Grants totaling $45,874.03 have been awarded to Montgomery County Public Schools staff for 74 innovative projects to enhance education for children, setting a record in both the number of grants and dollars awarded in the annual program of the Education Foundation, Inc.

Sixty-nine of the grants, or $41,619.68, came from the foundation, which receives and directs money from Maryland estates for which no heirs have been found. Last year, the sixth year of the program, the foundation funded 48 projects totaling $28,037.22.

Four additional grant projects were funded by GEICO, which donated $4,000. Thomas Pignone, vice president of House of Securities, contributed $550.55 to fund a fifth grant.

The 1999 grant winners and their projects, which will be completed during the 1999-2000 school year, are:

Gerard Consuegra, coordinator of secondary science, Department of Academic Programs, and science fair liaisons and science teachers from 21 high schools: $400 to supplement lodging costs for four high school students who are Grand Prize winners in the Montgomery Area Science Fair to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair in Detroit.

Georgia Lewis, parent education specialist; and parent educators Marlene Clark, Dale Fry and Myrta Velez-Funes, Alternative Programs: $500 to give low-income families with young children materials to promote early literacy, school readiness and parental involvement in education.

Cindy Connolly and Gus Kim, sixth grade science teachers, Benjamin Banneker Middle School: $250 to study the eating habits of owls to learn about the food chain and prey animals and to create stories about the animals.

Laura Annan, principal, Lenore Redler, counselor, and Laura Zancan, resource teacher, Lucy V. Barnsley Elementary School; and Wilma Holmes, principal, Flower Valley Elementary School: $1,000 for a joint program to provide educational resources to help low-income parents become more involved in their children's education.

Anita R. O'Neill, fourth grade teacher; Michael Tinney, third grade teacher; and Carol Hylton, Title 1 specialist, Beall Elementary School: $522 for an after-school program and parent education night to boost student understanding of basic math concepts and applications.

Patricia Touchette and Marie J. Stufft, art teachers, Beall Elementary School: $300 for materials to establish a Children's Art Museum at the school.

Carol Gretkowski, reading teacher; Margaret Kennedy, curriculum support; and Karen Sweetman, kindergarten teacher, Bel Pre ES: $1,000 for books and activities for a home school program to promote literacy skills among kindergartners. Funded by GEICO.

Matthew J. Boswell, English/theater teacher, and Jennifer Hoover, English teacher, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School: $950 for materials and equipment for a Children's Theater Program, in which B-CC students will stage a play for pupils at area elementary schools.

Valia Vassila, general music teacher, and Maria Karayianis, fifth grade teacher, Beverly Farms Elementary School: $1,000 for supplies for the Creating Original Opera project, in which 25 fifth grade students will produce an original opera. The grant also will cover entrance fees for programs of the Washington Opera, with which the school will collaborate.

Sara Josey, general music teacher, Montgomery Blair High School: $425 to expand the Interdisciplinary Music Resource CD Library, complete with lesson plan ideas, for staff to use in the classroom.

Kerri Blankenship, photography teacher, and Alexandra Michaels, resource teacher, James Hubert Blake High School: $920 to create a competition and scholarship assistance program to help students participate in national art competitions.

Rock A. Palmisano, 4/5 combination teacher; Linda Alban, intensity 4 teacher; and Sherrill Marty, intensity 4 assistant, Bradley Hills Elementary School: $732.35 for an interdisciplinary unit in which students explore scientific concepts related to marine biology and ecology and the social and economic impacts of living near the Chesapeake Bay.

Eleanor Jimenez, classroom teacher; Frank Sanford, reading specialist; Marie Wingo, classroom teacher and science liaison; and Pam Hepp, parent, Bradley Hills Elementary School: $700 for equipment needed for students to conduct scientific investigations in the school courtyard, recently converted into a science study area by parents.

Kay Fulcomer, science teacher, IRT; Dax Tarner, science resource teacher; Kim Bet, math teacher; and Jim Williams, technology teacher, Briggs Chaney Middle School: $968.45 for equipment to implement the interdisciplinary Globe Program, in which students will collect real-time data on longitude and latitude, altitude, point location and precise time relayed by satellites.

Wayne D. Dvorak, instrumental music teacher, Broad Acres Elementary School: $1,000 to rent band and orchestra instruments and buy supplies for low-income students who have an interest in and a talent for playing a musical instrument.

Carol Ubosi, ESOL teacher, Broad Acres Elementary School: $275 for a photojournalism project that will reinforce language and math skills for fourth and fifth grade ESOL students.

