering a curriculum that is meaningful, innovative, inclusive, and engaging. Our Fitness Centre revitalization will create a space that is accessible to all students at NRHS, including traditionally underserved populations such as 2SLGBTQIA+, female, BIPOC, youth living below the poverty line, and youth with varying physical and intellectual abilities. Enhanced facilities will allow for better understanding of physical literacy and the promotion of lifelong healthy habits.

Supporting Observation, Conversation and Collaboration in Math 10 at Dartmouth High School
21-22/69-S

School: Dartmouth High School
Grade: 10
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Sarah Conde-MacDonald

Math 10 has continually been described as a gateway course for high school students. Students, however, enter Math 10 with widely different backgrounds and learning goals. Therefore, I would like to re-imagine my math 10 classroom into a collaborative workspace that encourages observation, conversation and collaboration between peers. I would do this by purchasing 15 Freedom Series Puddle Tables from Ven-Rez Products with a dry erase top. These desks will allow students to have flexible seating options inducing the ability to work independently or in groups as well as collaborate on the surface of the desks with their peers.

Moving Beyond the Single Story
21-22/80-S

School: Cobequie Education Centre
Grade: 12
Employer: CCRCE
Project Coordinator: Brianna Scott

In her speech “The Danger of a Single Story”, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about her experiences as a reader and the importance of diversity in the stories we read. Moving Beyond the Single Story is a course focus for English 12 inspired by Adichie and the importance of varied perspectives in the classroom. Throughout the course, students will be asked to work on enriching their understanding of other experiences through reading. The PDAF grant will be used to build a classroom library that will enable students to choose from a wide range of contemporary first voice texts.

Masks for Social Justice
20-21/02/S

School: New Germany Rural High School
Grade: 8
Employer: SSRCE
Project Coordinator: Sarah Gates

The Masks for Social Justice grew out of a series of informal discussions within the Grade 8 English classroom brought on by student’s questions and concerns over current issues, such as Black Lives Matter and climate change. The project kicked off with a series of speakers who discussed, in detail, a variety of social issues, such as the Black Lives Matter Movement, Stop the Violence and topics around the LGBTQ2+ community. Students then took part in research on a social issue that spoke to them the most, developing a research essay. Finally, each group created and developed a symbol that makes a statement based on what they have learned. They used the Cricut to print their design in order to affix the symbol to a facemask (as well t-shirts and walls) as part of their own movement to bring awareness to their chosen social issue.

Using iPad Technology to Enhance Blending Learning Experiences for Students
20-21/08/S

School: Horton High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: AVRCE
Project Coordinator: Therese Forsythe
Project Team Members: Stephanie Nagy

This project intends to use iPad Pros equipped with pens and keyboard to enhance blended learning experiences for high school math students. The use of the iPad Pro’s digital scribing and illustration technology will serve to engage students in mathematics through the creation of rich media instructional supports and more diverse learning activities and materials than are currently available through existing blended learning tools (Google Apps for Education, Document Cameras, etc). By enhancing the technology available to support instruction for mathematics, this project creates an opportunity to explore how teachers can support and engage mathematics students in blended learning settings.

Improved Student Feedback & Interactive – “Remove the Teacher”
20-21/09/S

School: Central Kings Rural High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: AVRCE
Project Coordinator: Elinor Cameron
Project Team Members: Matt Crosby

The project "Improved Student Feedback and Interaction - Remove the Tether" Is aimed at improving the communication, feedback and quality of digital interactions with students mainly through Google Classroom and the SMARTboard. Currently to provide online or digital feedback, teachers are limited with highlighting text or typing responses in a text based system. As math requires the use of special characters and symbols, particularly at the higher levels such as pre-calculus and calculus, this limits math teachers' ability to provide useful feedback about notation, syntax, identifying and correcting errors, modeling graphs and diagrams, and meaningful live online discussions. Mirroring an iPad to the SMARTboard decreases our need to be at the front of the classroom teaching live classes and provides an at-home interactive whiteboard that functions as the SMARTboard for a home-based teaching model. The students will Ideally experience a seamless transition should we change teaching models, and will gain meaningful feedback through annotation of online materials.

Skateboard Making
20-21/10/S

School: Charles P Allen High School
Grade: 11-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Sam Evanson

“Engineering” or “science” are probably not the first words that come to mind when you think “skateboarding”. However, skateboarders require reliable, precisely-shaped skateboards for progressing as both athletes and artists. Students will turn Maple veneers into a custom-shaped skateboard deck. Along the way, students will learn how the features of skateboard decks affect skateboarding, design a board using CAD, shape a foam mold, use atmospheric pressure to laminate their board through the thin air vacuum pump system, and learn basic woodworking skills. At the end of the project, students will have a deck that is truly their own to skate. They will also have the opportunity in customizing the design on their deck.

Collaborative Media Design Workstations
20-21/23/S

School: Citadel high School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Mike Bowdridge
Project Team Members: Gethin Evans, Tyson Wagley

This project will see students use custom-built collaborative computer workstations in order to significantly enhance the co-creation of digital media designs and group projects. With ergonomic multi-seat workstations, students will be able to effectively share in the hands-on creation of original digital material and preliminary concept designs that otherwise they could not. Extra wide multitasking screens and large graphic drawing tablets will allow all the students in groups of two or three an immersive experience within their collective decision making and design process.

Self Sustaining 3D Printing Workstation
20-21/27/S

School: Charles P Allen High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Jonah Scott

The Self Sustaining 3D Printing Workstation & Collaboration Hub will educate students on how to be environmentally conscientious designers by exposing them to the plastic recycling process required to recycle prototypes created during the product design process. The finished project will be a self contained and self sustaining rapid prototyping workstation where students will be able to formulate and design solutions to real world design challenges using a 3D Printer for product/prototype design and creation, and a shredder-extruder-spooler filament recycling system to recycle their failed prints/prototypes into filament to be used for more prototyping.

WALKUMENTARIES: Publishing Student Stories using Walking Apps and Audio Documentary Storytelling with Zuppa Theatre
20-21/34/S

School: Halifax Regional Arts
Grade: 11-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Aren Morris
Project Team Members: April Cross

In January of 2021, Halifax West Drama 11/12 students welcomed Zuppa Theatre into their classroom using Google Meet. In a post-Covid world, where audiences can no longer gather as before, the intention of the project was to explore audio documentary production, something Zuppa had been pioneering since the lockdown of March 2020. With support of Drama teacher, April Cross and Fine Arts specialist, Aren Morris, Zuppa worked with students virtually to explore the art of audio storytelling and the basics of recording and editing audio documentaries. While a documentary approach was the foundation of the learning experience, some students selected to create their own stories inspired from personal areas of interest, imagination or research. Please have a listen to the app in draft form using the password halifaxwest or, access it via the Testflight app (not yet approved for student use/ wide release).

Get Outside – Teaching Skills
20-21/48/S

School: St. Mary's Education Centre/Academy
Grade: 10-12
Employer: SSRCE
Project Coordinator: Scott Hudson
Project Team Members: Mike MacIsaac, Dan Arpin

Get Outside-Teaching Skills for Lifelong Activity will aid greatly in learning, teaching and understanding of the outcomes in Physical Education 10 and Physical Education Leadership 12 curriculum that exist in the outdoor component of the curriculum. The project will be an ongoing process that will continue for many years. The project will provide an overview of basic skills, safety and knowledge of base camp and how to set up a base camp, winter trekking, navigation (Compass and GPS), geocaching and environmental awareness The project will cover theory and practice of base camping and the use of GPS units (safety, equipment, paddling skills, environmental awareness, weather, risk management & emergency procedures, leadership, group processing & development). The project will provide a model program of skills we plan on teaching the students including base camp and how to set up a base camp, winter trekking, navigation (Compass and GPS), geocaching and environmental awareness education in our school and for a lifetime. The thoughts, ideas, and information-offered here will, I trnst, aid students in becoming better acquainted with the use of the outdoors as a way for learning.

Red Dress Day
20-21/58/S

School: Halifax West High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Gail Fitzgerald
Project Team Members: Elizabeth Kyle, Scott Mactavish, Brad Watt

Our team here at Halifax West High School has designed and built an interactive art display for Red Dress Day: an annual national event on May 5th that raises awareness for the untold numbers of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls across Canada. The day originated in 2010 and is born from Jamie Black’s RED DRESS Project at the University of Winnipeg. Mi’kmaq Student Support Worker, Wendy Lawrence and our Fine Arts Specialist, Robin Jensen have been working with teachers: Gail Fitzgerald–Visual Arts, Bradley Watt–Electronics, Elizabeth Kyle–Mi;kmaw Studies, Scott Mactavish–Visual Arts and their students. This display will become an interactive educational fixture in our building at Halifax West High School that will be used annually to commemorate Red Dress Day.

Oil Painting a Happy Place En Plen Air
20-21/59/S

School: Horton High School
Grade: 12
Employer: AVRCE
Project Coordinator: Paul Syme

I had proposed and still intend to have entire art classes go outside on lovely days and paint en plen air. When COVID-19 forced another lockdown, we had to pivot where I sent pochade kits loaded with oils and canvases home with students. Ten Art 12 students took me up on this arrangement while the others, all grade 10 and 12 art students, did en plen air watercolour paintings. The outcomes were amazing. They managed to lean on tips and videos that orient the painter around how oils behave and like to be treated. They went out and documented the happy space through oils and photography. This opens a whole new direction with art education where learners form healthy connections with their local natural environment.

Outdoor Education: Making Tracks Biking Program
20-21/78/S

School: Cobequid Educational Centre
Grade: 10-12
Employer: CCRCE
Project Coordinator: Jason Williams

This program provides students the opportunity to learn basic bike operation and safety of the road training with specific attention to traveling in larger groups. The program covers topics such as: basic parts and functions of the bike, shifting techniques, road hand signals, different terrain riding skills, defensive driving awareness. Students are taught how navigate paved road urban riding as well as rough trail and terrain park settings. In Truro we are very fortunate to be doing this in the outdoor beauty of the Cobequid Trail System and the vast trail system provided by Victoria Park.

Peer Fitness Development
20-21/82/S

School: Citadel High
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HCE
Project Coordinator: Davi Barrington
Project Team Members: Ami Nixon, Amber COwan

This project is designed to increase the student’s physical activity levels by increasing their opportunities to participate in both individual and group fitness activities led by student leaders and community groups. With some equipment upgrades we will be able to offer students with different backgrounds and needs a variety of fitness programming. The programs will be designed to develop a positive attitude towards physical activity in students who normally would be less likely to engage in physical fitness activities. This project will allow for more flexibility in the use of space and resources in promoting a healthy school community and allowing for a safe space for all students in our community to participate in physical fitness activities.

French Immersion History Resources
20-21/83/S

School: Citadel High
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Christopher Broughton

With the move to a more technology focused model of education, the funded grant proposes to make use of personalized feedback delivered electronically through the use of digital writing devices. The hope and expectation is that this will help streamline the delivery of feedback and help to maintain the personal connection of hand written feedback. In addition the goal is to use the technology to help create and deliver authentic graphic organizers and adapted assessments for all students needs and levels."

2019-2020

Small but Mighty (Educational)
19-20/06/S

School: Pictou Academy
Grade: 10-12
Employer: CCRCE
Project Coordinator: Jeremy MacInnis

The overall goal of this project is to provide students with first hand experience in the purchase, repair, maintenance, registration/insurance and other considerations related to owning and automobile. Another goal this project will meet is that it will give students a real-world application of things they study in physics such as applications of electricity and magnetism outcomes and Hooke’s Law outcomes.

Developing a Transition Learning Environment for School Anxiety/School Refusal Students
19-20/08/S

School: Bedford and Forsyth Education Centre
Grade: 9-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Conor Fudge
Project Team Members: Lori Bowes, Cheryl Meredith, Jennifer Montgomery

The Transition Learning Space provides a productive and welcoming learning environment for those students who are transitioning back to regular school attendance after prolonged absences due to school anxiety and school refusal. Students avail of a variety of alternative seating intent on activating or relaxing core muscles depending on specific needs. Special attention is paid to the learning environment through the addition of live plants, sound therapy devices and options for appropriate levels of privacy. Students also have the option of accessing resources designed to maximize focus, increase mindfulness and plan for school transition adequately.

