The school has three 200-gallon aquariums that were donated to the school approximately 21 years ago that are in need of repair. The wood trim on the outside is starting to rot from water exposure and the piping under the tank is extremely brittle. Upon further research, it appears that the seals on the fish tanks may be beginning to fail. This is the most likely cause for the increase in the amount of wood that has had water damage in the last year. When the pipes broke there was no way to keep all of the water from flooding out of the tanks. This resulted in a flood of 600 gallons of dirty water spilling out on the floor. It took 5 people working together to keep the water out of the chapel. Since then there have also been some small leaks that seem to indicate that the seals that hold the glass in place are starting to fail.

The fish tanks are also at the center of the school where visitors, teachers, and students interact with them on a daily basis. This means that the tanks should look nice as well as be functional as a teaching tool. To best achieve this we would like to replace the 3 existing tanks with 3 separate tanks with different types of water in them as well as a 4th smaller tank that would hold some more aggressive freshwater fish that are currently in one of the tanks. These 4 tanks would include one 300-gallon freshwater tank, one 60-gallon freshwater tank, one 175-gallon brackish water tank, and one 300-gallon saltwater tank.

The two freshwater tanks would be used to show that there are fish that require different environments to thrive. The large 300-gallon tank will be a planted tank with peaceful schooling fish, and the 60-gallon tank will have aggressive fish that will dig up plants and attack fish of other species. The filter on the large tank will also be equipped with an area for hydroponically grown plants. This allows for the teaching of sustainable farming techniques as well as providing fresh herbs for the foods classes.

The brackish water tank will provide a unique opportunity for the students to study the adaptations of the fish that live in the mixed water that occurs where streams and rivers meet the sea. There are several different types of puffer fish as well as several species that only live in this mildly salty water. This tank will also have mangroves growing in it. This will provide an opportunity for discussing how mangrove swamps help to prevent erosion along the coasts as well as how the mangroves can grow in the salty water by filtering out the salt at their roots and expelling the rest of the salt through their leaves.

The saltwater aquarium will allow students to observe how fish and corals interact as well as a window into the unique environment of a coral reef. It will also provide students with an opportunity to closely examine water quality, and what water parameters are necessary to keep corals alive. If we can establish the tank well we may even be able to participate in coral reef restoration projects by growing corals that can be sent back to the ocean. This will also provide opportunities for the students to study corals directly and experiment with what factors affect them and possibly help with conservation through research.

The entire student body would be impacted by this project. This is a three-phase project totaling $21,000. The fundraising goal for phase 1 is $5,000. Phase 1 will only cover the order and set up of the two freshwater tanks.

The Communication Arts Department would like to use Aquinas Teaching Grant funds to renew its subscription to the TurnItIn program. TurnItIn is a text-matching software program designed to help teachers improve student writing. Due to the recent pandemic, the school was able to use a COVID grant to fund a two-year subscription to the program; therefore, it was not included in the school's working budget. The subscription is up for renewal at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year. The cost of the program is less than $5 per student.

The TurnItIn program is accessible through the TurnItIn Draft Coach extension on each student's Chromebook. The program is designed for both students and teachers, and can be used for all classes where writing occurs. The program has three basic features: Grammar, Citations, and Similarity Reports. The Grammar feature allows students to have unlimited grammar checks as they compose. Advanced functions include flagging areas of grammatical concern, providing feedback specifying the type of errors flagged, and showing examples of solutions to fix errors. The Citations feature operates in a similar manner, and includes both the MLA and APA citation styles most commonly used across the curriculum. The Originality Report helps students improve their citation and referencing techniques by comparing their papers with both professional and student submissions from its database.

Turnitin also helps teachers streamline and enhance classroom instruction by using a single platform to assign work, provide feedback, and grade finished essays through enhanced features such as printed comments, recorded verbal feedback, peer editing exercises, and customizable grade rubrics. The TurnItIn Program helps students gain confidence in writing skills while maintaining the academic integrity of written work.

The entire student body would benefit from this program. The fundraising goal for this initiative is $4,000.

The Communication Arts Department would like to use Aquinas Teaching Grant funds to reestablish a writing lab for the 2023-2024 academic year. A writing lab was previously established for the 2021-2022 academic year using COVID grant funds. This lab functioned as a way to help students gain extra help with writing assignments outside of classroom instruction with a licensed (retired) Communication Arts teacher. The lab was located in the school's media center and operated on Tuesday through Thursday during lunch periods. COVID funding for this project ended at the conclusion of the 2021-2022 academic year. If approved, the Communication Arts Department would operate the Writing Lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays during lunch hours for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Reestablishing the Writing Lab is important for academic success, as it will allow students to gain extra help with written work during the school day. Because of the finite parameters of the daily schedule, students may still have unanswered questions or need extra help after the class period ends. This means they must try to find their instructor between classes or after school, which is especially difficult for students who need to carpool or have after-school commitments (appointments, athletics, job). From an instructor's standpoint, taking time to answer questions between classes usually means that the student is late to their next class and the teacher must make the incoming students wait to begin instruction. A Writing Lab will provide an extra opportunity for assistance during the school day, while still allowing students to meet with their classroom instructor after school.

The entire student body would benefit from this offering. The fundraising goal for this initiative is $5,000.

The Family & Consumer Science (FACS) Lab update will help students learn more life skills, be more efficient, and learn how to live on their own. Ideas include having students involved in different labs, hands-on activities in the classroom that involve critical thinking & problem solving, and a variety of activities that get students excited to learn in the FACS classroom.

This project will benefit approximately 300 students in grades 10 through 12. The fundraising goal to complete this project is $5,000.00.