Katherine Melo, a MEEP teacher at the Missituk School, wrote a grant for a “Light Table”. The bright, steady light from light tables provides calming sensory input, helping children stay focused and emotionally regulated. Ms. Melo also says it encourages hands-on exploration. The glowing surface brings objects to life, inviting children to touch, move, stack and arrange them to discover new shapes and patterns. This table also teaches children to learn how to independently explore the world around them, problem-solve, develop creativity and refine conversational skills. As you can see in the picture, the students are so engaged in placing the swimming penguins around their created habitat. Light tables are typically found in early childhood classrooms but the one that had been in the classroom had broken after many years of use. The Medford Educational Foundation was able to quickly step in and replace the valued equipment for these young students. One of the advantages the MEF has is that we can respond to the requests of teachers that don’t fit into the typical budget cycle of schools. Whether it be, as it was in this case, a quick need for an item or as it usually is, supplying funds to educators who want to do something to enhance education for their students, the MEF supports our educators and students thanks to our generous donors!
