Stephanie Giannacio

"Project H.E.L.P (How Education and Learning need Playgrounds)" is the winning program created by Giannacio for her sixth-grade students. The school does not currently have a playground. Instead, students have to use the school parking lot for their outdoor recess. Students wrote letters to the principal regarding this issue. The principal then challenged the students who are taking geometry and measurement to design an eco-friendly playground for the school. Students will research, plan, organize, design, and communicate ideas for the "green" playground. They will use spatial awareness learned in their math class to distinguish scale, ratio, perimeter, and area of a playground with 1000-square feet. Utilizing enlarged graph paper to develop ideas for the playground, students will create detailed, three-dimensional models using engineering materials. The models will be uploaded to a Website to allow others to view. Giannacio, who is a resident of Fanwood, hopes that students in the program will take ownership of their work and develop a sense of pride in their school and their community.