Live Video Production Through Technology, Art and Design
19-20/10/S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Tim Coombs
Project Team Members: Kirt MacCormack and Kevin Wheatley

The Live Video production program here at Auburn Drive High School was started to rejuvenate the old Applied Broadcast Journalism program that has not been around for years due to outdated technology. Our students are now working to create a live YouTube stream of our morning announcements and they are learning a variety of skills related to Technology, Arts, Science and Communications. They will be learning how to do live news production, story writing, research, live interviews and many other broadcasting principles and techniques.

Drum Sander
19-20/17/S

School: Charles P Allen High School
Grade: 10, 11 & 12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Sam Evanson

Through the PDAF funding, we were able to develop a programme for learning centre students. We were able to purchase a drum sander for the wood production lab to help with the repetitive challenges of sanding material. In the production lab we tailor activities to suit each person’s ability in terms of what we make and how we make it. We worked on a new design for a learning centre chopping board, which they will be using during their healthy living and lifestyle skills session for the proportion of food for the school breakfast programme. We’ve adapted the way we work to meet their needs. The students have enjoyed the physical nature of the work, so by making a few small adaptions such as using a jig to hold the wood in the correct position, the purchase of a drum sander to reduce the physical stresses, such as noise and vibration from the palm sanders, they were able to work on larger projects.

The Investigation and Design of Hydroponic Systems as it Relates to Plant Growth and Programming Control Systems Using Raspberry Pi
19-20/23/S

School: Halifax West High School
Grade: 11
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Tanya Skelhorn

This exploration will see students design experiments for growing plants in a hydroponic system supplied by Sucseed.ca and to code control systems to change variables within their experiments using Raspberry Pi and Arduino or Elegoo Uno controls and sensors. The students will be asked to collect data on plant size while changing independent variables such as the amount of water, amount of light, and the pH or moisture of the soil, keeping all other variables constant. In order to complete this, four systems will be required to complete these experiments.

NKEC Space Balloon
19-20/27/S

School: Northeast Kings Education Centre
Grade: 10-12
Employer: AVRCE
Project Coordinator: Matt Crosby
Project Team Members: Adam Conner

The NKEC Space Balloon project is a high-altitude weather balloon with a payload designed and created by NKEC students. The payload consists of a camera to record the flight into the stratosphere and a sensor suite which has been assembled and programmed by students to collect atmospheric data such as altitude, temperature, pressure and humidity. A GPS tracker is supported by a student designed three-axis gimbal to ensure the antenna of the GPS tracker always points up. A drone is used to film the launch and to support locating the payload box after it returns to earth.

Exploring the Coastal Zones of Nova Scotia's South Shore
19-20/34/S

School: New Germany Rural High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: SSRCE
Project Coordinator: Geoff Marshall
Project Team Members: Kendra Hall and Michael Howlett

With generous funding from the NSTU and other sources including the NS DEECD, NGRHS will conduct their project titled, "Exploring the Coastal Zones of Nova Scotia's South Shore. This project supports the attainment of Oceans 11 curriculum outcomes in an experiential way that is engaging and relevant. Students will examine various coastal zones, study plankton, learn about marine plastics with Bluenose Coastal Action Foundation, and finally, consider the meaning of sustainable coastal tourism with support from a local outfitter, Cape LaHave Adventures.

Droid Build BB8
19-20/36/S

School: Halifax West High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Bradley Watt
Project Team Members: Scott Mctavish

This exploration will see students design, build, code and operate a life-sized BB8 Robot. The robot project will make use of a Laser Cutter, 3D Printers and CNC Machines to build BB8s body that will contain the control systems powered by the Raspberry Pi, Microbit and Arduino platforms. The Arduino will be used to control the drive system; the Raspberry Pi will be used to enable BB8 to perform voice recognition, IR detection, audio output and video output; and the microbit will be used to enable Bluetooth control various LED output functions.

2018-2019

Droid Build – Design and Build R2-D2
18-19/04/S

School: Halifax West High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Bradley Watt
Project Team Members: Mohammed Issa, Robert Smith

Design and build a life-size functioning remote-controlled R2-D2 Robot. This exploration will see students design, build, code and operate a life-sized R2-D2 Robot. The robot project will make use of a Laser Cutter, 3D Printers and CNC Machines to build R2-D2s body that will house control systems powered by the Raspberry Pi and the Arduino platforms. The Arduino will be used to control the drive system and the Raspberry Pi will be used to enable R2-D2 to perform voice recognition, IR detection, audio output, video output, head rotation and various LED output functions.

Full Bellies, Full Minds
18-19/16/S

School: Bedford and Forsyth Education Centers - Bedford site
Grade:10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Desiree Daniele
Project Team Members: Brittany Myers, Jamie Lowler

The Bedford Education Center (BFEC) is an alternate high school setting in the HRCE who caters to students who, for various reasons, have struggled in the traditional high school setting. Our teachers and courses are engaging, hands on and teach many life skills as well as academic knowledge. Through the funding made available by the PDAF grant, the staff and students will redesign, remodel and utilize our existing kitchen to increase engagement in writing, math, art, and technology courses. Students will create menus, reports, and creative writing focused around the kitchen as well as design and implement food creations within a safe kitchen environment including edible artwork using the 3D pancake printers.

Markerless Motion Capture Performance
18-19/25/S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Mike Bowdridge
Project Team Members: Gethin Evans

This project will see students design and create short videos using markerless motion capture technology that records their own full-body motion capture performances. By exposing students to work in motion capture, they will gain valuable skills critical to the modern major film industry. Students will explore all facets of motion capture, from initial acting for motion capture performance, to creating the animated character rigs generated by motion capture, then to post-production of the animated sequence to an existing 3D model framework, and finally to reincorporate this animated model back into either an animated scene or an actual live-action filming.

Authentic Problem Solving in French
18-19/26/S

School: Hants East Rural High
Grade: 9-12
Employer: CCRCE
Project Coordinator: Trevor Comeau
Project Team Members: Amy Jo Comeau

French second language learning can be challenging for both the teachers and the students. We always try to encourage students to use the French language both inside and outside of the classroom, but when you are learning French at school in an English community there are very few of these authentic opportunities in their everyday lives. We often notice that when situations become difficult or challenging for students in French, they automatically switch from French to English in order to solve the problem more efficiently. Our project will ask students to use their problem solving skills and team work to solve Breakout EDU challenges in Math, Science and Social Studies while using the French language. Our hope is that this will create more authentic situations for students to interact with their peers in French and hopefully develop their confidence and ability to communicate in their second language.

More Mirrors, Fewer Windows: A literacy initiative to bridge identity, reading and community.
18-19/33/S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Heather Michael
Project Team Members: Maria Rouvalis

Books can either serve as mirrors of our own lives, or windows into the lives of others. Many of our students are missing out on "mirror-texts". The purpose of this project is to identify, support and address this problem through an in-house book club that engages students and community in texts that reflect their interests and identities. Students, specifically those who have been non-readers, will be invited to read and work with texts they choose, cultivating their interest in reading and supporting their ELA work.

Laying Tracks: Recording Real Life with At-Risk and Disengaged Youth; a Soundtrack for Learning.
18-19/37/S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Jeffrey Smith
Project Team Members: Andrew MacDougall, Michael Bowdridge

We will create a multi-track digital recording program as a development towards an alternative music/performing arts technological learning space. This innovative project will allow us to begin a digital audio recording program within the curriculum of our school and as a supplemental extracurricular project. This equipment and software will allow students to explore the highly creative field of digital music and sound technology. We want this project to open up a spirit of collaboration across socioeconomic and cultural boundaries. As students become known through the sharing and public presentation of their music, opportunities for collaboration will arise. With this new technology students will be able to create multi-level, highly sophisticated recordings. They will be able to feature fellow students as artists on their creations. This project represents a multi layered learning experience that will foster a culture of creative thinking and doing.

SCA Tech Connect
18-19/42/S

School: South Colchester Academy
Grade: 10-12
Employer: CCRCE
Project Coordinator: Michelle Geddes McDowall
Project Team Members: Jody Arenburg

The SCA Tech Connect project will increase learning opportunities for STEM-based activities at the high school level. Students in Science 10 or the Options and Opportunities program will havespecific, project-based lessons integrated into their courses to give them hands-on experience with technology, programming, design, problem-solving, teamwork and more. The Program Development Assistance Fund grant makes this project possible by providing the funds to purchase the simple and powered machines, renewable energy, and robotics kits that are the foundation of the lessons. The activities can be easily adapted to include all learners. These resources will also support our extracurricular Robotics Club.

Mathematics Innovation Through Tech
18-19/64/S

School: Annapolis West Educational Centre
Grade: 9-12
Employer: AVRCE
Project Coordinator: Allister Wadden
Project Team Members: Derick Smith

Mathematics and Computer programming have always gone hand in hand. Well now with the Texas Instruments TI-Innovator, students can now really combine the two disciplines to further enrich their math studies. The TI-Innovator is a programmable microcontroller that can be paired up with the TI-84 Plus graphing calculators to create any number of STEM projects. These projects will allow students to exercise real-world problem-solving skills and allow for further extensions of the concepts they are learning.

Illustrating Emergent Properties – The 100 Synapse Project
18-19/68/S

School: Charles P. Allen High School
Grade: 5, 12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Krista LeBlanc
Project Team Members: Calum Leadbeater, Janice Wells

Biology 12 and Film and Video students will merge the Biology laboratory and Art studios at CPA. The project will demonstrate the broader capabilities of arts-based pedagogy to students studying science. The PDAF grant will be used to purchase physical resources that will allow building of an “imagination station” that will promote illustration, photography, video editing, mixing, and storytelling to explore emergent properties in Biology 12. An installation art piece will be created merging 100 pieces of student work into 1 single video while supporting the Grade 5 Science study of Healthy Bodies at Basinview Drive Community School.

Increasing Reading Motivation and Engagement with eReaders
18-19/71/S

School: Shelburne Regional High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: TCRCE
Project Coordinator: Sarah Acker

It is difficult to inspire teens to read when they do not have access to a wide variety of books. No classroom library can include enough books to meet the needs and interests of all students. eReaders are the answer to this problem. Through the availability of eReaders, students will have access to a greater variety of texts across all genres for silent reading and book clubs. Also, the read-aloud option on eReaders will allow struggling readers to access books beyond their reading level. Finally, providing texts in a new medium has been shown to increase student motivation and engagement. Strong readers are strong writers; motivating students to read is a vital first step in improving student literacy.

2017-2018

Coding and Designing Portfolio Museums in Virtual Reality
17-18/07/S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Michael Bowdridge
Project Team Members: Dave Drapak, Gethin Evans, Sydney Mogae

Students design and code full-immersion, interactive virtual reality environments for the purpose of showcasing course work, assignments, and other class projects in a virtual museum that they create which can then be toured through interactively by other students and members of the community. Working to create and build these interactive virtual reality environments, students will be exposed to block-coding and cutting-edge career-relevant technology. This project will greatly impact student performance within technology education and also allows the school to provide leadership opportunities to these students in the growing field of VR development.

Creating an Interactive Science Space to Engage Students at BFEC
17-18/08/S

School: Bedford and Forsyth Education Centres
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Elizabeth Sheridan
Project Team Members: Lisa Ritcey, Brittany O’Neill

Our Science department is trying to re-energize our Science curriculums by enhancing theory with hands on labs, manipulatives, demonstrations, and other forms of technology that will allow out students to better understand ideas. Our students often experience frustration and difficulty when trying to obtain their Science credits as they have large gaps in their background knowledge and find abstract concepts hard to comprehend. The more hands on activities and real life labs that we can provide will help our student’s link large scale ideas to their own current knowledge base. Currently, our Science teachers use home-made labs, home-made visuals, and many videos to try to teach our students these concepts, by providing newer and more up-to-date manipulatives, we hope to engage and retain more students within our Science courses.

Coding Control Systems and the Internet of Things
17-18/11/S

School: Halifax West High School
Grade: 11-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Bradley Watt

Students will design, build and code control systems and Internet of Things projects using the Raspberry Pi and the Arduino platforms. They will include the following projects:

Environmental Monitoring System that detects pollutants, temperature and humidity. Data will be captured and recorded for real-time analysis.
Interactive Wearable LED Clothing that uses the Raspberry Pi to modify LEDs on a piece of clothing when triggered by social media.
Smart Room Light Controller and Multi-room Sound Controller
Self-driving Car that employs the HC-SCR04 ultrasonic sensor, Pi Camera module and Arduino.

