Tuesday, February 16, 2010

More Grants Than You Can Imagine!

Do you know the grant category that offers more grants than any other? It’s not a secret by any means, but apparently many educators don’t know the answer. It is reading. More grants are provided in the area of reading than any other. In fact, almost twice as many grants are offered in reading than any other single grant category.

How many reading grants are available? Using the Discount School Supply free MySchoolGrant grant database, I put in Alabama, Public School, and Reading. It listed 333 different grants. I put in Pennsylvania, Private School, Reading. I got 436 results. California, Public, Reading netted 582 results.

Is your school or organization going to be eligible for every one of those grants? No, it won’t be eligible for 25% of them. But if it were eligible for just 10% of them, it would mean that you were eligible for 30, 40, even 50 or more reading grants.

Why do so many granting entities make reading requests eligible for their grant money? That’s easy. Reading is the most important skill we teach students in school. If they do not attain that one skill, most of the rest of their school careers will be a bust. It is very difficult to do work in math, science, social studies, and language arts unless a student is proficient in reading. Grantors understand this.

It is so important that our government has poured billions and billions of federal dollars into Title I reading programs. The results have not been that great, but they continue to fork over that money in the hopes that we will finally find the answer to the nation’s reading problems.

Not many schools in the country are able to keep their entire populations achieving at grade level in reading. Most could use some grant money to help them in their efforts. Well, here’s the good news. The money is out there, especially for innovative programs that have promise. Your innovative program might apply to pre-readers, elementary, middle, or high school students, dropouts, or adults. It doesn’t really matter. Problems exist at all those levels, and grants are out there to help schools and organizations make improvements.

Not every grant you find listed under reading in the Discount School Supply database will specifically be for reading. With some listings you will have to read between the lines to understand exactly how reading programs would be eligible, but they are. Read the listings carefully and decide how your reading problem fits into their program.

If you want to win grant money for your school, reading is a good place to start. The more grants you find listed, the more likely you will be eligible. Don’t hesitate. Find those granting entities that are most likely to help you improve the reading problems you are experiencing and apply, apply, apply. Most of the time reading grants are the easiest path for getting grant money into your school.

Check it Out: Grant Opportunity!

Grant Name: Summer Seminars and Institutes

Funded by: National Endowment for the Humanities

Description: These grants support faculty development programs in the humanities for school teachers and for college and university teachers. NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes may be as short as two weeks or as long as six weeks. The duration of a program should allow for a rigorous treatment of its topic.

Program Areas: Arts, Social Studies

Recipients: Public School, Higher Education, Other

Proposal Deadline: 3/2/2010

Average Amount: $60,000.00 - $140,000.00

Email: sem-inst@neh.gov

Web Site: http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/seminars.html

Availability: All States

Check it Out: Grant Opportunity!

Grant Name: Literacy and Education Grants

Funded by: Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation

Description: Literacy and education grants to help children are awarded twice a year for specific programs with measurable outcomes. We desire to provide support for children in literacy and education programs such as summer reading programs, early childhood education programs and literacy programs for children with special needs.

Program Areas: After-School, Disabilities, Early Childhood, Reading, Special Education
Recipients: Public School, Higher Education, Other

Deadline: 2/28/10

Average Amount: $1,000.00 - $10,000.00

Website: http://www.buildabear.com/aboutus/community/grants/

Availability: All States

Check it Out: Grant Opportunity!

Grant Name: America’s Greenest School Contest

Funded by: IC Bus, LLC.

Description: School bus manufacturer IC Bus has announced the 2010 America's Greenest School contest. Students across the United States are invited to submit an entry (e.g., a photo collection, music, a video, an essay, or photos of a diorama, collage, or piece of artwork) that illustrates their ideas for making their school a greener place.

Program Areas: Science/Environmental

Recipients: Public School, Private/Charter School

Deadline: 3/8/2010

Average Amount: $150,000.00

Website: http://www.americasgreenestschool.com/Overview.aspx

Availability: All States

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Are You Teaching Students To Give Back?

