BrainPop aids students

The Community First Cares Foundation and the Nassau Education Founda-tion, with matching grant funds from the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations, purchased a district-wide license for BrainPop software. It is available for use in all 16 district schools, serving more than 11,000 students. 

This is the second year of this commitment to Nassau County schools. BrainPop is used primarily by elementary and middle school teachers and covers all subject areas. It even includes topics such as engineering and technology. Teachers use it for whole class instruction and small group centers. Students use it individually at school and at home. 

Rebecca Smith, principal of Emma Love Hardee Elementary School, said teachers and students love it. “We use it primarily for science and social studies for whole group lessons. They can also use it in skill centers. This learning tool is especially helpful for low-performing and advanced students so that they can go at their own pace. It is aligned to state and national standards and meets several educational requirements.”

The foundations are glad to assist.

“We are pleased to be able to continue this important learning tool for all of Nassau County’s public school students,” said Missy Peters, executive director of the Community First Cares Foundation. “Partnering with the Nassau Education Foundation gives us a chance to maximize our impact and put together partnerships to fund projects that would not be possible any other way.” 

Four years ago, teachers at several Nassau County schools requested BrainPop software from the newly formed Nassau Education Foundation. The foundation recognized the need for students to use engaging, entertaining and informative software to both reinforce ideas as well as serve as a learning aid for under-performing students. A majority of Nassau County teachers who responded to a survey indicated they were highly satisfied with BrainPop and felt it was beneficial to their students. 

“An overwhelming 95 percent of teachers who responded to our survey felt that BrainPop was a useful supplement to their educational lessons” reported Abby Bean, executive director of NEF. “We knew we needed to keep the program going, and were so excited that Community First Cares Foundation saw the value in our partnership to keep it for Nassau County students and teachers.” 

The teachers also indicated the software was used for science, social studies, math, grammar and other subjects – far beyond the foundation’s expectations of the original grant award. 

Additionally this year BrainPop offers a growing population of English Language Learner students additional concepts in their first language. Smith said the main take away for them is the content is also in Spanish, so their ELL students can get that science content in Spanish. 

“It has been a true benefit to them.” Agrees Bobbi Roberts, ESOL coach for Nassau County Schools. “Our ELL teachers are loving the program. I just left Emma Love and the teachers are using BrainPOP and BrainPOP ESL, depending on the level of English proficiency of each student. One of the greatest benefits of this program for our ELLs is whenever they are not quite sure of the concept being taught, they are able to toggle back and forth in English and their native language. This program is a great support for our teachers and helps supplement their instruction tremendously.”

The Nassau Education Foundation researched the project extensively and created strategies to fund the project for the entire district. The foundation applied for grants and partnerships with the State of Florida School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program through the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations and received a dollar-for-dollar grant for the software. The Community Cares Foundation met the need for additional funds with its second year BrainPop grant.