Digital Canvases
17-18/16/S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Dave Drapak
Project Team Members: Mike Bowdridge

Students will create high-quality original works of art using the digital medium. By utilizing pen-sensitive graphic tablet monitors and corresponding software, a traditional desktop computer will be transformed into a digital canvas. In this project, students will use all their drawing and drafting skills taught in traditional art mediums such as pencil, charcoal, acrylic-paints, airbrushing, and watercolours and now apply these to a digital interface. Bridging traditional art methods and techniques with cutting-edge vector and raster image technology is the keystone of this project. Students will also create professional-quality prints of their artwork to include in their final design portfolios.

Introduction to Coding in the High School Classroom
17-18/27/S

School: Lockview High School
Grade: 10-11
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Carla Cooper
Project Team Members:Jason Ralph

This project is designed to give students hands on approach to coding at an introductory level in Exploring Technology 10. The students will explore coding with pre-fab Arduino kits. Various robotics and sensors will also be used to extend the programming into other units by designing, planning and constructing an integrated project. In addition to the coding, students will have to have an understanding of how electronic circuits are composed and how they function. This project lends itself nicely to provide a range of levels of activities from simple coding of LEGO Boost and Bee Bots to higher level thinking/problem solving with the more complex circuitry in the Arduino kits.

Integrating Science with Outdoor Education
17-18/39/S

School: West Kings District High School
Grade: 10
Employer: AVRCE
Project Coordinator: Jennifer Smith
Project Team Members: Lynn Little, Katie McLean

The Integrating Science with Outdoor Education project is a joint project between the Options and Opportunities (O2) program and Clean Annapolis River (CARP). This project aims to get students who are in the O2 program and also enrolled in Science 10 outside in the natural world collecting data, asking questions and learning about local career opportunities in the Science field. We will work with the assistance of CARP to visit their Citizen Science sites, collect data and images to then import into Arc-GIS mapping software to create an interactive map resource that can be used on their website.

Apprendre a connaitre notre communaute: Les entretiens de l'Ecole virtuelle au CSAP
17-18/43/S

School: Ecoel virtuelle au CSAP
Grade: 10-12
Employer: CSAP
Project Coordinator: Eric Therrien
Project Team Members: Sheralynne Deveaux-MacKinnon, Lucie Michaud

L’objectif de ce projet est de réaliser des entretiens qui nous permettront d’explorer l’identité, la vie quotidienne, le patrimoine et la culture des acadiens et francophones Néo-Écossais en employant une pédagogie attentive à la langue et la culture. Les participants auront la chance de réaliser des entretiens avec des technologies innovatrices (dji osmo/iPod touch, caméra GoPro/drone, caméra 360 ^o, écran vert, YouTube, Imovie, Windows Movie Maker, Green Screen-Do Ink, etc.). Ces entretiens seront réalisés avec les membres de la communauté/ spécialistes afin d'offrir leurs perspectives dans des domaines de compétences liées à des résultats d'apprentissage des programmes d'études.

Highbury Education Centre Adventure / Outdoor Education Project
17-18/45/S

School: Highbury Education Centre
Grade: 10-11
Employer: AVRCE
Project Coordinator: Mike Mason
Project Team Members: Kim Bishop, Meghan Pineo, Kate Webber

Highbury Education Centre (HEC) is an alternative experiential high school for at-risk youth who have not been able to find success in the traditional high school setting. HEC uses a variety of experiential, adventure based and hands-on strategies to engage students and deliver curriculum outcomes. One important aspect of our adventure based programming is canoeing. The funding provided from this initiative will allow Highbury to purchase canoes and supplies so that the school can be self-sufficient in running our adventure based/outdoor education program. This fund will also allow the school to expand its programming to offer additional opportunities for student leadership and service learning.

Model-Based Prototype Digital Sculpting
17-18/47/S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Mike Bowdridge
Project Team Members: Gethen Evans, Dave Drapak

Students will design and create novel technical and artistic digitally sculpted structures based on original real-world models. In our technical design courses, students will create a 3D scan of a device requiring a replacement part, use 3D modelling software to digitally sculpt and create the additional part, and then use a 3D printer to produce the part and assemble a functional prototype model. Likewise in our art courses, students will create a 3D scan of their clay-based art project, use digital sculpting software to generate alternative next-step design ideas, and then integrate their ideas back into their actual clay-based project.

Portable Virtual Reality Lab
17-18/56/S

School: Halifax West High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Chad Wadden

The Portable Virtual Reality Lab is a pipeline whereby students are the creators of their own VR experiences. While working together with teachers and students, possible VR experiences will be discussed, from which student will work to create 3D assets and program VR experiences that can then be used in any classroom to help students make connections between course outcomes and curriculum.

2016-2017

Motor Vehicle Engine Structure and Repair
16-17/02/S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Wayne Costello

Auburn Drive High School’s Automotive Technology course (Auto Systems 12) deals specifically with the automobile engine. Students learn about the inner workings of the engine and how it powers the automobile. This is a rare opportunity for high school students to gain real-world knowledge and skills both in the automotive sector and technical fields in general. Also, having an engine block that is not in the car gives students an opportunity to visually inspect the entire engine without restrictions. Students will be required to identify all parts of the engine block and perform various disassembly applications involving the engine. Some of the learning outcomes of this practice would involve safety applications, proper tool selection and use, organizational skills, group work, engine measurement, engine top end construction, bottom end construction and front end construction.

Musical Maker Spaces
16-17/18/S

School: JL Isley High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Roy Francis

With the funds provided by the PDAF a musical maker space will be created at the school. The goal of the project is to provide students with the tools and opportunity to explore sound creation, recording and manipulation, to create and perform original pieces of music using a combination of traditional instruments as well as the tech based instruments that they have created. Students will also make use of technology to document and reflect on their learning and share their projects with the wider school community.

Raspberry Pi Life-Size 3D Scanner
16-17/29/S

School: Halifax West High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Bradley Watt
Team Members: Craig Thornton and Scott Kennett

The Life-Size 3D Scanner Project will make use of the popular single-board computer Raspberry Pi 3 and the 8-megapixel Pi Camera to capture 42 images simultaneously. The images are stored and processed using Python programming language and Autodesk Recap 360 software to create high-resolution digital 3D models that may later be sent to a 3D printer, placed in a digital animation game or presented as a virtual model for art class. The project will be designed and built by students enrolled in Construction Technology, Electrotechnologies, Design Technology, Applied Networking, Computer Programming and the Halifax West Programming Club.

Digital Culture Capsule Project
16-17/30/S

School: Eastern Shore District High
Grade: 10- 12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Colin MacDonald

Cultural experiences such as meeting community Elders, participating in workshops, engaging in the art of storytelling and experiencing traditional ceremonies are all culturally rich experiences, however, when the immediate experience comes to a close learning can sometimes get lost–that's where the Digital Cultural Capsule Project comes in! As we experience various aspects of Mi'kmaw culture in class, students will be able to document their learning through still-photography, video, blogging and audio-recording. Digital Cultural Capsules will be able to be shared with the whole school community as well as being showcased, when appropriate, to the wider community.

Using 3D Designing, Scanning and Printing to Support Student Learning at BFEC
16-17/47/S

School: Bedford Forsyth Education Center
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Craig Allen
Project Team Members: Jamie Lawlor

The Bedford Forsyth Education Center student population are comprised of unique learners. Many of BFEC’s students perform better with hands-on, tactile learning experiences. The BFEC PDAF grant will provide students the opportunity to model, scan and 3d print materials to support and enhance their learning across different curriculums. The grant includes the creation of a mobile 3-d printing/scanning cart which will be signed out and used in different classrooms across the school. Part of the grant will also include training teachers from various departments on using the 3-d cart in the classroom with students.

Central Kings Guitar Club
16-17/58/S

School: Central Kings Rural High School
Grade: 9-12
Employer: AVRCE
Project Coordinator: Paul Hutton
Project Team Members: Greg Milne, Paul Gallagher, Stephanie Morse

The Central Kings Guitar Club project is a co-curricular, interdisciplinary project. Students, teachers and support staff will be invited to meet once a week as a large group to collaboratively learn to play and sing songs with guitar. The grant funds will allow us to purchase 17 Yamaha guitars and hard shell cases and tuners. The instruments will also be made available to students for individual song-writing projects for any subject that provides this opportunity. Guitar Club participants will also be encouraged to create small ensembles and participate in coffee houses at least once each semester.

New Germany and Area Annual Canoe School
16-17/75/S

School: New Germany Rural High
Grade: 10-12
Employer: SSRCE
Project Coordinator: Geoff Marshall

The New Germany & Area Annual Canoe School is a program developed and implemented by the Physical education Leadership 12 class at NGRHS. This service learning project offers a multitude of benefits to the community as well as the students themselves. The program provides several guided paddling opportunities to individuals and families of all ages and abilities. It’s an inclusive program, meaning that all equipment is provided free of charge, and adaptive equipment such as outriggers and supportive seats for disabled paddlers are also available. This fun and educational community program promotes healthy active living in the community.

Collaborative Inter-Curricular Makerspace
16-17/79/S

School: Bedford Forsyth Education Centres
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Lisa Dexter
Project Team Members: Rebecca Engram, Megan Pans, Mike Page

This collaborative inter-curricular makerspace was designed not only for the usual technology courses, but to be available to all classes to work independently or collaboratively. It is a space where different classes can come together to do project-based exploration and learning, and demonstrate their learning together, while reaching the outcomes for their respective courses. The tools and instruments that will now be available will also help our students to become more comfortable and confident with technology, so that they may incorporate it in to their daily lives and consider it a possible career path.

An Investigation into Urban Agriculture
16-17/80/S

School: Lockview High School
Grade: 10-12
Employer: HRCE
Project Coordinator: Greg Burgess
Project Team Members: Paul Boudreau, Sandra Fowlow, Vanessa Turner

The goal of this project is to provide students with the ability to grow and observe plants and plant development throughout the year. Students will begin to develop and experiment with growing systems for a variety of vegetables and fruit. They will perform experiments using different growing media, seed orientations, and unique planting strategies. Science 10 students will be examining and experimenting with the grow system to develop an environment for sustainable growth of vegetables (in an enclosed controlled ecosystem) throughout the four seasons. Biology 12 students will be examining plant development, various ways of growing plants from seed and trimmings that would otherwise be sent to the compost. In the end, it is hopeful that we may even be able to have competitions for growing the most abundant and productive plants.

2015-2016

Building Capacity for Connections at the High School Level
15-16/03/S

School: All South Shore Regional High Schools
Grade: 10-12
School Board: South Shore Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Lindsay Welsford
Team Members: Connie Bird, Ann Wentzell, Catherine Rahey, Stacey Kosiba

This project provides a means to engage marginalized students who demonstrate social deficits and are enrolled in the PSP. We will use an interest-based, experiential approach to enhance feelings of belonging, mastery, and independence. Students participating in PEERS-based programs will be matched with student volunteer mentors, who will be trained in effective communication, resilience, collaborative problem solving, and empathy. They will also participate in interest-based activities with other high schools. Through the development of enhanced relationships, the project will promote a sense of community within and among participating schools - engaging students and maintaining a positive connection with school culture.

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Chrome Keys
15-16/15/S

School: Duncan MacMillan High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Tracy Walsh

Our project will enhance the delivery of the Options and Opportunities (O2) Curriculum at Duncan MacMillan High School. We will purchase Google Chromebooks with the funds granted. Our students will use these Chromebooks to access mandatory and supplemental training programs, such as First Aid, WHMIS, OHS; personal development resources, such as interest inventories; employment market information and trends; interactive career guides, such as Career Cruising, Career in Gear, Jobs People Do; post-secondary school information; and a wealth of other resources to help them develop personal, educational and career goals.

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Réinventer les technologies
15-16/18/S

School: acadienne de Truro
Grade: 12
School Board: CSAP
Project Coordinator: Guy Desgagné
Team Members: Anne Bastarache, Robert Carreau

Le projet permettra l’achat de matériel technologique de pointe afin de présenter des projets intéressants et motivant pour les élèves des cours de technologie qui seront en lien avec l’industrie. Les équipements seront aussi accessibles aux élèves, au personnel ainsi qu’aux membres de la communauté. Les buts du projet sont:

encourager le leadership;
proposer des projets motivateurs et enrichissants pour les programmes d’études de technologies et sciences de tous les niveaux;
travailler la communication orale française à travers de projets authentiques.