Writing grants for your school or classroom is an honorable endeavor. Typically when you receive grant money, you are able to improve student performance in some problem area. Both students and teachers benefit from the grant money you were responsible for getting. You feel good about your part in the process because you are giving something back. In fact, you probably became an educator so you could give something back.

But do you and your school also teach students to give back? Do you give them the opportunity to feel good about deeds they do solely for the benefit of others? That quality is not taught in most homes these days. Maybe you could get grant money to start such a program at your school.

When I was a middle school principal, we initiated a program that made me more proud of our students than any other – and it had absolutely nothing to do with test scores. Our community services classes were a tremendous way to teach our students to give something back to their small town.

Every day students who were enrolled in our community services classes went to the primary and elementary campuses, nursing homes, sheltered workshops, and a variety of other environments specifically to volunteer, to help other people.

Yes, it took a lot of scheduling, and permission slips, and a good faculty sponsor, but the benefits to those students and to those they helped was immeasurable.

It seems our world is filled with a “me, me, me” mentality. That’s why I was so surprised by the huge popularity of this program, and the responsibility that so many students learned to shoulder without any gripes or complaints. In fact, this program was so well received by our students and the community that it was also put in place in our high school, and it is very unusual for a high school to adopt any program that is initiated in a middle school. We were so proud.

Are you teaching your students to give back? We are beginning to post more and more grants that can help you with the process. You will find a couple of them listed below. Don’t overlook an opportunity to give your students one of the greatest gifts you could ever give – that wonderful feeling we get when we sacrifice our time and ourselves for the good of others.
Write a few grants. Start a good program. You’ll be glad you did.

Check it Out: Grant Opportunity!

Grant Name: The Green Heroes Grant Program

Funded by: Green Works and Roots & Shoots

Description: In 2010, The Green Heroes Grant Program will give green to those who do green. Through this initiative, the makers of Green Works® natural cleaners, with help from Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, will award $60,000 in grant funding to individuals, organizations and schools that are making their communities a greener place.

People can nominate green community projects and their leaders for a Green Heroes grant by submitting a photo and short essay about the project or person at www.facebook.com/greenworks. The Green Heroes Grant Program will begin accepting nominations beginning on January 19 through February 18, 2010. A $15,000 first prize and a $5,000 runner-up grant will be awarded in each of the three categories:

• School Organization: This category will recognize innovative environmental programs that are coordinated by a school or teacher. In addition to the grants, winners will receive a special educational experience from Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots for their school.
• Youth Leader/Organization: Individual youth leaders - aged 13 to 17 - and youth-led non-profit organizations
• Adult Leader/Organization: Individual leaders - aged 18 and over - and non-profit organizations

Following the online nomination period, a panel of judges from the Green Works team and the Jane Goodall Institute will review all submissions to determine five finalists in each category. From March 18 through April 18, 2010, the public can vote online (www.facebook.com/greenworks) for their favorite Green Hero. The top two vote recipients in each category will receive the Green Hero grants.

The final six Green Heroes will be announced on April 22 - just in time for Earth Day.

Program Areas: Community Involvement/Volunteerism, Science/Environment

Recipients: Public School, Private/Charter School, Other

Proposal Deadline: 2/18/10

Average Amount: $5,000 - $15,000.00

Web Site: www.facebook.com/greenworks

Availability:
All States

Check it Out: Grant Opportunity!

Grant Name: Pay It Forward Mini-Grants


Funded by: Pay It Forward Foundation

Description: The purpose of the Pay It Forward Mini-Grants is intended to fund one-time-only service-oriented projects identified by youth as activities they would like to carry out to benefit their school, neighborhood, or greater community. Projects must enclose a "pay it forward" focus - that is, they must be based on the idea of one person doing a favor for others, who in turn do favors for others, with the results increasing exponentially - to be considered in the grant making process.

Program Areas: Volunteerism/Community Involvement, All Other


Recipients: Public School, Private/Charter School, Faith-based, Other


Deadline:
2/15/10


Email: director@payitforwardfoundation.org


Website: http://www.payitforwardfoundation.org/educators/mini-grant.html


Availability: All States