Tag Archives: mini grant

Guest Blogger, Materials, School Media Specialist

CMLE Mini Grant Report: Jill Schmitt Osmo Kits

Osmo kits in action!

This is a guest post from Jill Schmitt, Tech Integrationist at Holdingford Public Schools. Need a Mini Grant to purchase materials or try an interesting new program at your library? Apply today! 

At Holdingford Elementary School we are continually looking for ways to engage students in higher order thinking skills. Though this can be done in a multitude of ways, we know that students are especially motivated when technology is involved! We are keenly aware of the potential negative effects of too much screen time on brain development and try to make sure we are providing quality, purposeful instruction through the use of devices. After exploring a variety of tools, we decided to give Osmo kits a try and couldn’t be happier with the results!

With the help of a generous mini-grant from CMLE, we purchased several Osmo kits focusing on numbers, letters, and shapes. Initially, we believed the use of these apps would be beneficial for primary students as they navigate the concepts of print, decoding, and problem-solving. However, we quickly discovered that our older students could appreciate the shapes app to develop spatial reasoning skills. More importantly, our students were eager to collaborate with classmates to solve problems and communicate results leading to deeper learning for all.

A huge thank you to the CMLE for making these learning opportunities possible at Holdingford Elementary School!

Guest Blogger, Special

CMLE Mini Grant Report: Stearns History Museum


This is a guest post written by Jessie Storlien, Archivist at the Stearns History Museum. Need a mini-grant to help purchase new materials or help fund a program? Apply now!

Collections that are benefiting from the new boxes.

As a result of purchasing these materials, can you identify and explain a few things you can use/apply to your work or practice?

The Research Center in the Stearns History Museum is currently processing a large influx of archival materials that have arrived within the last year.

The items include documents, photos, audio-visual materials, ephemera, and other archival materials. The collections range from the St. Cloud Herberger’s department store and the Rausch family of Cold Spring to Kollmann Monumental Works and the Herbrandson family of Brooten, among many other documents that have been collected or donated to the Archives.

The shipment arrives! A finished box in front.

Acid-free, lignin-free archival boxes allow us to properly store and preserve these materials. Since purchasing the boxes we have begun organizing and processing the new materials. The boxes help us continue to preserve and store 2D archival materials in a publicly accessible retrieval system.

This grant supports Stearns History Museum’s mission to connect people to the power of history and culture by collecting, preserving, and interpreting its historical and cultural resources. The storage boxes allow for improved access to our collections by staff and the audiences we serve.

Box tops, flattened boxes, and a finished box.

What were your favorite takeaways or new things learned?
There are many factors in creating accessibility in a library. Space, shelving, and storage containers all play an important part in processing and organizing new materials and collections.

The storage boxes Stearns History Museum ordered using the money we received from CMLE will allow us to continue making accessibility and conservation a priority at our organization by giving us a place to properly store processed collections. When stored in an ideal environment, collections are preserved for future generations of families and researchers.

Conference, Guest Blogger

Student-Powered Conference Report: Neil Andruschak

Connections – Logan’s (LFCS student) keynote presentation

This is a guest post written by Neil Andruschak, Digital Learning Specialist at Little Falls Community Schools. Need a mini-grant to help purchase new materials or help fund a program? Apply now!

A group of central Minnesota educators (MidMN EDU) put together the 2nd annual Student Powered Conference – A MidMN EDU Event on the morning of February 6th at the Sartell Community Center.

Logan, a Little Falls Community High School student, gave the opening keynote presentation and he knocked everybody’s socks off with a great talk about “Connections” and how important student-adult connections can be at school and how those connections can change your life in positive and dramatic ways.

Following the keynote, there were 3 breakout sessions (with 4 rooms and poster sessions in the gym) for students to choose from. All main and poster sessions were led by student presenters.