Araceli Oakes, fourth/fifth grade intensity 4 teacher; Sharrone Stroman and Hanniyyah Richardson, fifth grade teachers; Joyce Owen and Kelly Taylor, fourth grade teachers; Eli Burkhalter, art teacher; and Shirley Duncan, music teacher, Brookhaven Elementary School: $550 to create centers featuring hands-on activities in colonial life and arts for fourth and fifth grade students.

Glenis Quimby, first grade teacher, and Andrea Sutton, reading specialist, Burnt Mills Elementary School: $1,000 for the first-grade team to implement Reading Rotations, a series of four Parent Nights in which parents gain practical strategies to help their children at home with reading. This grant was funded by GEICO.

Linda Torres, dual language coordinator; Marlene Barakkatz, first grade teacher; Myriam Rogers, second grade teacher; and Andrea Sutton, reading specialist, Burnt Mills Elementary School: $500 to buy reading materials in Spanish for first and second grade students and to conduct workshops for Spanish-speaking parents on ways to support their children's reading at home.

Michael Giangrasso, special education instructional assistant, Rachel Carson Elementary School: $750 to buy equipment for instruction in percussion music, encompassing different cultures, ethnic instruments and styles.

John E. Morris, classroom teacher, Clopper Mill Elementary School: $500 for a hands-on project in which fourth grade students will plant and maintain a Maryland Scapes Millennium Garden of native plants to expand on the ecosystems Maryland history units.

Christine Frank and Karen McPhaul, fifth grade teachers, Cold Spring Elementary School: $1,000 for solar car kits for fifth grade students, who will design, build and test their own solar-powered cars while conducting research and experiments related to energy.

Gail Ernst, math resource teacher; Lee Meiners, principal, and other staff members, Cresthaven Elementary School: $695 for the Target Math Program, which will provide twice-weekly instructional sessions for grades 3-5 students who did not meet the proficiency standard on the math CRT and provide parent training for at-home math activities.

Stacy Newby, special education coordinator, Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School: $500 for electronic spelling aids to help grades 3-5 students improve their writing skills.

Joe Ann Robinson, speech pathologist, Head Start Unit: $600 to conduct a demonstration workshop project to help Head Start parents enhance their children's early literacy skills.

Carolyn Cohen, second grade teacher, and Tula Deligianis, third grade teacher, Fallsmead Elementary School: $450 for materials to enhance an interdisciplinary study unit on pigs, which will conclude with a play presented by students.

Jennifer Rueckemann and Terri Schwartz, kindergarten teachers, Fairland Elementary School: $800 to establish early literacy centers with manipulatives and a library for early emergent readers.

Carla Britt, math teacher, and Mary Reese, special educator, William H. Farquhar Middle School: $581 for the Algeblocks program, which will provide students with hands-on activities that help develop skills for algebra.

Dale Mennell and Julie Ho, world studies teachers; Marcie Leibowitz and Shirley Washington, reading specialists; Bert Atkinson and Brenda Dempster, English teachers; and Marsha Barnes and Sean English, music teachers, William H. Farquhar Middle School: $475 toward presenting the Maryland State Arts Council's Artist-in-Education Programs on the cultures and music of Africa to sixth grade students.

Ann Goldensohn, sixth grade English teacher, and other sixth grade teachers, Robert Frost Middle School: $385 for materials for Project Linus, in which all sixth grade students, with parent and community involvement, will help plan, design and make quilts for gravely ill children.

Naomi Zatt, kindergarten teacher, and Sayeda Alam, instructional assistant, Gaithersburg Elementary School: $763 to establish early literacy centers with hands-on activities and materials to teach basic literacy skills to young children.

Naomi Zatt, kindergarten teacher; Angela Missal, fifth grade teacher; and Sayeda Alam, instructional assistant, Gaithersburg Elementary School: $595 to establish a buddy program in which fifth grade students will read to and write books for kindergartners.

Lynn Dorsey, entrepreneurship teacher, Gaithersburg Middle School: $775 for a new course in which at-risk students will learn how to set up a small business and will run their own businesses after school.

Diane Kieval, media specialist; David Chia and Min Sung, fourth grade teachers; and Kim Jones, third/fourth grade teacher, Georgian Forest Elementary School: $267 for materials for the school's Stream Team to monitor the water quality of a local stream, observe stream life and compare the data with other local teams.

Karla B. Walker, reading specialist, and Adeline DePola, ELL teacher, Georgian Forest Elementary School: $950 for materials for the Interages Grandreaders ELL Program, which helps at-risk children improve their reading skills by working with senior citizen volunteers at school and by taking books home.