Nous prévoyons acheter:

une imprimante 3D;
des équipements de robotique;
des équipement d’électronique;
une caméra GoPro et ses accessoires;
un drone;
un Makey Makey;
un Raspberry Pi.

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WHEC Adventure Education Intitiative
15-16/31/S

School: West Hants Education Centre
Grade: 10-11
School Board: Annapolis Valley Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Angela Pound/Dylan Irvine
Project Team Members: Brian Wong, Janice Munroe Dodge

West Hants Education Centre is an experiential school of the AVRSB with hands-on, adventure learning opportunities in many different high school curriculum. Success metrics include both immediate and long term outcomes which include leadership, positive self-concept, interpersonal skills, adventure and academic improvement. Canoeing is a part of our regular curriculum. The goal is to purchase canoes and supplies which will allow the school to be self-sufficient when taking students on canoe trips. This fund will allow WHEC to explore more areas of Nova Scotia, adding to accomplishing outcomes in these subject areas to a greater depth.

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The Skies of Tomorrow
15-16/35/S

School: Dalbrae Academy
Grade: 9-12
School Board: Strait Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Stan Cameron, Duncan Campbell, Ed Dunphy

Dalbrae Academy’s PDAF proposal includes the development of a small microelectronics lab that will complement the physics and technology course offerings while allowing access to robotics applications to the school and communities. We will create and implement a program where students progress from basic circuit theory to the building, testing and applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and remote operated vehicles (ROV). Services such as building and site inspections, the monitoring of crops and livestock in agricultural settings, or the use of UAVs and ROVs to do routine maintenance and troubleshooting in applications for farmers and fishers will be offered.

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Dartmouth High School Physics You Tube Channel
15-16/41/S

School: Dartmouth High School
Grade: S
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Shane MacLeod

In an attempt to enhance student engagement and increase support, a YouTube for Dartmouth High School's Physics classes was developed. There are three main goals with the channel; first, to work through concepts and examples for students to review after covering material in class as well as to offer some concepts via a “flipped” classroom model where students will be able to view the material and then review in class. Finally, a variety of interesting physics concepts that are not necessarily covered in the class will be presented to enrich student learning. The grant will be used to purchase improved audiovisual equipment in order to improve the quality of the videos.

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Combating Stigma with Literature - A Multi-Genre Mental Health Themed Unit for English 10
15-16/48/S

School: St. Mary’s Education Centre/Academy
Grade: 10
School Board: Strait Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Deena Jewers

This project is a multi-genre mental health themed unit taught in an English 10 classroom. Students will be exposed to fiction and non-fiction literature with a mental health concentration. Through exposure to literature and media, students will have the opportunity to understand mental health and know where to seek help if needed. Students will also be exposed to fictional characters that are struggling with mental health issues with the purpose of fostering empathy for those characters. Students will also create posters, information pamphlets and/or public service announcements, collaboratively through the use of Chromebooks and google docs/slides, to promote mental health to the school community.

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Wearable Technology
15-16/50/S

School: Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional High School
Grade: 9-12
School Board: Strait Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Danielle Boyd-Farrell, Janie Lumsden, Jyl Boyle

Wearable technology incorporates programing and sewing while enabling students to develop and expand upon 21st skills and aptitudes. Using Raspberry pis, Arduinos, embroidery machines and a variety of hand tools and materials, students will collaborate to create clothing that is controlled through computer programing. This will build on some students’ prior knowledge of programing and will also serve to spark student interest in programming as they are able to see first-hand the effects of changes in code while completing fun practical projects.

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Teaching Computer Aided Design Through Laser Cutting and Engraving
15-16/69/S

School: Millwood High School
Grades: S: 9-12
School Board: HRSB
Project Coordinator: Lawrence Rigby
Team Members: Shane Shaw, Gary Gorringe, Dan Cudmore

At Millwood High School we offer several courses incorporating Computer Aided Design. As a complement to these courses we are using PDAF funds to purchase a laser cutter/engraver system. This endeavour is designed to increase student engagement and to spark an interest in the growing field of CAD. The versatility and ease-of use of a laser cutter/engraver will provide our students with an opportunity to complete the full design process from the initial idea to the manufacturing of a physical artefact. The laser cutter will not only provide an extension to what the students are already doing but will also allow us to develop “real world” experiences to better prepare our students for the post-secondary world.

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Reaching All Learners: iPads in Special Education – Learning the way to Differentiated Instruction Using Technology for all Students
15-16/77/S

School: Glace Bay High School
Grade: S: 9-12
School Board: Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Dawn Spracklin
Team Members: Michelle Vokey, Margot O’Leary

The Classroom as an Active Learning Environment will purchase 3 Spark Fly bikes and 8 Alphabetter Stand-Up Desks for use in the learning center classroom.

Integrating physical activity into educational programs and practice is a way to facilitate learning for students of all abilities across all grade levels. The use of these bikes and stand up desks will help those children, who are in dire need of physical release during class time, to get it without disrupting the flow of regular class routine. It will also increase student engagement and student achievement by allowing the students to remain in the classroom instead of making frequent trips to the bathroom, walking around the building and tapping pencils on the desks disrupting others.

The use of the bikes and desks in the classroom will help the students to develop self -regulation strategies and allow them to manage their energy states, especially in situations where they are required to focus on a task or when they are stressed.

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Perspectives – Through ROSC Coloured Glass (2nd yellow, 2nd purple, and green…)
15-16/81/S

School: Charles P. Allen High
Grades: S: 9-12
School Board: HRSB
Project Coordinator: Heather MacFarlane
Team Members: Calum Leadbeater, Paul Wozney, Shannon MacFarlane

Through this project students at CPA High School will participate in the actual making of a colourful multi-layer fused glass artwork that will be permanently installed at Charles P. Allen High School. The glass piece will be based on infographics designed to explore the perspectives of students in the school community on a variety of issues. The process will be documented with video and images in an online gallery available via QR scan code for students to scan with their phones.

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Creative Connections Clay Studio
15-16/85/S

School: Sackville High School
Grades: S: 9-12
School Board: HRSB
Project Coordinator: Alison West
Team Members: Meaghan LeMoine, Nick Crowe, Diana Fiske

For this project we will develop a clay studio business within Sackville High School that is organized, advertised, and run by Visual Arts students of all levels. Students involved in the running of the studio will develop leadership, employment, and entrepreneurial skills and use them to help guide staff and students with their projects. The studio will provide all students and staff with a place outside of the regular classroom setting where they can interact and express themselves by making and decorating clay products in a safe, positive, and upbeat environment.

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Math and Fitness in the Learning Centre
15-16/88/S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grades: S: 10-12
School Board: HRSB
Project Coordinator: Anne Sangster
Team Members: Frank McMahon

The funds requested will be used to purchase a class set of wearable fitness trackers to be used by Auburn Drive High School (ADHS) students supported by the Learning Centre. Using these trackers during exercising and basic physical activity during the school day, data will automatically be displayed in various forms which the students will be able to access on a phone, tablet or PC. The ability of the data to be displayed for the students graphically lends itself to be used in supporting math and science Individual Program Plan (IPP) outcomes and in teaching by math and science classroom teachers, as well as the Learning Centre teaches-teachers with whom these students often work under an IPP. The graphs canthen be interpreted as a math outcome, the activity and related heart rates as science, and so on. The possibilities are extensive, and the registration methods of the data can be anonymized to protect the students’ privacy.

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The Learning Launch Pad
15-16/91/S

School: Oxford Regional Education Centre
Grades: S: 10-12
School Board: CCRSB
Project Coordinator: Kendall Black
Team Members: Duane Starratt, Stephanie Keezer, Tracy Swan

The Learning Launch Pad project will include the design and construction of a gazebo at the start of our 3km trail system. Landscaping the surrounding area will add to ongoing purposeful, curriculum development that will create a welcoming area for instruction and relaxation, offering opportunities for all students (p-12) to engage with their environment. The nature of this project gives students the opportunity to contribute both at the idea and the production stages in ways that otherwise they would be unable to experience, creating a project that not only enhances the school, but increases the positive interactions and experiences that the community has with the school and its students.

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2014-2015

Brighter Futures One Cup at a Time
14-15/15/S

School: Sackville High
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Nick Crowe
Team Members: Diana Fiske, Melissa Doherty, Carolyn Jessome, Theresa Jennings

This cross-curricular project involves several classes at Sackville High that will be working together to create the Kingfisher Cafe, where students of diverse abilities will be learning how to run an actual cafe/smoothie bar and operate all of its equipment. Not only will these students be building their resumes and their transferable skills, they will also be creating partnerships among students in the Learning Centre and students in traditional academic classes. Healthy Smoothie bars and Cafes are two booming enterprises. The Kingfisher Cafe will allow our students to be well positioned to access these opportunities after graduation.

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Outdoor Leadership/Duke of Edinburg
14-15/39/S

School: Horton High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Annapolis Valley Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Krista Campbell

Our first task at hand is to book our Bronze level practice and adventurous journey dates for this spring and purchase our required equipment. We plan to engage in a school based activity to expose/educate students of required gear and equipment used in outdoor explorations. We will then decide on our adventurous journey dates and focus and participate in an overnight excursion to meet the Duke of Edinburg requirements. We also hope to incorporate a few school based outdoor educational activities that can benefit students both in and out of the Duke of Edinburg program.

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Forests of the Future
14-15/43/S

School: South Colchester Academy
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Chignecto Central Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Jennifer Fisher

This project is aimed at creating a mobile classroom for a locally developed course, Forestry Management 12. The course is designed to work with government and industry professionals to both engage and educate students about management practices and employment in the local forestry industry. Students will use their technology in the field, gaining authentic experience in this field of study. This project will also allow students to interact directly with virtual lessons, and assessment both on and off site. It will also ease the collaboration between students, teachers and the industry partners.

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iPad Technology and Student Success in a Differentiated Core French Classroom
14-15/44/S

School: Cobequid Education Centre
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Chignecto Central Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Matt Fullerton
Team Members: Hillier Cormier

"High school French students will work with iPads to promote oral production, listening comprehension and literacy, and to help decrease the anxiety often associated with sharing their work with others. They will accomplish these goals by hearing, seeing, reading and manipulating iPad-based models before creating, with their devices, their own products that they will then share with their peers in interactive ways. This process will encourage active listening and speaking and help decrease anxiety, a growing impediment for students in today's classrooms. Such activities will be followed by students assessing their own work and the work of others."

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Creating in the Arts: Perceptions of Me
14-15/45/S

School: Auburn Drive High
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Melanie Kennedy
Team Members: Catherine Thompson, Stephen Cameron, Dan Ray

We have a new course at Auburn that is a combination of a support class for students with special needs and a course called Creating in the Arts. This class is comprised of students from our learning centre. Mainstream students will come into the class and we will all create something together, starting wherever the personality and ability levels of our group meet. The grant money will purchase equipment to aid in the music and art portions of my class, most particularly an instrument called the Skoog that is ideal for students who are differently abled. It allows students who cannot play traditional instruments to make and even compose music.

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Math in the Garden
14-15/57/S

School: Parrsboro Regional High School
Grade: 10
School Board: Chignecto Central Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Paula Rochon
Team Members: Matt Cole, Shawna Shiers, Susan Stevenson

The 2015 Math Essentials 10 students of Parrsboro Regional High School are in Phase 1 of their “Math in the Garden” project. Students are applying geometric aspects of design, purchasing and measurement skills to design, cost estimate and construct a green space for Parrsboro Regional Schools. Gardening offers hands-on, experiential learning opportunities in a wide array of disciplines. Garden activities can help engage students in learning in a way that is more difficult in the classroom. This space will include raised garden beds, cold frames and a living wall that can be utilized as a supplementary resource for students from P to 12 while beautifying the school grounds and allowing these math students to feel a sense of connection to their high school.