Elementary Art Educator Internship – Emily’s (LFCS student) poster session

To wrap up the morning, we had a get up and get moving activity that generated a lot of laughs and fun.

Last year was a great success with middle school students as our “beta testers” and this year we have opened the conference up for students grades 4-12. The range of presenters signed up was all the way from 4th through 12th grade. In addition, we had a number of students just attending. They were not required to present. We had a great turnout and are expecting even bigger numbers next year!

The requested grant funds covered Little Falls Community Schools transportation and our share of the building rental. Thank you for supporting unique, personalized learning opportunities for Central Minnesota students!


Conference, Guest Blogger

Report from the Student-Powered Conference: Amanda Holstrom

This is a guest post written by Amanda Holstrom, Instructional Technology Specialist and Apple Teacher at Sartell Middle School. Need a mini-grant to help purchase new materials or help fund a program? Apply now!

At the Student Powered Conference, Sauk Rapids, Sartell, Little Falls, St. Cloud, and Albany students got together to share their ideas and learn from each other. Logan, a senior from Little Falls, presented the opening session, discussing his path into coding and how it has changed his career options and his high school coursework. He set the tone for the day to be open to learning new things and sharing knowledge.

The students ran the show, creating and presenting their knowledge and
passions. Some of the student led sessions covered topics on Astronomy, How to Become an Author, Breakout Boxes, Coding, Virtual Reality in the classroom and more. These sessions offered the Tech Team students the opportunity to learn and experience education in a way that is not available in every district in central Minnesota.

Students that attended these sessions took the ideas presented to them
back to their schools to discuss as a tech team how we can implement this type of learning into our curriculum. Our Tech team decided to focus on bringing more VR/AR (Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality) options into our school. The students looked into finding VR experiences that covered topics they were currently learning and shared them with their teachers. Another group of students is learning about Merge Cubes and what they can create using CoSpacesEDU to show our staff how education can reach beyond the classroom.

Our next step to share what we learned is at Education Done Differently at Sartell Middle School in April. The Sabre Tech Team will be presenting alongside other staff and students on the ways we have changed the way we educate our students.

Conference, Guest Blogger

Report from the Student-Powered Conference: Audrey Thornborrow

This is a guest post written by Audrey Thornborrow, Technology Integrationist/Instructional Coach at Mississippi Heights Elementary School. Need a mini grant to purchase materials or fund a program? Apply here!

“That was amazing!”

“Can I go again next year?”

“This is the coolest thing we’ve done all year!”

These are just a few of the exclamations I heard from students as we left the 2019 Student Powered Conference which was hosted by a group of Central Minnesota technology integrationists/instructional coaches (MidMN EDU). The conference took place at the Sartell Community Center.

The whole day is truly powered by the students. Sure, the adults get them bussed there, make sure the projectors are working, and order the donuts, but the day wouldn’t be successful without the hard work from the students.

Our day started off with a keynote from a senior from Little Falls High School. He spoke about connections and how making connections with different people can open up doors of possibilities in your life. He did an amazing job and was so brave to get up in front of over 200 kids to share his message.

After the keynote we had 3 different time slots for different sessions such as How to Solve the Rubiks Cube, Art Internships, 3D Printing in the Medical Field, Breakout EDU, Cookie Decorating, and my favorite Cyber Bullying.


The Cyber Bullying session was a very powerful session because Nolan, a 4th grader at MHES, stood in front of a large group of students and told his story about his experience with be bullied, how it felt, and gave concrete ideas on how students can help stop or prevent bullying in their school. His peers were so respectful and kind. They asked great questions, offered positive feedback and gave Nolan a standing ovation along with hugs, fist bumps, and high fives. After his session, Nolan told me he felt like his favorite book character. He said, “my favorite character was rich, and famous, but most of all he was love, and that’s how I feel right now. Loved.”

We are so thankful to CMLE and their generosity for providing funding for the Sartell Community Center. Without your generosity, this magnificent day would not have been possible.