The North Vermilion High School English department, under the leadership of Assistant Principal Laura Leboeuf, was recently awarded an 8g competitive grant  for the 2006-2007 school year.  The grant project, Strategic Reading in Student’s Hands, is designed to use handheld technology as a vehicle to incorporate strategic reading within the Comprehensive Curriculum framework.   Students in grades seven through ten will be targeted.   The grant amount of over $96,000 will be used to purchase classroom sets of Palm handheld computers and keyboards, wireless access points, printers and software for students to use in lessons, research and activities targeting reading comprehension. The teachers involved will also undergo extensive training on Strategic Reading, a research-based method of teaching reading comprehension  and on the use of handheld and technology integration.

Teachers involved in the writing and implementation of this grant are: Jill Roy, Donna Prejean , Mary Derouen , Shamayne Istre, Phyllis Benoit, Kelly Declouet , Erika Trahan, Jeri Landry, Kim LeMaire, Adrienne Theriot and Ethel Baudin .  Also involved are Jeannie Cormier, Curriculum Supervisor for Middle Schools, Mike Dartez, Classroom Technology Coordinator, and Roland Pautz, Science Supervisor and Grant Writer.