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2013-2014

Collecting, Analyzing and Disseminating Weather Data
13-14/06/S

School: Sydney Academy
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Ron Mazzocca
Team Members: Janet Beaton, Barry Holloran, Kevin O’Neil, Bruce Dalzell, Jane Gillis, Greg Callahan , Jamie Broderick

The project “Collecting, Analyzing and Disseminating Weather Data” will enable any student at Sydney Academy to gather data on the weather systems influencing the local area. This project emphasizes the first hand collection of weather data by high school students using sophisticated electronic equipment. This data can be accessed by all students, any day, at any time, from any location with internet service. This information may be creatively used by students to post local weather reports for the surrounding community over the schools electronic message board. The project will allow student to learn basic skills in collecting, analyzing and communicating information in an enjoyable and engaging manner.

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YouLearn: Using student generated content to increase student engagement
13-14/13/S

School: Amherst Regional High School
Grade: 9, 11, 12
School Board: Chignecto-Central Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Erika Carruthers

YouLearn allows students in Biology 11 & 12 the opportunity to create content in various forms for use in Science 9 classes employing a flipped classroom approach. There are instances of overlap within the curriculum that allows students to deepen their understanding of concepts. YouLearn will create an authentic learning experience in which this happens. Science 9 students will be able to consume this content as an introduction, review or reinforcement while seeing relatable role models. The technology use by both groups will serve as a tool of engagement, an opportunity for further problem solving and way to represent learning.

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Multi Cultural Art Kits “MAKS”
13-14/19/S

School: Bridgetown Regional High School
Grade: 9-12
School Board: Annapolis Valley Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Lori Whitman-Price

MAKS, "Multi Cultural Art Kits," is a selection of portable, multi-culturally themed art kits that contain a wide variety of learning materials and resources for students in the BRHS senior high art program. These kits will promote cultural diversity and reflect various cultures within our society, on both a local and global scale. The essential aim of MAKS is to expose art students to a greater sense of multiculturalism through hands on learning experiences. Students will explore the cultures of the world as well as those that make up our student population during each unit of study we cover in the art studio.

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Green Screen Studio
13-14/36/S

School: Auburn Dr. High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Tim Coombs
Team Members: Kirt MacCormack

Traditionally, when students are asked to be creative when creating video projects, there options have been limited due to limitations they have. The background of their videos is always the school and surrounding areas. In order to unleash their full creative potential, our PDAF grant will be used to purchase a green screen backdrop and a high quality camera and lighting system in order to allow our students to think outside of the box and then put themselves virtually inside that box. The possibilities are limitless!!

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Food for Thought
13-14/37/S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Catherine Thompson

“Food for thought” is a group mural project that is intended to provoke thought, positive behaviour and perhaps personal growth. The project will reflect the PEBs (positive, effective, behaviour and support) matrix and the artwork will promote the theme: Auburn has respect for S.O.L.E. (self, others, learning and the environment). Students will be pairing a positive word with an item of healthy food to create a whimsical yet educational mural for our school cafeteria. We will be asking members of our school community to give us words they feel will promote healthy mind, body and soul of our students as they view the mural day to day.

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Second Language Acquisition through Technology
13-14/43/S

School: Charles P. Allen High School
Grade: 11-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Kevin Schofield

Second Language Acquisition through Technology involves the use of technology (tablets) to permit students an authentic experience in learning a second language, in this case Spanish.

Students are able to access videos (audio) of native speakers, current articles from newspapers and magazines, popular music, and much more current content catered to their interests. Cultural awareness will be readily accessible. Applications are now available for learning languages and dictionaries that aid in pronunciation. No longer are the dictionaries’ pages silent.

In addition, the ability to record and save students video presentations permit a running dialogue of their progression - digital documentation. As a diary of sorts, recording progress from beginner to advanced acquisition allows for teacher and self-evaluation. Presentations show authentic experiences, demonstrate their creativity, and showcase lingual abilities.

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Math Mini Lessons
13-14/48/S

School: Cole Harbour High
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Matthew Serieys

Cole Harbour High is developing a video library of mini lessons designed to help teachers differentiate instruction within the classroom using I Pads and applets. Teachers are going to take short videos as mini lessons and use these to support students learning. In order to support connections to previous knowledge or to help develop a deeper understanding of the subject area some videos will produced in advance. Other videos will be made in-class of student work with their own commentary; promoting further classroom dialogue and exchange of ideas. In addition, teachers will use math applets as aids to improve students’ visualization and increase student engagement.

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Threads
13-14/57/S

School: Charles P. Allen High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Ann Whalen
Team Members: Ashley McCusik, Heather Michael, Krista LeBlanc

This project is called Threads. It is conceived as a multi-disciplinary project that will see students across four disciplines working together around the conceptual theme of threads. “Threads” will be a collaboration of communication Technology, Fibre Arts, Biology and English classes. We will do a combination study and expression of photography, textiles, human science and literature as it relates to what links us to each other. We will create large scale collaborative photography transferred onto cloth (4ft x 20ft), embellished with text and fiber applications that express the concept of threads and looks aesthetically very cool.

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“Now You Don’t See Me, Now We Do”
13-14/62/S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Preman Edwards

It is the intention of the project to make math more accessible in my classroom for my students by infusing the technology with the current math curriculum. Through the use of the brand new mimioProjector and MimioPads and the necessary software, the students and I will be able to move wirelessly around the classroom, sharing, discussing and projecting their thoughts, questions and knowledge with the entire class. Students will be able to use the MimioProjector and MimioPads to interact directly with the lesson on the board. This is a very exciting proposition as for the first time students will be able to ask a question directly or without having to identify themselves.

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Drawing from Plaster Cast Sculptures
13-14/67/S

School: Yarmouth Cons. Memorial High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Tri-County Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: David Baldwin

"Drawing from Plaster Cast Sculptures" is a project inspired by the Belevedere Torso, a classical sculpture studied by Michelangelo in preparation for his Sistine chapel ceiling paintings, and for many of his marble carved sculptures. This project will provide students in our senior high art program access to three plaster cast sculptures for observational study and art media for drawing and painting of realistic human forms and portraits. Students will experience and appreciate the significance of museum and gallery resources, a method of artistic learning used by Renaissance artists. The plaster casts, including a reproduction of the Belvedere Torso, a plaster cast of Sophocles, and a plaster cast of Madame Pompadour will be on permanent display in the art room, and used during student-centered art projects.

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Building Employability through Food and Hospitality Services
13-14/69/S

School: Bridgetown Regional Higl School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Annapolis Valley Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Jonathan Marshall

Building Employability through Food and Hospitality integrates food and hospitality service outcomes with the Employability Skills 2000+ Rubric. Students will be working together developing their Fundamental Skills (Communication, Using Numbers, etc.), Personal Management Skills (Positive Attitudes and Behaviors, Responsibility, Working Safely, etc.), and Teamwork Skills (Working with Others, Participate in Projects and Tasks, etc.). The main objective of this project is to give students access to real-life employability experiences that they can incorporate into their Life/Work Portfolio experience. Students will be engaged in practical kitchen and customer service skills that will serve them throughout life after high school while building upon their employability skills.

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Mi’kmaw Studies Textbook Collaborative Project
13-14/71/S

School: Memorial Composite High School
Grade: 10-11
School Board: Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Bryan Sweeney
Team Members: Kevin Burton, Peter Gnemmi

The 2014-15 school year will see students at Memorial Composite High School working in conjunction with high school students with the Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey to produce a Mi’kmaw Studies interactive textbook. This will be an ongoing project which will create a “living” textbook that can be continuously edited and updated with current and newly researched materials.

The project will have the students engaged in education through hands-on learning and discovery. Using existing and age appropriate computer software, students will compile information from a variety of Mi’kmaw sources and construct an interactive textbook for the iPad. The book will be published on the iBooks store and be available to all interested parties for free.

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2012-2013

Development & Implementation of an Age-neutral, Differentiated Functional Math Skills Pack for High School Students with Severe Disabilities
12-13/02/S

School: High Schools in SSRSB
Grade: 10-12
School Board: South Shore Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Catherine Rahey
Team Members: Lindsay Welsford, Connie Bird, Barbara Cochrane, Barbara Welsford, Gaston Comeau

Students on individual program plans are working toward learning outcomes tailored to their individual, developmental strengths and challenges. In order for students to meet their IPP outcomes and gain essential, academic and functional skills, they require specialized instruction. This includes providing concrete examples, differentiated instruction, repeat/re-teach/re-view material, checking for understanding, and a reduction of memory expectations while focusing on information use. This project is focused on increasing functional mathematical understanding of students in high school with mild to severe disabilities through the use of structured, sensory-based instructional methods, assistive technology, and manipulatives. Students will also be taught to apply their school-based math instruction in the home and community, increasing their independence and employability skills. All targeted areas in this math project will support the Individual Program Plans of a range of highest needs students.

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Midi Controllers in Music Production
12-13/05/S

School: Bridgewater High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: South Shore Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Allan Muir

This project will assemble a Controllerist DJ system within Bridgewater Junior / Senior High school. Controllerism, uses music in the form of a computer file, to create original works by mixing or enhancing the original file. This work is done with the use of midi controllers, which operate the computer remotely. Students will have the opportunity to experience an authentic learning opportunity, while creating, mixing, and broadcasting music at the school, and community events. Their original mixes will also be saved and broadcast on the Internet for public consumption.

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Painting Outside the Lines
12-13/15/S

School: Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School
Grade: 11
School Board: Tri County Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: David Baldwin

The project “Painting Outside the Lines” enables Production Tech 11 students at Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School to design and construct portable painting work stations for the Visual Arts 11 and12 courses at YCMHS. The project with an emphasis on small power tool use and assembly practices serves to provide Production Tech. students with a production project during a one year restriction on major machine use in our school due to the lack of a dust collection system. The project also provides an avenue to produce a product that is both functional and desired by other groups in our school.

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Wearable camera systems as an alternative video production method for Communications Technology
12-13/31/S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 11-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Tim Coombs
Team Members: Kirt MacCormack

Teaching the Video Production unit in the Communications Technology 11 and 12 courses has always proved difficult because the students also learn very similar skills in the Film and Video Production and the Applied Broadcast Journalism courses offered. Through the use of the GoPro Hero 3 camera system, Communications Technology teachers will be able to provide students with an alternative to traditional camera video production and will enable the students to achieve the outcomes without repeating concepts learned in other courses. Students will also be able to express their creativity in ways not previously possible.

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Conversations in the iCloud – Voice Thread in the French Classroom
12-13/32/S

School: Cobequid Education Centre
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Chignecto Central Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Martha Kenny
Team Members: Janice Trider, Hilary Cummings, Beth Doucette

With iPads and the application Voice Thread, we will bring authentic French language experiences to our classrooms. Students can conveniently record and e-mail their speaking tasks to teachers with the click of a button. Teachers can then access the students’ work, record feedback and send the comments to the students. By reviewing their recordings and teacher feedback, students will be able to improve their comprehension and fluency. The accessibility of Voice Thread makes for easy progress tracking and assessment. This project will provide students with opportunities to develop their oral production skills and prepare for assessments. We believe this project will help demonstrate to students that the device they use for communication and enjoyment is also a powerful learning tool.

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Sparking Creativity & Building Bridges: A Black Light Puppet Show
12-13/45/S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Melanie Kennedy

Auburn’s AP English class will create children’s stories having the recurring motif of the ocean. Our grade 12 art class will then create puppets of all the characters in the stories. Once created, the grade 12 drama class will use them to create a series of black light puppet shows. The Journalism class will then help the drama class to record and edit the soundtrack. The production will then be toured to elementary schools and be a fundraiser for the Learning Disabilities Association of NS. One of the shows will showcase the learning centre students as performers and puppet creators.

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Implementation of Stability/Posture Balls in a High School Classroom
12-13/47/S

School: East Antigonish Education Centre - Academy
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Strait Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Maureen Sullivan

In the Spring 2013, Mrs. Maureen Sullivan’s high school math/science classroom at East Antigonish Education Centre and Academy will be replacing the traditional classroom chairs with WittFitt® stability balls. The goal of the alternative seating is to enhance student learning by allowing for “active” sitting. Research has shown that the constant movement provided by stability balls can increase academic performance by producing greater neural connections, which in turn leads to improved attention and concentration. Additionally, proper use of stability balls improves posture, flexibility, coordination, and balance. Lastly, through the educational training associated with the implementation of the stability balls, the students will gain a greater understanding of why their personal health and well-being is essential to learning and growing.

