Learning opportunity grants: The Kids In Need Foundation Teacher Grants provide funding to teachers to help them implement innovative learning opportunities for their students. K-12 teachers can apply for grants ranging from $100 to $500. Applications will be judged on a rubric that emphasizes innovativeness and merit, clarity of objectives, replication feasibility, suitability of evaluation methods and cost-effectiveness.
DEADLINE: Sept. 30.
CONTACT: 1-937-296-1230; info@kinf.org; www.kinf.org/grants
Technology awards: Vernier Software & Technology and National Science Teachers Association are seeking applications for the 2014 Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards. The program recognizes educators for their innovative use of data-collection technology using a computer, LabQuest, graphing calculator or other handheld device in the science classroom. Each winner receives $1,000 in cash, $3,000 in Vernier products, and up to $1,500 toward expenses to attend the annual NSTA National Conference in Boston. Current K–12 and college science teachers can apply.
DEADLINE: Nov. 30.
CONTACT: www.vernier.com/grants/nsta
Practicing energy conservation: America’s Home Energy Education Challenge, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and administered by the National Science Teachers Association, gives students the chance to learn about energy, develop techniques for reducing energy consumption and save money in their own homes by reducing household energy use. The challenge provides an opportunity for teams to prove who learned the most and which team can best put the conservation techniques into practice. Students in grades 3–8, along with their teachers, can apply for grants ranging up to $10,000 for the winning teams’ schools. Schools can have an unlimited number of teams of five or more students. A team advisor with multiple teams must register multiple times or have another adult sponsor the other. Each team must consist of students from the same grade.
DEADLINE: Nov. 15.
CONTACT: www.homeenergychallenge.org/Default.aspx
Poetry contest: The Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Fund seeks entrants for its Poetry Contest. The contest awards prizes to young poets with unusual promise. All writers — published or unpublished — who will be under the age of 40 on Nov. 6 can apply. Prizes range from $1,000 to $25,000. Entries must be lyric poems celebrating the human spirit.
DEADLINE: Oct. 5.
CONTACT: Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prizes, PO Box 148, Stewarts Point, CA 95480; www.dorothyprizes.org
Bring a courtroom to your classroom: The New York County Lawyers’ Association Committee on Law-Related Education is once again offering classroom visits by lawyers to discuss recent court cases, mock trials and/or curriculum-related law topics. Attorneys are often available for parent-teacher meetings, school ceremonies, court visits and special programs.
CONTACT: Justice Richard Lee Price, chair, Committee on Law-Related Education, at 1-718-618-3646.
Teachers’ pets: The Pet Care Trust’s Pets in the Classroom program is accepting grant applications for this school year. Pre-K–8th-grade teachers who desire to introduce a pet into the classroom or already have one are welcome to apply. Rebate grants are available in the amounts of $100 (for small animal or bird) or $150 (for reptiles or fish) for purchases at any pet store. Grants of $50 to maintain an existing classroom pet are also offered. Coupons are also available for use in pet supply stores to purchase live animals and supplies.
CONTACT: www.petsintheclassroom.org
Environmental honors: The Environmental Educator of the Year could be a youth or adult who has made outstanding efforts to inspire the next generation of conservation leaders. Nominees can be formal or informal educators, but all must have demonstrated successes in motivating others to help preserve and protect our environment. They also must be U.S. citizens and have a majority of their education success within the U.S. The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Environmental Educator of The Year provides national recognition, funding and a big “thank you” to the efforts of these exceptional environmental education leaders. Educators can apply for grants of up to $10,000.
DEADLINE: Nov. 1.
CONTACT: http://seaworldparks.com/en/SeaWorld_Teachers/Environmental-Excellence-Awards; 1-877-792-4332.
STEM projects: Schools and teachers who want their students to learn more about STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) through a hands-on project should apply for the Westinghouse N-Vision Grants. Three schools will be awarded $1,000 to complete their project by the end of the school year. Another $2,000 will be granted to each of these school’s science department for its needs — bringing the total grant amount a school will receive to $3,000.
DEADLINE: Nov. 15.
CONTACT: http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/Community/EducationalGrants.shtm
‘Special’ funds: P. Buckley Moss Foundation Educator Grants aid and support teachers looking to establish an effective learning tool using the arts for teaching children with learning disabilities and other special needs. Maximum award: $1,000. Eligibility: programs in the planning stages or in existence for fewer than two years that use the arts to educate children who learn differently.
DEADLINE: Sept. 30.
CONTACT: http://www.mossfoundation.org/national-educators-grants-0
Dedicated to science? The National Science Teachers Association Distinguished Service to Science Education Award recognizes those who, through active leadership and scholarly endeavors over a significant period of time, have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of education in the sciences and science teaching. Maximum award: formal citation, three nights’ hotel accommodation, and up to $500 toward expenses to attend the NSTA National Conference, April 3–6, 2014, in Boston. Eligibility: NSTA members who have shown long-term dedication to science education.
DEADLINE: Nov. 30.
CONTACT: http://www.nsta.org/about/awards.aspx#distservice
Formula for excellence: The Delta Education/Frey-Neo/CPO Science Awards for Excellence in Inquiry-based Science Teaching will recognize and honor three full-time pre-K–12 teachers of science who successfully use inquiry-based science to enhance teaching and learning in their classrooms. Maximum award: $1,500 toward expenses to attend the NSTA National Conference, April 3–6, 2014, in Boston; and $1,500 for the awardee. Eligibility: pre-K–12 teachers.
DEADLINE: Nov. 30.
CONTACT: http://www.nsta.org/about/awards.aspx#delta
‘Cabbage’ for 3rd-graders: Bonnie Plants delivers millions of free cabbage plants each year to students in 3rd-grade classes throughout the country. The program offers students a chance to get a unique, hands-on gardening experience through growing colossal cabbages, reaping hefty harvests, and the possibility of winning “best in state” and a scholarship. Maximum award: $1,000 scholarship toward education from Bonnie Plants. Eligibility: teachers of 3rd grade nationally, with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii.
DEADLINE: Feb. 1.
CONTACT: http://bonniecabbageprogram.com/.teachers/