Funding Educational Resources and Experiences for Every Manheim Township Student
Through the support of our generous donors, in 2024-2025 MTEF funded innovative STEM resources, literacy tools, visiting artists and authors, and entrepreneurship opportunities, enriching student learning and deepening engagement. From launching a middle school Science Olympiad team, to hosting a workshop with a Broadway actor, MTEF is proud to partner with the district to provide experiences that inspire.
LEGO SPIKE K-6
Reimagining K-4 STEM Education for Innovation & Equity grant provided elementary students and teachers high-tech and low-tech ways to design, build, and create. This grant funded LEGO® SPIKE Essentials sets, which pair LEGO® bricks and hardware, such as motors and sensors, with narrative-based problem-solving and relatable themes, like camping and carnival games, for highly engaging STEM learning in every elementary STEM classroom. At Landis Run Intermediate School, LEGO® SPIKE Prime sets have been integrated into the 5th and 6th grade STEM curriculum. Spike Prime offers hands-on learning that starts simply but grows in complexity, encouraging creativity, critical thinking, and coding skills.
Student Businesses
Fridays at Manheim Township High School are a little sweeter thanks to WBL Great Bakes, a mini-business run by the work-based learning program! On Thursdays, students prepare seasonal breakfast pastry and on Fridays, deliver the orders, along with a beverage, to faculty and staff subscribers at the High School and District Office. MTEF is proud to have supported this program with a grant to purchase additional preparation and storage space. Work Based Learning teacher Ashley Cooper applied for and received one of MTEF’s first mini-grants, a pilot initiative for 2024-2025 to encourage small but impactful projects.
Artists-in-Residence
The Blue Streaks met bluegrass during the 2024-2025 school year! Through a grant from MTEF, written by music teachers Rachel Swank and Laura Topping, nationally recognized, locally based bluegrass band Colebrook Road made visited Manheim Township Middle School each marking period to conduct songwriting workshops with 7th and 8th grade music classes. Watch a short clip of their first visit here!
Julia Kamanda led students on an unforgettable journey this spring. As artist-in-residence. She took Brecht students on a vibrant, globe-spanning adventure, exploring music as a language that unites people around the world. Each lesson – visits to Sierra Leone, Peru, Mexico, Hawaii and India – included a picture book, photos and videos, the introduction of a unique musical instrument, and the opportunity to create their own versions of the instrument.
Creative Commons
This multi-phase project created an area in the high school library specially outfitted for students to exercise STEM and creative skills independently or as part of curricular coursework. The Creative Commons includes moveable workspace tables, flexible seating, and materials like LEGO® SPIKE™ kits, robotics, video creation equipment, a mobile podcasting studio and 3D printers. MTEF volunteers and donors joined school district faculty and staff to dedicate the space in April. Instructional Technology Librarian Carly McCarthy and Instructional Technology Coach Nick Scales hosted a tour of this unique space and the exciting resources it holds, already in high demand by MTHS educators in content areas from language arts to science.
Middle School Science Olympiad
A Fall 2024 grant from MTEF supported the creation of a Science Olympiad team at Manheim Township Middle School. Science Olympiad is a national competition where students test their knowledge and skills in various STEM fields through hands-on challenges and assessments. On December 14 the team competed in its first-ever tournament. During the Rustin Invitational, a remote/virtual event, students were tested in content such as meteorology, anatomy, and forensics through a timed online platform, while building events were submitted via video. The MTMS team competed in a division for newer teams, placing 17th out of 40 schools nationwide. MT students won a first-place medal in Mission Possible, a Rube-Goldberg machine building event, and took third place in an architecture and building event. The team wrapped up its first season by competing against the best of the best at the PA State Science Olympiad tournament and finishing an impressive 26th out of 78 middle school teams.
Visiting Artist Alex Dorf
A graduate of Penn State’s School of Theatre, Alex Dorf ‘12 has a resume including Broadway productions, tours and off-Broadway shows. Before his current ensemble role in the Broadway’s “Pirates of Penzance,” he was part of the North American tour cast of “Hamilton” During the show’s Fall 2024 stop in Hershey, Alex spent a day back at his alma mater. Organized by district educators and Manheim Township Performing Arts advisors Samantha Haldeman and Katelyn Candiello, and made possible through a grant from MTEF, Alex’s visit gave Manheim Township students the opportunity to learn from a working performing artist. Read more about Alex’s visit here.
See all Fall 2024 grant awards.
See all Spring 2025 grant awards.