K-12 Teacher Grants Program

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K-12 Teacher Grants Program Description

(Updated January, 2017)

            The K-12 Teacher Grants program encourages professional development and outreach activities, including grant-writing, among K-12 chemistry and science teachers at schools in the geographical area covered by our section. Chemistry teachers and science teachers proposing the most chemistry-focused activities will have priority in funding.  A total of $1,000 has been allotted to the program for this year.  Grants for individual teachers will generally range from $100 to $400; larger awards may be considered for activities that will affect many students or many teachers.  Example activities that might be appropriate for support include, but are not limited to,

            *Sponsoring of a local workshop, speaker or meeting for the benefit of area teachers and students (e.g., a workshop to discuss the new AP Chemistry Guidelines or the National Chemistry Olympiad).

            *Chemical demonstrations or hands-on activities for schools or local community groups.

            *Small equipment or supplies needed to perform hands-on chemistry activities with students.

            *Participation in a workshop (instrumentation short course, topical workshop; e.g., a computational chemistry short course).

            *Travel to a regional or national meeting such as an American Chemical Society meeting, the Eastern Analytical Symposium, or the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education. 

The program is administered by a K-12 Teacher Grants and Awards committee.  The committee for 2017 includes Justin Legleiter, West Virginia University;  Todd Gardner, National Energy Technology Laboratory; and Erica Harvey, Fairmont State University.  Review of applications for this round of grants will be Friday, March 24.  Email submissions (to Erica Harvey) are required. Attach the application as a Word file with the contact person’s name as the filename.  Awards will be announced by Wednesday, April 5. 

Application forms are available on our website and are emailed to Section members and to the Science and Math coordinator for each county in our section.  They are also sent out on the West Virginia Science Teachers Association listserv, the NASA ERC statewide listserv, and the K-12 Science Listserv administered by the WV Department of Education. The K-12 Teacher Grants committee has the right to decide how much of the total to award during each portion of the competition.  Evidence of cost-sharing by the awardee(s) or awardee's institution is looked upon favorably.  Travel, registration fees, stipends or honoraria, small equipment and expendable supplies are appropriate budget items.  Projects should be completed within 6 months of the award letter; in no case should a project extend more than one year from receipt of award. 

A final report must be emailed to Dr. Harvey upon completion of the project. 

Selection Criteria for K-12 Teacher Grant Proposals

1. Completeness and timeliness of application, including resume for each teacher and clearly defined budget.
2. Number of students and teachers involved and/or impacted by the proposed activity.
3. Degree to which chemistry is evident in the focus of the proposal.
4. Magnitude of outreach impact.
5. Magnitude of impact on teacher professional development.
6. Evidence of institutional support and/or cost-sharing.
7. Strength of recommendation letter from school principal or similar supervising administrator.
8. Final report submission status for the last grant received by the proposing institution.
9. Length of time since the institution was funded (priority given to institutions that have not been recently supported).

K-12 Teacher Grants Program

Application Form

All parts of the application except the recommendation letter must be sent electronically, as a single Word file with the contact person’s name as the filename. 

Email proposals to:  erica.harvey@fairmontstate.edu

1.      Complete address to which correspondence about this proposal should be sent, including the name of the contact person, phone number, regular mail address, and email address:

2.      Name(s) of all teachers(s) submitting the proposal

3.      Project Title:

4.      Date by which proposed activity will be complete:

5.      Abstract of proposed activity. (Describe who, what, where, when and how, in 100 words or less!)

6.      In a half page or less, explain why the proposed activity is important.  How will completion of this project result in the professional development of one or more teachers and/or students?  Explain who the audience is, how many people will be affected and what the audience will gain.

7.      In a half page or less, explain your qualifications for accomplishing this project.  What needed assets, skills, background and/or professional goals do you bring to the project?

8.      On a page or less, include an itemized budget for the entire project.  Clearly show the total project cost, the amount requested from NWVACS, and how cost-sharing will be accomplished (if necessary).  For example, is your institution  or are you personally contributing to the project directly (with money) or indirectly (providing facilities or expert assistance free of charge, donating your time, providing printing, etc.?)  Are you paying part of the costs out of your own pocket, or finding ways to minimize costs?  Show these as line items.  You can paste a table in from Excel if you find it easier to set up the budget in Excel.  Institutional cost-sharing should be documented with a letter from the administrator in charge.  You can write this letter yourself, as long as they are willing to sign it!

9.      The application requires a letter of recommendation from the school principal or a similar administrator familiar with your abilities and able to assess the likelihood of success for your project.  Recommendation letters should be emailed to Dr. Harvey directly by the recommender.

10.  In addition to the Teacher Data Section below, each teacher must provide a current resume (1 page maximum).  For group projects, the teacher data section and a resume should be sent for each teacher involved in preparing the proposal. 

Teacher Data Section (include one copy for each teacher involved):

Name:

School:

Years of teaching experience:

What courses will you teach during the period covered by the grant?

What other courses do you teach (indicate how often you teach each one)?