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“Bringing Math to the Tablet”
12-13/48/S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Preman Edwards
Team Members: Edward Ingalls, Kevin MacNeil, Frank McMahon, Jennifer Branton, Mark Gillie, Lynn Johnson

Through the use of the tablets, students will be able to take a photo of their work and stream it to the board where the class will analyze and learn from each others work. This will allow the sharing of thoughts and ideas, while preventing students from moving further away from one another in this technological cyber world with limited human interaction. Also, with the use of necessary software and the Mimio technologies, teachers will be able to move wirelessly around the classroom. As well, teachers will utilize many of the great math applets on the web to increase visualization of mathematics. This will enable students to have a much more “connected” mathematical experience.

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Green Living Initiative
12-13/54/S

School: Avon View High School
Grade: 10-11
School Board: Annapolis Valley Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Greg Dalcourt
Team Members: Sean Connolly, Greg Wile

Avon View High School is developing a Green Living facility complete with a greenhouse and powered by solar and wind energy. The Project will be completed in steps starting with a storage facility for tools and construction materials. After the storage facility is complete a greenhouse will be designed and constructed followed by an ongoing implementation of green energy generation. Plans are in the works for fabricating wind turbines and assembling solar panels to charge a battery bank and power the facility. Once the project is complete it will be used by Avon View students in the warm months to brush up on their horticultural skills.

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Judges Daily Physical Activity Centre
12-13/69/S

School: J.L. Ilsley High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Ken Johnston
Team Members: Jim Mugford, Kevin Julien, Sabine Fells

The main objective of the Judges Daily Physical Activity Centre is to increase the daily physical activity levels of students by creating a multi- purpose physical activity space at JL Ilsley High School. The focus of this multi- faceted space will be non-traditional physical activities that will target high school students, especially young women.

Our target population would be students, and in particular, young women aged 14-19 years. By creating a space for non-traditional physical activities such as Yoga, Dance and Self Defense for example we hope to increase the number of students participating in daily physical activity, thereby encouraging a lifelong commitment to physical activity and healthy living.

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Enhancing Engagement and Understanding through a 1 to 1 iPad Pilot Project
12-13/57/S

School: Memorial Composite High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Len Harvey

This project is going to provide a 1 to 1 ratio of iPad’s to students in one ELA classroom at Memorial Composite High School. This is envisioned as a pilot classroom to see the effectiveness and usefulness of having a 1 to 1 iPad ratio in the classroom, establish a working ELA curriculum based around using this technology, and establish a baseline in terms of cost per classroom vs. typical books purchasing, supplies purchasing, etc. It also seeks to increase senior high student engagement to literature by using a more applicable and familiar medium to them.

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Auto Maintenance Skills Project
12-13/86/S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 11-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Wayne Costello

Auburn Drive High School in Cole Harbour N.S. is one of two High Schools in the province that provides automotive courses for student in grades 10-12. The schools physical plant provides students with a real automotive environment where they can receive true on the job experience.

This project will extend the students’ abilities and knowledge in employable skills in relation to automotive tire servicing and engine diagnostic servicing. Students on a daily basis will perform practical applications procedures in relation to tire changing and wheel balancing as it is practiced in industry.

Students also on a daily basis will have the opportunity to trouble shoot engine problems with the help of an engine diagnostic code reader. All procedures will be performed according to industry standards when servicing engines. These opportunities provide a context for daily learning, and help students to make the transition to work and/or further learning.

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Rapid Prototyping in Aviation Engineering in Exploring Technology 10
12-13/89/S

School: Auburn Drive High
Grade: 10-11
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Kirt MacCormack
Team Members: Tim Coombs

"Students in Exploring Technology 10 have the unique opportunity to learn about innovative technologies, but a lot of the things we design are on the computer and the students don’t get the chance to interact with their designs. Using the rapid prototyping design process, students will construct their own remote control airplanes using foam, wood and hot glue. They will learn about control surfaces and aviation principles and get the chance to prototype and fly their constructed models. Students will also explore the concepts of multi rotor aircrafts and self-stabilizing aircrafts."

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2012-2013

Development & Implementation of an Age-neutral, Differentiated Functional Math Skills Pack for High School Students with Severe Disabilities
12-13/02/S

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Midi Controllers in Music Production
12-13/05/S

School: Bridgewater High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: South Shore Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Allan Muir

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Painting Outside the Lines
12-13/15/S

School: Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School
Grade: 11
School Board: Tri County Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: David Baldwin

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Wearable camera systems as an alternative video production method for Communications Technology
12-13/31/S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 11-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Tim Coombs
Team Members: Kirt MacCormack

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Conversations in the iCloud – Voice Thread in the French Classroom
12-13/32/S

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Sparking Creativity & Building Bridges: A Black Light Puppet Show
12-13/45/S

School: Auburn Drive High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Melanie Kennedy

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2011-2012

Path to the Future
11-12/01/S

School: Oxford Regional Education Centre
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Chignecto Central Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Kendall Black
Team Members: Judy Davis, Stefanie Keezer, C.A. King

My classes will construct several raised beds at the school entrance to the current trail system that would create a visually aesthetic starting area. These beds will offer different sensory experiences, the final result will become a sensory garden, offering opportunities for all students to engage with their environment, through smell and feel, as well as sight. My intention is to pay particular attention to indigenous plants and those attracting beneficial insects and butterflies.

To support this garden we will build an environmentally sustainable greenhouse that would support the starting and nurturing of plants for the sensory garden, as well as developing a small scale plant nursery. This green house will be constructed and designed by the Production Design Technology 11, Home Trades 12 and Agriculture 11 classes. The intention would be that the students’ design would explore the idea of incorporating a rain management system, as well as a solar heating system to regulate night time temperatures.

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Providing Affordable Supports to Students with LD across the Curriculum to Enhance Independent Learning
11-12/14/S

Grade: 10-12
School Board: South Shore Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Cathy Croft
Team Members: Vicki Crozier, Jeanie Rodenizer, Connie Bird

The numbers of students with diagnosed Learning Disabilities in our school system are substantial (bordering on 300 individuals). All students in High School with LD and who struggle with learning, to succeed as independent learners, require access to appropriate Assistive Technology. Due to current budget cuts, fiscal restraint and limited funding supports placement of Assistive Technologies like Kurzweil (~$1300.00 per license), CoWriter (~$300.00 per license), Clicker 5 (~$250.00 per license) is unfortunately prohibitive. This project will test the use and application of an Open Source Assistive Technology product (MyStudyBar) in 3 High Schools in the South Shore Regional School Board with teachers teaching students with Learning Disabilities and learning challenges in various classes. MyStudyBar is free to download and distribute to any user. It can be loaded on any computer but also distributed via USB keys provided to students. Students can utilize MSB (MyStudyBar) on any computer available to them for accessing information through text to speech; enhance writing skills with word prediction, graphic organizers and even voice input. Many other features are built in to MSB. Such a product does not replace the need for high quality software supports like Kurzweil and CoWriter but the cost of MSB certainly allows the school system to provide access for all who require the supports. It is also noted that we are preparing these students for transition to post secondary or the workplace.

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Robotics: Learning Through Innovation and Competition
11-12/10/S

School: Charles P. Allen High
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Ryan Thornton
Team Members: Wes LeBlanc

This project is designed to promote learning through the participation in robotics competitions. The funding will be used to purchase hardware to enter existing robotics competitions as well as to design and implement a new regional robotics competition.

Pre-fabricated robotics kits offer students the ability to be innovative and to learn through experience. The competitions are designed to enhance what has already started in the classroom and to offer students who are interested the ability to further their knowledge outside of the classroom.

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Living the Good Life in 3D
11-12/19/S

School: Charles P. Allen High
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Heather MacFarlane
Team Members: John Jennings

The Design Technology Classes will be working with groups throughout the school to create impactful and innovative 3-D anaglyph posters, pins, t-shirts and other design products. The graphics will represent and emphasize the exceptional character traits identified as central to personal and academic success. Because 3-D glasses are required to view the designs, they become more intriguing and significant to the viewer. Students will be given a unique opportunity to utilize professional design equipment to create their designs that will be turned into actual products in our production lab.

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Using Technology to Help Students Grasp The Math
11-12/38/S

School: Annapolis West Education Centre
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Annapolis Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Allister Wadden
Team Members: Wes LeBlanc

This project involves the use of TI Nspire CAS CX handheld units in the mathematics classroom. Through the use of these handheld units, students create a model which solidifies the concepts in their mind. Using this technology allows all students to be equally engaged in learning as they can participate in the classroom activities, along with the teacher, and thus building their level of knowledge. This allows students to explore mathematical expressions in symbolic form, see patterns and understand the math behind the formulas. They also are able to see multiple representations of a single problem – algebraic, graphical, geometric, numeric and written.

What the CAS CX handhelds offer to students over the typical graphing calculator is that it has colour coding graphics, it can import pictures and photos for mathematical analysis, and functions can be manipulated easily by students using the interactive tools built in the programming software. This novel, highly engaging, and integrated instructional format will provide students with a tool to deepen their understanding of mathematics and a greater ability to draw inferences.

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The Music Tradition Continues
11-12/33/S

School: Dalbrae Academy
Grade: 9-12
School Board: Strait Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Stephanie MacDonald

The communities Dalbrae Academy serves have a long tradition of Celtic music. My goals for the music program are, firstly, to shift from appreciation based courses to a hands-on learning environment. Secondly, to be able to showcase students' musical abilities, thus, developing confidence/pride in themselves, school, and community. This will be achieved through after school jam sessions, talent shows, a musical performed for the community, and a service-learning project centered on planning and performing a concert at the local nursing home. The PDAF award will allow purchase of much-needed instruments and equipment. Dalbrae wants to ensure “The Music Tradition Continues”.

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Artists’ Corner: Interactive, Creative Arts & Technology Centers
11-12/61/S

School: Bridgetown Regional High School
Grade: 11-12
School Board: Annapolis Valley Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Lori Whitman-Price

Corner will be an established area in the classroom comprised of technology based stations linking students to the 21st century by providing them with engaging, hands-on opportunities which keep their learning experiences relevant and current. Students will be engaged in a variety of informative topics, as they independently create and present a variety of artworks. Artists' Corner will not only provide resources and supports for Advanced Art 11 and 12 as they develop portfolios for post secondary institutions, but students in Visual Arts 12 will be required to access these technology centers as they develop their required Arts portfolio for their final credit.

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Compassionate Corner
11-12/49/S

School: Bayview Education Centre
Grade: 4
School Board: Strait Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Amy LeVesconte

I would like to devote space in my classroom for a “Compassionate Corner”; a place to meet once or twice a week to discuss positive personality traits and promote character education. Meetings will include would like to see an opener of yoga poses, a story involving positive character traits chosen for discussion and reflection, and then behaviour discussions through the use of personality puppets.

Goals of the project:

Teach students to empathize with others
Teach students to understand the importance of being caring and cooperative
Help the students develop emotional and physical control
Promote individual, social, emotional and physical well-being

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Viewing Ourselves as Readers
11-12/48/S

School: Riverview Rural High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Janine MacAulay
Team Members: Sr. Catherine Walker, Coralie McPhail

The intent of this project is to shift high school students’ perceptions of themselves as readers by providing them with Kobo Touch e-readers during English class. The e-readers will be used for reading a variety of texts including news and magazine articles, novels and PDF files. The target students are typically not successful in the traditional language arts classroom.

The goals of the project are to increase student motivation to read through the novelty of the e-readers; help students feel valued by providing them with advanced technology; give students experience in navigating electronic text; and help students develop independence in choosing appropriate texts for learning and for leisure.

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Game Club
11-12/67/S

School: Auburn High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Matt Cox
Team Members: Ann Sangster, Laurel Mackenzie

The grant received from the PDAF committee will allow students from Auburn Drive High School’s learning centre to create and manage their own game club. This opportunity will create a safe, welcoming environment for all students, not just those with intellectual disabilities. By bridging the gap between neuro typical students and those with disabilities we provide an opportunity for students a place to generalize the social skills that they continue to learn. This club will also allow this group of students to take on a leadership role within the school.

