Harrisonburg City Public Schools (VA) incorporates local strawberries, ground beef for spaghetti sauce, and wheat flour for homemade rolls in their school meal programs. Image courtesy of the USDA.
As this school year winds down, deadlines to support end-of-year projects and environmental education activities for the next school year are coming up! With classes to teach, final grades due soon, and classrooms to clean-up, this is a very busy time of year for educators. To save you some time and to help support your Chesapeake Bay watershed, environmental and outdoor education-related activities and projects, we here at Bay Backpack have assembled a list of grants with application deadlines in June, July and August. Check them out below, and good luck with your applications!
The USDA Food & Nutrition Service is implementing a Farm to School program in order to assist eligible entities, through grants and technical assistance, in implementing farm to school programs that improve access to local foods in eligible schools. Planning grants are expected to range from $20,000 – $45,000 and represent approximately 25 percent of the total awards. Implementation grants are expected to range from $65,000 – $100,000 and represent approximately 75 percent of the total awards. For both types of grants, the applicant must provide at least 25 percent of the costs of the grant project. To assist applicants, a webinar for Implementation grants will be conducted on May 15th at 3:00 pm EST and a webinar for Planning grants will be conducted on May 17th at 1:00 pm EST. Letters of Intent (suggested) are due May 18, 2012 and proposals are due on June 15, 2012.
The NEA Foundation’s Learning & Leadership grants support public school teachers, public education support professionals, and/or faculty and staff in public institutions of higher education for one of the following two purposes: (1) Grants to individuals fund participation in high-quality professional development experiences, such as summer institutes or action research; or (2) Grants to groups fund collegial study, including study groups, action research, lesson study, or mentoring experiences for faculty or staff new to an assignment. All professional development must improve practice, curriculum, and student achievement. Applications are due by June 1, 2012.
The NEA Foundation provides grants to improve the academic achievement of students in U.S. public schools and public higher education institutions in any subject area(s). The proposed work should engage students in critical thinking and problem solving that deepen their knowledge of standards-based subject matter. The work should also improve students’ habits of inquiry, self-directed learning, and critical reflection. Grant requests can be submitted for $2,000 and $5,000. Applications are due by June 1, 2012.
Mini Grants for K-12 Environmental Education (Maryland and Washington, DC Only)
The Chesapeake Bay Trust’s Mini Grant program for K-12 Environmental Education is currently open! Through this grant program, CBT seeks to increase student awareness and involvement in the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay and its local streams and rivers. Grant requests can be made for up to $5,000 for funding Watershed Education Experiences and Program, Service Learning and Action Projects, or Professional Development Workshops and Curriculum. Applications for the first grant cycle are due by 5 p.m. on June 8, 2012. Applications for the second grant cycle are due by 5 p.m. on August 10, 2012.
Toshiba Grants for Grades 6-12
Do you teach 6-12 science or math? Do you have a wish list of instructional equipment that will make learning more exciting for your students? If the answer is yes to these questions, Toshiba America Foundation would like to hear from you. Grade 6-12 grant applications for $5,000 or less are accepted on a rolling basis, throughout the calendar year. Grants requests of more than $5,000 are reviewed twice a year. Applications for grants of more than $5,000 are due August 1, 2012 and February 1, 2013.
Learning opportunities extend far beyond the classroom. But schools are finding it more and more difficult to bring students to museums, historical sites and cultural organizations. Field Trip Grants help give children these unique, firsthand learning experiences. As part of the program, each Target store will award three Target Field Trip Grants to K—12 schools nationwide—enabling one in 25 schools throughout the U.S. to send a classroom on a field trip. Each grant is valued up to $700. The Application Cycle opens on August 1, 2012.
