ONLINE CLASSROOM MINI-GRANT APPLICATION

Applicants, please read this background information in full before submitting an application. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications that do not fit our criteria will not be funded!!

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Introduction

The Classroom Mini-Grant (CMG) program helps educators enhance and bring the curriculum to life through creative classroom projects. CMGs help students learn, reward teachers for their creativity and innovation and give the community opportunities to directly support a classroom project.

Project Focus

Classroom Mini-Grants are awarded to projects that present:

1. An original, creative and innovative teaching approach that addresses student need.
2. A measurable approach and clearly defined process to evaluate success in at least one of the following:
   1. Academic achievement
   2. Learning efficiency (ie: increase in number of lessons completed)
   3. Effect on Students
   4. Motivational goals (improvement in attendance, quality of presentations, etc.)
3. A realistic timeline for accomplishing the project within the school year.
4. An appropriate budget.

Eligibility Criteria

• All Classroom Mini-Grants must be classroom based projects.
• Any BVSD employee may apply for a CMG grant.
• Only one CMG grant application may be submitted per year (applicant or co-applicant).
• Projects must tie to existing curriculum in your school.
• Projects must include at least two (2) hands-on learning activities for students.
• Requested funds are not available from the school's budget.
• Projects that receive high scores among reviewers typically do not ONLY ask for funding for supplies and entrance fees. You may request funds for these items, however, supplies and entrance fees should be an integral part in implementing and supporting a creative project (i.e. projects that ask for supplies without linking their use to a classroom project typically are not funded).
• Funds will NOT be provided for projects requesting funds for:
  • Teacher release time or substitute teachers.
  • Expenses incurred before the project is approved.
  • The same project that has been funded by the same applicant/co-applicant in the last two years unless there is a significant and innovative change.
  • Food, T-shirts or stickers. While we understand that these items can be strong motivators, the focus of this program is academics.
  • Projects that request funds for after-school programs. Funds must be used for classroom projects.

Application Process

Impact on Education has adopted this streamlined online application process to simplify the task for applicants, and to reduce the cost of implementing the program for Impact on Education. By increasing operational effectiveness, Impact on Education can directly invest a larger percentage of donor support in education projects that directly benefit students and teachers.

Be sure to review your application before submitting. All fields must be complete for your application to be considered.

After the application due date, applications will be evaluated and scored by community volunteers. While your application includes identification data such as your name and school, that data will not appear on the application that is evaluated in order to ensure that the reader is judging the project on the basis of its quality, not how they feel about a given school or teacher. Feel free to reference attributes, philosophies or populations of your class/school in your answers. However, review your application carefully to be certain that you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT mention your school name, geographic area, or names of school personnel or your application will be disqualified.

Pay particular attention to geographic references (i.e. please simply say "florist", not "Louisville florist.") This is to ensure the fairest possible review process. If you submit your application and it includes any of this information, it will be disqualified and you will NOT have the opportunity to resubmit it.

We recommend that you copy and paste the application questions into Word and complete your application this way. By doing so, you can print it out and read it as one document and be sure you have a copy in case of an Internet connection failure, power outage, etc. When you have completed your application in Word, simply cut your responses and paste them back into your application fields.

Key Dates

Application due date:	September 26, 2008
Recipient notification:	October 25, 2008
Funds available:	November 1, 2008
Maximum award:	$600

Evaluation Process

Each application will be reviewed and separately evaluated and scored by five community volunteers. Most volunteers are NOT educators and will likely not be familiar with grade levels and/or curricular areas. It is in your best interest to minimize educational jargon. Volunteers WILL evaluate according to the eligibility criteria listed above and against the scoring guide. To review the scoring guide, click here.

Notification

Every CMG applicant will receive an email by the notification date to let you know whether your project can be funded. By the Funds Available date above each project leader for each project that will be funded will receive:

• A check for the amount requested. By providing you the money when your project is approved, we all save a lot of paperwork. However, you must manage these funds and save your receipts in order to submit a final expense report.
• An online Final and Expense Report must be submitted by June 4, 2009.
• Contact information for the donor that has underwritten the project. You are required to write your donor a thank you note and submit a copy to Impact on Education.
• Information about completing a short online Final and Expense Report.

Recipient Requirements

CMG recipients must:

• Complete their projects and spend funds by May 22, 2009.
• Complete and submit an online Final and Expense Report with by June 4, 2009.
• Retain a copy of your thank you letter to your donor to submit to Impact on Education.
• Invite both Impact on Education and their donor to any event related to their project.
• Send output from their project (physical object, pictures etc) to both the donor and Impact on Education.
• Acknowledge the support to parents and school personnel by including the following in any announcements or materials related to the project: "This project was funded by (donor name) through Impact on Education's Classroom Mini-Grant Program."
• Relinquish CMG-funded materials to the sponsoring school if or when they leave or retire.

Other Information

All CMG recipients are invited to be Impact on Education's guest at the Impact Awards dinner to be held at the CU Glenn Miller Ballroom April 16, 2009.

Recipients must meet all the requirements specified above or will not be eligible to apply for any Impact on Education grant for 2 years.

TO VIEW THE CMG SCORING CRITERIA, CLICK HERE.