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2010-2011

E-Painting and Publishing
10-11/02/S

School: Horton High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Annapolis Valley Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Paul Syme
Team Members: Brenda Sheppard, Janet Trites

High school art, design, and multi-media courses lead students to create digital projects using tools that are, for some, inaccessible even though they can grasp the concepts and create strong designs on paper. The point of this project is to test this hypothesis ? that the iPad will make digitally creating and publishing imagery and designs more accessible to more students. The iPad's GUI (graphic user interface) enhances accessibility by allowing users to create by simply pointing at and touching what they want -- releasing users from the indirect mouse and keyboard as well as operating systems modeled after a business office.

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Creating Positive Personal & Community Identity Through the Use of Innovative Video Technology

School: Goreham Memorial Educational Centre
Grades: 10-12
School Board: South Shore Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Ian Kent
Team Members: Glen Matthews, Jessica Corkum, Norm McNaught

Our project intends to promote the Innovative Learning Centre by producing a school

documentary and an annual video year book. The project will be implemented in a course titled Film and Video, which focuses on script writing, filming, editing and final cut production. The project will give learners the opportunity to work with innovative video technology, understand software editing programs and produce a final product that will promote the school and life long learning. The project will explore developing confidence in digital and technological literacies, competence in using modern tools,developing adequate strategies for the workplace and building identity and personal development.

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We Go Here Too: Improving Inclusion in the School Community

School: Charles P. Allen High School
Grade: 10 to 12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Lindsay Desrochers
Team Member: Mary Middleton

We intend to use this important funding to increase the visibility and participation of students with special needs in the school as a community, and improve the quality of interactions between students from the Learning Centre and the general population of students. This project supports the school?s Planning for Improvement goals, as well as supports the teaching of independent living and working skills.

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Art to Share

School: Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High
Grades: 10, 11
School Board: Tri-County Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Darcy A. d'Eon

Art to Share is a mail art swap project whereby art students at YCMHS will be creating and swapping artist trading cards with students from other schools in the province. Artist trading cards, or ATCs, are miniature works of art created on 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 cardstock or other types of heavy paper using a vast array of media. YCMHS will be the swap host and trades will take place at the end of each month. Each semester will end with a face-to-face trading session. ATCs are collectibles and are a wonderful way for students to share their artistic talents and make friendships.

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Framing A Memory

School: Pugwash District High School
Grades: 11-12
School Board: Chignecto-Central Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Terry Ryan
Team Members: English Language Arts Dept. and Visual Arts. Dept.

The main theme of the project is to provide students with an opportunity to explore and be creative using a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera, the integral component, is however, to ensure meaning and pride is instilled into a completed product so a student wants to professionally display their work of art, thus, FRAMING A MEMORY. Students will be given various activities using a digital camera; the main activity will be 'A framed memory' using the mat cutter. Students will create a name using images taken from nature or architecture and frame it.

I feel that the project will bring meaning to the program not only for the student but for the parents and many others who will see the art work on the wall for many years, allowing parents to boast about their child's achievements.

We also have a beautiful Art Gallery in our school and once a year students get to display their works of art in an art show organized by the art teacher. Students get to sell their art pieces through a silent auction; this poses another opportunity for Communications Technology to receive public recognition and to show the community what is going on at PDHS by students showcasing their photos. Displaying works answers three questions about education; What are children learning? How are they learning it? and How do we know they learned it?

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Audio in Action

School: Charles P. Allen High
Grades: 10 and 11
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Brian Richardson
Team Leaders: Nathan Beeler, Stephanie Bird

Charles P. Allen will now be able to offer an after school program on audio recording and production. The program is aimed at engaging a diverse body of students in school guided audio programs where they can become confident and capable in a home studio setting. Students will work within the parameters of a common home studio set-up using innovative audio technology such as and Apple MacBook Pro computer, audio interfaces, and a variety of microphones. Students will learn the fundamental skills from properly selecting and setting up microphones to mixing and mastering audio pieces. Students will present at least one audio piece for a portfolio.

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Kindle Readers

School: Pictou Academy
Grades: 9-12
School Board: Chignecto-Central Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Jim Sloan

The essence of this project is that through technology we can be of service to all students in our classes. I intend to use the Kindles to help readers experiencing difficulty and on LSPs by using to text to speech feature on the readers. This will allow students to read along, increasing comprehension of text while at the same time aiding fluency. Enrichment activities will allow students to choose more diverse books and texts of more maturity that are often not available in high schools. Kindles will update libraries and relevant texts.

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ISkills

School: Dartmouth High
Grades: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Trish McIntosh
Team Members: Amanda MacDonald, Matt Cox, Krissy Brewer

The new Ipads, cameras, TV and Wii will help us in our continuing effort to improve resources and allow students to construct knowledge through hands on, experiential ways. Many of the students have verbal, cognitive and social delays and these items will provide these students with more opportunities to learn, practice and demonstrate their knowledge in unique ways.

There are various educational applications for the Ipad which will assist in the development of curriculum not only in the learning centre but will assist classroom teachers in supporting academic activities for the students on an IPP.

The Wii and television will allow students an opportunity to engage in physical activity with a structured tracking program and motivation prompts. In this age of technology, students and adults with special needs are able to develop accessible fitness programs on the Wii, when developing other independent physically active life styles can be a challenge.

Students also rely on visual supports in creating schedules and routines; digital cameras will allow students to begin to create these items independently. Also, cameras allow a special insight into a students? perspective by allowing them to present the world they see in a visual format. It also provides another way of representing their knowledge when text literacy is a challenge.

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Math Games in 2011

School: Pictou Academy
Grade: 12
School Board: Chignecto Central Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Jeremy MacInnis

"Math Games in 2011" is an exciting new way to make mathematics even more interesting using the latest technologies available. Along with the TI-NSPIRE CAS calculator's local math teachers have received, my project includes wireless cradles for these calculators. These cradles allow the teacher to see what each student is doing, allow students to show the work they are doing to the class from their seat, as well as ask questions, complete assignments and so much more. Students will be required to create a game based on a particular section of material from the Mathematics 12 curriculum and have the class play their game wirelessly on their calculators.

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If You Build It, They Will Stay (In Class)
10-11/45/S

School: Sackville High School
Grade: 10
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Nicholas Crowe
Team Members: Lauren Emanuel, Cynthia Whitring

One of Sackville High's many innovative ways to engage "At Promise" students is through the planning and construction of a cedar strip canoe. Students in Nicholas Crowe's Learning Strategies class will learn valuable job skills while practicing numeracy and literacy in a small group atmosphere. This long term project will conclude with a paddle in nearby First Lake. We hope to have the students make meaningful connections with the environment, the community and, most importantly, the school itself while discovering their own potential.

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Fine Arts Lighting
10-11/46/S

School: Millwood High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Grant Frost

The Fine Arts Department here continues to grow and develop, and finding more ways to engage students in the fine arts remains a key focus for the school. However, traditionally there has been almost no equipment with which to work. Placing a high quality professional lighting ensemble in the hands of the students will allow not only for a higher level of performance quality, but also allow for the engagement of students who may have an interest in the technical side of theatre. Not to mention the fact that the use of lights will immediately allow us to engage in an area of curriculum which, to date, has remained primarily theoretical, with no practical hands on applications. Our new lighting equipment will be showcased in our school musical in April, in a show that has been written by the drama club!

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2009-2010

Light Graffiti, Rapid Burst & Enrichment Photography
09-10/22/S

School: Charles P. Allen High
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Anna Whalen
Team Members: Paul Wozney, Stephanie Bird

The Visual Arts department will now be able to set up a photography studio, make prints based on rapid-burst photography and create a series of large scale photographs based on light graffiti. Rapid burst will allow multiple images shot at rapidly so that they capture the minute movements of an action. The resulting series will be visually fascinating as we are not usually able to see and appreciate such subtly. The light graffiti will include many students working with special lighting effects outside, at night. The photos are shot with an open shutter and the movement of light is burned into the image.

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School-Based Skills Development Program
09-10/24/S

School: Citadel High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Lynn Hackett
Team Members: Agner Greer, Marlene Baugild, Trevor Smith

Citadel High School is creating a site-based, skills development program designed to provide work-skills training and in-school, co-operative education opportunities for students with a wide range of abilities. The program will have a special focus on students with Individual Program Plans, students who struggle with motivation in a traditional learning environment, and those who benefit from hands-on learning opportunities and school-to-work connections. Our long term vision is to have an array of on-site businesses in which students can participate as they learn about the world of work while they create products and provide services which are of real value to the school community.

The first on-site business we will initiate is the Citadel High Print Shop. Students will be involved right from the start as they participate in the design and building of shelving and storage units for the physical space. Once the business is operational, students working in the print shop will learn technical, design and customer service skills as they create print products for use within the school community. Students will be involved in taking orders; organizing jobs; designing and producing posters, tickets, brochures, newsletters and other products; photocopying; laminating; and product delivery within the school community.

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Sackville High Learning Stations for Differentiated Instruction
09-10/25/S

School: Sackville High
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Krista Nash
Team Members: Lauren Emanuel, Jennifer Welcher, Allison West

Sackville High Learning Stations for Differentiated Instruction is a school-wide initiative which aims to provide a variety of choices in every class. Teachers, in consultation with the project team, will develop choices for units in their curriculum that cover the outcomes. The assignments will be based on Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences and Bloom’s Taxonomy to ensure that all students can achieve success in a variety of ways. The project team will be putting together tote bins for each department that are full of a variety of materials such as markers, paint, Bristol board etc. for teachers to sign out.

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From Garbage to Garden
09-10/35/J

School: Shelburne Regional High
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Tri-County Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Mary Manning
Team Members: Jody Harris, Heather Taylor, Carolyn Thurber, Jody Jensen, Michelle Grant, Claudette Comeau , Les Goulden, Kelli Wolfe Enslow, Adam Dedrick

In 2008/2009 SRHS received funding to create a Community Garden. During the 2009/10 school year the grade 7 classes at SRHS have become custodians of the garden. “From Garbage to Garden” is an interdisciplinary, expeditionary learning experience focused around the inquiry question - Where does our food come from? The inquiry question will be woven through the curriculum and will meet outcomes in social studies, science, math, language arts, TechEd and family students in both the English and French Immersion classes.

Students will explore the effectiveness of several methods of compositing including worm composting and four types of outdoor composters that they have constructed themselves. The compost will be used to plant vegetables that will be harvested in the fall and with the help of a local chef students will cook and enjoy a healthy meal. In addition, the support of members of the community will enlisted to teach the students about topics such as, companion planting, proper care of garden tools, the science of organic gardening, and canning and food storage methods.

Through the exploration of topics such as the environmental benefit of buying locally, the slow food movement, who controls of seed production, and challenges faced by local farmers, students will develop an understanding and deeper appreciation of how the choices we make impacts our environment.

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“You Mean We’re Not In The Band?”
09-10/44/S

School: Millwood High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Stephanie Ford
Team Members: Carla Christianson, Mairi Fraser

The aim of the project is to reach out to the students that were not exposed to Concert Band instruments in junior high school and provide them with a practical music experience. The hope is to also target the students in the Resource/Learning Center so that they too may engage in a music program that has otherwise been inaccessible to them. Twenty acoustic guitars and several African percussion instruments will be purchased for the music room in an effort to give these students an opportunity to create, express, and explore musical concepts that have otherwise been unavailable to them.

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Cartography & Glass & Citizenship
09-10/45/S

School: Charles P. Allen High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Heather Michael
Team Members: Chris Hall, Liane Downie

The Cartography & Glass & Citizenship project is an interdisciplinary approach to infusing the concept of internationalism into CP Allen. The final project will be a large stained-glass piece, housed in the main office that connects mind-mapping and land-mapping with symbolism to perception and our ways of seeing/understanding the world. In addition to the main piece, students from a variety of classes throughout the building will create similar pieces that will hang in each classroom, referencing the larger work in the office. The process and final produce are intended to convey the message that “My Thinking is Global”.

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Green It Clean!
09-10/46/S

School: Sackville High School
Grade: 10-12
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Lauren Emanuel
Team Members: Krista Nash, Kerry MacQueen, John Miller

Sackville High School will be involved in a major ecological project by creating a garden/outdoor classroom right in our back yard. Our garden will provide our students the opportunity for experiential learning while achieving curriculum-based outcomes for various courses offered at the high school. The first year involves the garden raising indigenous plants and shrubs to assist in the reduction of pollution going into First Lake. In the future, with the support of the local scientists, the garden will be converted to raise herbs and vegetables for use in our cafeteria and by our school community.