David Chia and Min Sung, fourth grade teachers; Diane Kieval, media specialist; and Carol Peterson, media assistant, Georgian Forest Elementary School: $600 for the Travel Across Maryland Project, in which fourth grade students will send stuffed animals to other Maryland schools and collect data on the history and life of these locales as the animals travel throughout the state.

Linda Eaton and Rita Trentadue, Reading Initiative teachers, and Anginise Moore-Vernon, reading specialist, Germantown Elementary School: $1,000 for materials to create Partners with Families in Reading, an outreach program to support in-school reading instruction and reinforce children's literacy skills at home. Funded by GEICO.

Lori Samara, instructional support teacher; Sue Bogart, resource teacher; and Pat O'Higgins, media specialist, Glenallan Elementary School: $956 to buy additional AlphaSmart 2000 word processors to increase opportunities for students to improve their writing skills in class.

Donna M. Burgess-Huott, first grade teacher, Glen Haven Elementary School: $450 for puppets and other supplies for theatrical performances and storytelling to support the literacy program and incorporate dramatic arts into instruction.

Matt Devan, Jeannette Carlson, MaryEllen Luensman and Chris Youstra, fifth grade teachers, Goshen Elementary School: $959.40 for materials for an architectural unit in which students will design and build a model house as a way to learn and apply mathematical and scientific concepts.

Susan Humphrey, parent partnership assistant; Harriet Peck, Title 1 specialist; and Starr McCoy, counselor, Harmony Hills Elementary School: Two grants of $351.90 each for parent and child workshops and for materials for parents to use at home to help their children improve their math and reading skills. Funded by GEICO.

Judy Scavino, family and consumer sciences teacher; Marjorie Kenemuth, seventh grade IRT, team leader, English teacher; and Heather Borsum, instrumental music teacher, Herbert Hoover Middle School: $550 for materials for seventh and eighth grade students to create tote bags containing bedtime items such as hygiene necessities, original stories and cassettes of student-produced music for Title 1 pupils.

Rose A. Schwartz, special educator/resource teacher; and Rosemarie Architzel and Yvonne Dela, third grade teachers, Kensington Parkwood Elementary School: $400 for an interdisciplinary cooperative learning project in which third grade students will help determine the class's resources and materials needed to improve performance in key subject areas.

Susan Mackey, media specialist, and Rose A. Schwartz, special educator/resource teacher, Kensington Parkwood Elementary School: $383.56 to establish an audiobook library to ensure the inclusion of special education students in the school's reading incentive program.

Dana Donohue, dual language teacher, and Ann Petrasek, foreign language department chair, Francis Scott Key Middle School: $500 to build a classroom lending library of books in Spanish to improve literacy among students and their families.

Rosemary deRosa, family and consumer sciences teacher, Kingsview Middle School: $618 for projects in which students create bags of toiletries for homeless children and bags of treats for gravely ill children at NIH.

Harry M. Bagdasian, Lisa Itte and other parent volunteers, Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School: $1,000 for the Comedy Club, in which students learn creative problem-solving, decision-making and teamwork skills as they stage theatrical productions.

Steven Alexander, parent involvement specialist; Theodora Barkers, computer applications teacher; Maria Douglas, special education instructional assistant; and Sherry Weiss, media specialist, Mark Twain School: $1,000 to implement and support new parent involvement initiatives.

Debbie Summers, physical education teacher, Monocacy Elementary School: $84 to continue a project in which students gather data about other schools, states and countries through two traveling flamingos.

Debbie Summers, physical education teacher, Monocacy Elementary School: $200 for a grades K-5 interdisciplinary project on transportation and communities.

Susan Morgan, Vicki Thomas and Ruth Parr, counselors, Neelsville Middle School: $861 for an outreach program to provide parent education materials to low-income parents.

Chanthou Kem and Susan Lambrix, ESOL teachers; and Rima Barrett and Thea Anderson, kindergarten teachers, New Hampshire Estates Elementary School: $335 for materials to enrich the Our Family unit of the ESOL and kindergarten curricula.

Lenore Hoover, art and creative communications teacher; William Falatko, arts team IRT; Joan Carroll, principal; and Myra Paul, media specialist, North Bethesda Middle School: $500 for materials for an original student produced performance and art installation, with an artist-in-residence, based on the school's mascot, the phoenix.

Rachel Tribble, instructional support teacher; Patricia Ostrom, computer lab instructor; and Kelly Erno and Jacque-line Moore, fourth grade teachers, North Chevy Chase Elementary School: $400 for equipment for an intergenerational project in which students produce family books.

