Grants, Awards & Freebies
Grants, awards & freebies - Oct. 4, 2007
Oct 5, 2007 12:58 PM
Love Your Veggies grants: Salad dressing maker Hidden Valley, along with the School Nutrition Association, has announced the 2008 Love Your Veggies Nationwide School Lunch Campaign. The grant initiative will support elementary school programs that increase student access to—and consumption of—fresh vegetables and fruits during school meals. One $10,000 grant per state will be awarded. Each grant will allocate $1,500 for SNA training of food service personnel on nutrition, food safety and preparing fresh produce. Applicants need to describe how they would use the grant to increase fresh produce consumption in the cafeteria and provide education on the topic in the classroom. U.S. elementary schools can apply. DEADLINE: Nov. 30. CONTACT: Schools can apply online at www.loveyourveggiesgrants.com/.
Environmental Excellence Awards: A partnership between SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Fujifilm makes possible the 2008 Environmental Excellence Awards. The awards recognize the outstanding efforts of students and teachers nationwide working at the grassroots level to protect and preserve the environment. There are two awards: one is for a school-led, or community-group-led, project; the other recognizes an educator. The award-winning community-group-led project will receive $10,000. Several project representatives will be awarded an all-expense-paid trip to an Anheuser-Busch theme park for an award event; a digital camera; 100 T-shirts; trophies; and certificates. The winning educator receives $5,000; a trip for two to a Busch theme park for a ceremony; a digital camera; an all-expense-paid trip to the 2008 National Science Teachers Association national conference; trophy and certificates. K–12 schools and community groups can apply. Schools can partner with community groups. DEADLINE: Nov. 30. CONTACT: SeaWorld/Busch Gardens/Fujifilm Environmental Excellence Awards, c/o SeaWorld Orlando, Education Department, 7007 SeaWorld Drive, Orlando, FL 32821; Web site www.swbg-animals.org.
Lawyer in the classroom: The New York County Lawyers’ Law-Related Education Committee is offering teachers the opportunity to invite attorneys to the classroom to discuss recent court cases, coach students for mock trials and/or on curriculum-related law topics. Attorneys are often available for parent-teacher meetings, school ceremonies, court visits and other special programs. CONTACT: Judge Richard Price, Law-Related Education Committee, at 1-718-590-3590.
Physics teachers’ grants: The American Association of Physics Teachers seeks applications for its High School Physics Teacher Grant. The award is designed to encourage high school teachers to experiment and improve their teaching practices. The association believes if teaching practices improve, enrollment in physics and excitement among students will increase, and it provides funds to kick start implementation of these practices. Awards range from $100 to $500 per grant winner. If an award recipient presents a paper on his or her project at a national association meeting within one year of receiving the grant, AAPT will contribute $200 toward the teacher’s travel expenses. AAPT members who are high school teachers of physics or physics concepts can apply. DEADLINE: Nov. 1. CONTACT: Web site www.aapt.org ; phone 1-301-209-3344.
Math911 software: Professor Weissman’s Software is awarding grants for a free semester site license of its top-selling mathematics tutorial software. Math911 includes a review of pre algebra and has lessons on topics from Introductory algebra through pre calculus and statistics. Download Math911 from www.math911.com and request your free activation codes.
Rain Bird’s Explorations Into Water Teaching Curriculum is geared for use by students in grades 3-6.
Water teaching curriculum: Rain Bird, manufacturer and provider of irrigation products and services, has teamed up with Dr. Stefanie Saccoman at California State Polytechnic University to design an elementary school curriculum that presents students with the opportunity to explore the critical role water plays on earth in the same manner that scientists and engineers do in the field, through research and experimentation. Rain Bird’s Explorations Into Water teaching curriculum can be downloaded for free at www.rainbird.com. It is geared for use by students in grades 3–6. The curriculum can be used by educators and/or parents as an engaging resource to teach students about the properties of water and the importance of water conservation in an easy-to-understand, educational, fun and interactive way. The curriculum can be used for related course work, projects or research in natural history, ecology, biology, physics and chemistry.
Schools in Need Competition: The Schools in Need Competition is open to schools that need to raise reading scores by at least 30 percent among a population of students between grades K–8. Schools must also show a need to have supplemental reading materials that address specific reading deficiencies and to use the technological investment the school has made for reading instruction. Winning schools will also receive the new Knowledge Adventure Academy line of products for early literacy, reading comprehension and vocabulary, along with training and support. The value of the award is $12,000. Schools may enter by completing an online form at www.knowledgeadventureschool.com where they can explain why their school is in need of reading assistance. DEADLINE: Dec. 15. CONTACT: If you have questions, e-mail Kathleen at Kathleen@kehcomm.com.
Airborne Teacher Trust Fund: The Airborne Teacher Trust Fund was created by a teacher who was concerned about the number of arts and music programs being cut in schools. The fund currently invites proposals for art and music programs that schools aren’t able to fund. The maximum award is $10,000. Elementary and middle school teachers can apply. Applications are accepted year-round and recipients are announced quarterly. DEADLINE: None. CONTACT: Applications must be filled out online at www.airbornetrust.com.
Bob Costas Grants: Teachers can apply for Bob Costas Grants. The awards, provided by the College Board, seek to recognize teachers for innovative methods they use to improve their students’ writing skills. The grants, named after award-winning broadcaster and author Bob Costas, also seek to help teachers who do a good job of inspiring students to write and who would stand to benefit the most from a grant award to enhance a successful project. Six grants of $3,000 will be awarded. Projects could be carried out in school, through an after-school writing workshop or during a summer program. Teachers from all academic disciplines can apply; the grants are designed to support not only literature and language arts teachers but also teachers who include writing instruction in the teaching of sciences, math, history and the arts. DEADLINE: Nov. 16. CONTACT: 1-212-713-8052; Web site: www.collegeboard.com/counselors.