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2008-2009

School to Work Transition Project
08-09/18/S

School: Millwood High
School Board: Halifax Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Mairi Fraser
Team Members: Marilyn Williams, Val Simmons

High schools have recognized a programming need or deficit for students who have met all of the requirements for graduation, participated in all the specialized programming individual schools have to offer and are coming back to school until the age of 21. Lockview, C.P. Allen and Millwood High school learning centre teachers hope to maximize the strengths of each school and have returning graduates travel as a cohort from school to school to participate in learning activities designed to prepare them for the work place. Each school is responsible for a different skill set. Millwood High will be offering an opportunity for students to develop skills necessary to be successful in an office environment. Students will also be responsible for planning and facilitating small business contracts that will support our school communities. The School to Work Transition program will help to prepare students for what comes after high school.

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Détermination De la Présence/De l'absence des Nématodes
08-09/37/S

School: École secondaire de Clare
School Board: Conseil scolare acadien provincial
Project Coordinator: Marc Poirier
Team Members: Dianne Thibault, Alain Gamache, Marc Poirier

Les élèves du niveau de la onzièmes et douzièmes années des cours de biologie et du cours d'Études en environnement appliquées s'impliqueront dans ce projet. Ce dernier est permet une collaboration étroite entre l'Association de saumon de la Rivière aux Saumon et les enseignant de l'École secondaire de Clare.

Ce projet va incorporer la collecte d'Anguilles américaines, l'analyse de la qualité de l'eau de différents basins hydrographiques, l'analyse physique des anguilles et la dissection.

Une base de données sera préparée pour chaque basin hydrographique afin de déterminer la présence/absence de nématodes. Ce que nous proposons est un vrai travail de recherché. Avec des facilités physiques adéquates et une excellente expertise intellectuelle, nos élèves seront exposés à de la recherche au niveau universitaire. Ils pourront à la fois apprendre et comprendre la théorie offerte dans ce cours et aussi apprendre à manipuler des données en utilisant des méthodes scientifiques rigoureuses.

Si on découvre ce nématode dans nos rivières locales, les élèves pourraient contribuer à un plan de gestion et de surveillance.

Nous croyons que ce projet est un bon modèle pour exposer l'élève à l'intendance environnemental et le sensibiliser aux problèmes des temps modernes.

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Trikking For Fun and Fitness
08-09/49/S

School: Pictou Academy
School Board: Chignecto-Central Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Margo Hilchey

This project will incorporate the use of a very unique, human powered vehicle, called a Trikke into the high school physical education curriculum. Students will be instructed on the biomechanics of Trikke propulsion using core and leg muscles. Trikkes can be used in both the gymnasium and on outside paved surfaces to develop balance and endurance in a very fun way. With the use of the appropriate protective equipment this project will provide a safe, innovative alternative to traditional sport-based activities.

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Being in the Art
08-09/52/S

School: Holy Angels High School
School Board: Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board
Project Coordinator: Elizabeth Lalonde
Team Members: Carol Lee Boutilier, Katherine Scott, The Cape Breton Centre for Craft & Design, Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site

The funding for "Being in the Art" project will provide Holy Angels High Visual Arts 11 students the experience of three distinct exhibition processes. First, exhibiting art works in the original forms; second, creating digital reproductions of their work for digital portfolios and an online gallery; and third, bind the reproductions in hand made books.

Art students are already aware of how important it is to make art, but most student work remains inaccessible to the public. The intent of this project is to build into the curriculum at least three ways for students to explore the impact their artworks have on a variety of audiences with the goal of providing the experience of "Being in the Art".

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Program Development Assistance Fund (PDAF)

Successful Project Profiles

Senior High Level

School Year

2025-2026

2024-2025

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2022-2023

2021-2022

2020-2021

2019-2020

2018-2019

2017-2018

2016-2017

2015-2016

2014-2015

2013-2014

2012-2011

2010-2011

2022-2023

Outside for All22-23/10/S

Supporting Social-Emotional Skills at BFEC22-23-18-S

School and Community Yoga22-23-21-S

360 Degree Video22-23-22-S

Film and Video Upgrades22-23-23-S

Advanced Console Editing22-23-24-S

Disc Golf Design and Play22-23-25-S

Target Heart Rate22-23-26-S

Towards Inclusive Music Education22-23-41-S

Digitization of Traditional Woodworking Techniques22-23-47-S

Learning "On the Fly": Coding Aerial Drones22-23-49-S

École Laboratoire : Tablettes à dessin22-23-50-S

Encouragons nos jeunes entrepreneurs22-23-56-S

2021-2022

Hands on Design and Creation in a Mathematics Classroom 21-22/02/S

Advanced Digital Art Print Center 21-22/26/S

Portable Classroom 21-22/28/S

Making Tracks Biking Program – Maintenance Phase21-22/30/S

Broadcasting and Digital Media 21-22/45/S

Scan to Print (Rapid Prototyping) 21-22/46-S

Direct to Garment Transfer Printing 21-22/49-S

Lighting for Creative Live Performances21-22/56-S

NRHS Fitness Centre Facelift21-22/56-S

Supporting Observation, Conversation and Collaboration in Math 10 at Dartmouth High School21-22/69-S

Moving Beyond the Single Story21-22/80-S

Masks for Social Justice20-21/02/S

Using iPad Technology to Enhance Blending Learning Experiences for Students20-21/08/S

Improved Student Feedback & Interactive – “Remove the Teacher”20-21/09/S

Skateboard Making20-21/10/S

Collaborative Media Design Workstations20-21/23/S

Self Sustaining 3D Printing Workstation20-21/27/S

WALKUMENTARIES: Publishing Student Stories using Walking Apps and Audio Documentary Storytelling with Zuppa Theatre20-21/34/S

Get Outside – Teaching Skills20-21/48/S

Red Dress Day20-21/58/S

Oil Painting a Happy Place En Plen Air20-21/59/S

Outdoor Education: Making Tracks Biking Program20-21/78/S

Peer Fitness Development20-21/82/S

French Immersion History Resources20-21/83/S

2019-2020

Small but Mighty (Educational)19-20/06/S

Developing a Transition Learning Environment for School Anxiety/School Refusal Students 19-20/08/S

Live Video Production Through Technology, Art and Design19-20/10/S

Drum Sander 19-20/17/S

The Investigation and Design of Hydroponic Systems as it Relates to Plant Growth and Programming Control Systems Using Raspberry Pi 19-20/23/S

NKEC Space Balloon19-20/27/S

Exploring the Coastal Zones of Nova Scotia's South Shore19-20/34/S

Droid Build BB819-20/36/S

2018-2019

Droid Build – Design and Build R2-D2 18-19/04/S

Full Bellies, Full Minds 18-19/16/S

Markerless Motion Capture Performance 18-19/25/S

Authentic Problem Solving in French 18-19/26/S

More Mirrors, Fewer Windows: A literacy initiative to bridge identity, reading and community. 18-19/33/S

Laying Tracks: Recording Real Life with At-Risk and Disengaged Youth; a Soundtrack for Learning. 18-19/37/S

SCA Tech Connect 18-19/42/S

Mathematics Innovation Through Tech 18-19/64/S

Illustrating Emergent Properties – The 100 Synapse Project 18-19/68/S

Increasing Reading Motivation and Engagement with eReaders 18-19/71/S

2017-2018

Coding and Designing Portfolio Museums in Virtual Reality 17-18/07/S

Outside for All
22-23/10/S

Supporting Social-Emotional Skills at BFEC
22-23-18-S

School and Community Yoga
22-23-21-S

360 Degree Video
22-23-22-S

Film and Video Upgrades
22-23-23-S

Advanced Console Editing
22-23-24-S

Disc Golf Design and Play
22-23-25-S

Target Heart Rate
22-23-26-S

Towards Inclusive Music Education
22-23-41-S

Digitization of Traditional Woodworking Techniques
22-23-47-S

Learning "On the Fly": Coding Aerial Drones
22-23-49-S

École Laboratoire : Tablettes à dessin
22-23-50-S

Encouragons nos jeunes entrepreneurs
22-23-56-S

Hands on Design and Creation in a Mathematics Classroom
21-22/02/S

Advanced Digital Art Print Center
21-22/26/S

Portable Classroom
21-22/28/S

Making Tracks Biking Program – Maintenance Phase
21-22/30/S

Broadcasting and Digital Media
21-22/45/S

Scan to Print (Rapid Prototyping)
21-22/46-S

Direct to Garment Transfer Printing
21-22/49-S

Lighting for Creative Live Performances
21-22/56-S

NRHS Fitness Centre Facelift
21-22/56-S

Supporting Observation, Conversation and Collaboration in Math 10 at Dartmouth High School
21-22/69-S

Moving Beyond the Single Story
21-22/80-S

Masks for Social Justice
20-21/02/S

Using iPad Technology to Enhance Blending Learning Experiences for Students
20-21/08/S

Improved Student Feedback & Interactive – “Remove the Teacher”
20-21/09/S

Skateboard Making
20-21/10/S

Collaborative Media Design Workstations
20-21/23/S

Self Sustaining 3D Printing Workstation
20-21/27/S

WALKUMENTARIES: Publishing Student Stories using Walking Apps and Audio Documentary Storytelling with Zuppa Theatre
20-21/34/S

Get Outside – Teaching Skills
20-21/48/S

Red Dress Day
20-21/58/S

Oil Painting a Happy Place En Plen Air
20-21/59/S

Outdoor Education: Making Tracks Biking Program
20-21/78/S

Peer Fitness Development
20-21/82/S

French Immersion History Resources
20-21/83/S

Small but Mighty (Educational)
19-20/06/S

Developing a Transition Learning Environment for School Anxiety/School Refusal Students
19-20/08/S

Live Video Production Through Technology, Art and Design
19-20/10/S

Drum Sander
19-20/17/S

The Investigation and Design of Hydroponic Systems as it Relates to Plant Growth and Programming Control Systems Using Raspberry Pi
19-20/23/S

NKEC Space Balloon
19-20/27/S

Exploring the Coastal Zones of Nova Scotia's South Shore
19-20/34/S

Droid Build BB8
19-20/36/S

Droid Build – Design and Build R2-D2
18-19/04/S

Full Bellies, Full Minds
18-19/16/S

Markerless Motion Capture Performance
18-19/25/S

Authentic Problem Solving in French
18-19/26/S

More Mirrors, Fewer Windows: A literacy initiative to bridge identity, reading and community.
18-19/33/S

Laying Tracks: Recording Real Life with At-Risk and Disengaged Youth; a Soundtrack for Learning.
18-19/37/S

SCA Tech Connect
18-19/42/S

Mathematics Innovation Through Tech
18-19/64/S

Illustrating Emergent Properties – The 100 Synapse Project
18-19/68/S

Increasing Reading Motivation and Engagement with eReaders
18-19/71/S

Coding and Designing Portfolio Museums in Virtual Reality
17-18/07/S

Creating an Interactive Science Space to Engage Students at BFEC
17-18/08/S

Coding Control Systems and the Internet of Things
17-18/11/S

Digital Canvases
17-18/16/S

Introduction to Coding in the High School Classroom
17-18/27/S

Integrating Science with Outdoor Education
17-18/39/S

Apprendre a connaitre notre communaute: Les entretiens de l'Ecole virtuelle au CSAP
17-18/43/S

Highbury Education Centre Adventure / Outdoor Education Project
17-18/45/S

Model-Based Prototype Digital Sculpting
17-18/47/S

Portable Virtual Reality Lab
17-18/56/S

Motor Vehicle Engine Structure and Repair
16-17/02/S

Musical Maker Spaces
16-17/18/S

Raspberry Pi Life-Size 3D Scanner
16-17/29/S

Digital Culture Capsule Project
16-17/30/S

Using 3D Designing, Scanning and Printing to Support Student Learning at BFEC
16-17/47/S

Central Kings Guitar Club
16-17/58/S

New Germany and Area Annual Canoe School
16-17/75/S

Collaborative Inter-Curricular Makerspace
16-17/79/S

An Investigation into Urban Agriculture
16-17/80/S

Building Capacity for Connections at the High School Level
15-16/03/S

Chrome Keys
15-16/15/S

Réinventer les technologies
15-16/18/S

WHEC Adventure Education Intitiative
15-16/31/S

The Skies of Tomorrow
15-16/35/S

Dartmouth High School Physics You Tube Channel
15-16/41/S