Tara Nguyen, Head Start teacher; and Agnes Osman and Terri King, instructional assistants, Olney Elementary School: $461.20 for a project that introduces Head Start pupils to photography as art and furthers literacy and involves parents.

Linda Wheelhouse, middle school math teacher, R.I.C.A.: $969.86 for materials and learning tools for volunteer tutors to work with students.

Lawton Rogers, special education teacher, Ridgeview Middle School: $565 for the Inquiring Minds Club, whose multi-cultural activities foster development of thinking and communication skills.

Claire Turner, speech/language pathologist; and Melanie Humphries and Shari Perry, special education teachers, Ridgeview Middle School: $500 for supplies for students to construct gardens in a project that teaches scientific concepts and involves the community.

Shanon Kirby, special educator, and Penny Bustin, parent educator, Carl Sandburg Learning Center: $500 for equipment to create individual electronic portfolios for students.

Christina M. Baldwin and Rick Miller, science teachers, Sherwood High School: $995.85 for equipment and supplies to establish a biotechnology class.

Kathy A. Megyeri, English teacher/volunteer coordinator; Barbara Vent, special education teacher/Best Buddies Club advisor; Valerie Check, guidance counselor; Tom Perlet, recent graduate; and Sherrie Ross, PTSA president, Sherwood High School: $500 to help integrate special needs students with regular education students through social activities, field trips and other projects.

Gail Seligson, English teacher/IRT; Gina Blake, special education teacher; and Carrie Kochan, Pam Leith, Juana Hawkins, Savena Allen, Megan Birch, Anne Marie Maddox and Kara Mahoney, English teachers, Silver Spring International Middle School: $1,000 for all students to write, illustrate and publish a work of fiction that can be entered in a national writing contest.

Barney Trams, science teacher; Gail Seligson, English teacher/IRT; Jeniffer Whiddon, world studies teacher; and Jennifer Stone, foreign language teacher, Silver Spring International Middle School: $445 for students to create a multicultural garden with activities reinforcing studies in various curricular areas and reflecting the school theme of global citizenry.

Carolyn Olson-Beck, Sandra Raymond, Kathleen Dunmire, Nickie Neary and Nancy Berman, second grade teachers; Karen Anderson, Dawn Leinson and Anne Steinberger, Reading Initiative teachers; and Mary Kroll, special educator, Stone Mill Elementary School: $300 for materials for quilting portfolios that document second grade students' learning history and writing growth.

Jan Leighty, reading specialist; and Lisa Shapiro and Laura Woodside, first grade teachers, Washington Grove Elementary School: $550.55 to create a take-home book collection for students and parents to extend the Reading Initiative into the home. Funded by Thomas Pignone, vice president of House of Securities.

Wendy K. Stauffer, Reading Initiative teacher; Sandra Hawthorne, second grade teacher, and Fran Morris, first grade teacher, Waters Landing Elementary School: $996.09 to enhance the literacy program by having grades K-2 students write and record books and share them with the community.

Patricia Broda, art teacher, and Elizabeth Hellman, science teacher, Wheaton High School: $420 for supplies to create a research-based mural on the history of the earth.

J. Dewey Brown, science resource teacher; Diane Niedzialkowski, science teacher, Wheaton High School; and fifth grade teachers at Viers Mill Elementary School: $300 for a project in which high school students present curriculum-related science activities to elementary students.

Joslyn Stewart, science teacher/department chair; Cheryl Lee, coordinator of interpreting services; Donna Ednock, Davida Fonner and Diane Gregory, cued speech transliterators; and Erin Lynch, Betsy Marcus and Mary Ann Phelan, sign language interpreters, Earle B. Wood MS (Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program): $580 for music stands to display materials to help improve the comprehension of deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the regular education classroom.

Joslyn Stewart, science teacher/department chair, Earle B. Wood Middle School (Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program): $965 for science equipment for students in a special self-contained classroom.

Carla J. Buckley, media specialist; Sophia Kao, media assistant; Rita Mata and Aloha Keylor, ESOL teachers; and K-3 teachers, Woodlin Elementary School: $500 for the Home Story Centers project, which will provide books and books on tape for use at home by students and their families.

Patricia A. Coffin and Valerie Moulden, Reading Initiative teachers, Woodlin Elementary School: $500 to support two after-school reading programs for at-risk and ESOL students.

Judy Duffield, English resource teacher, and Phyllis Cohen, English teacher, Thomas S. Wootton High School: $245.92 for materials for students to create books expressing their interpretations of The Odyssey.