Being a Teacher Ain’t Cheap!

1. Being a Teacher Ain’t Cheap! How to raise funds and acquire materials for your classroom

2. What Will Be Covered? • Grants • Government Funding • Local Funding • Acquiring Equipment / Materials • University Assistance • National Organizations

3. Grants

4. Who Gives Grants? • Foundations • Companies • School Districts

5. What Needs to Happen • Average Grant takes about 3 to 5 hours to write • Ensure that you address every one of the grant provider’s questions. • Looking up prices for desired materials. • Obtaining tax forms from the school's bookkeeper. • Note how materials obtained with the grant will help students.

6. What Needs to Happen • Refer to the specific Standards of Learning(SOLs) that will be addressed. Especially how the materials obtained will help reach the desired SOL.

7. What Needs To Happen • SCORING OF APPLICATIONS:Classroom grant applications that include the following will be given preference: • Meet the eight criteria for a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience. • Build partnerships with local community organizations. • Reach an area not previously served by watershed or environmental education programs. • Reach a large number of students or have an extended implementation period. • Show evidence of commitment and capacity building.

8. What Needs to Happen • Remain diligent and confident • All grants will not be funded or fully funded. • Time taken can be frustrating. • Don't fret if you don't get a grant or award that you wrote for. • 2005 national teacher of the year stated he only received about 10% of what he wrote for. • He got over $50,000, and, he was only 34 or 35.

9. What You Can Gain • For writing one to four grants per year: • Receive from $500 to $2000 per year for various reasons.

10. How to Find Them • College student’s favorite method: Google for them! • Search using such descriptors as classroom chemistry grants or classroom weather grants. • Find specific organization who is eager to help for specific reasons • (i.e. watershed research)

11. Examples • Rockingham County offers Rockingham County Educational Foundation(REFI) • Up to $1000 per proposal. • Can write for as many as you want. • One particular teacher wrote for two this year and received both. • One was for $1000 for weather probeware and materials for experiments • Other for $1000 water testing probeware and related equipment.

12. Examples • Virginia Naturally, associated with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality • offers classroom water grants twice each year. • One particular teacher received about $1500 from them this year • Included: • $750 for water testing materials. • $750 to help build a rain garden.

13. Examples • From local school district: • http://www.rockinghameducationalfoundation.org/grantinfo.html • State grants: • http://www.vanaturally.org/classroomgrants.html • http://www.vanaturally.org/grants.html • http://guest.portaportal.com/ckaznosky • http://www.dom.com/about/education/grants/grants.jsp • National Organizations • http://www.marine-ed.org/bridge/ • Example of grant application: • http://www.envnet.org/vadeq/GrantAppl.htm

14. Government Funding

15. What it Depends on • Dependent on District’s Budget • Always separate budget for: • Copies • Supplies • Mandatory needed financial support

16. What Teachers Can Do to Maximize Effectiveness • Conserve copying throughout school • Use conserved expenses to re-allocate money into school budget for other materials.

17. What Else Government Can Do • Local government agencies often have technicians who will come to school or field trip site to teach about various topics. • For example: • The Department of Environmental Quality employees put on a fish shocking demonstration at a river near a local school. http://www.dgif.state.va.us/education/wildwoods/february-2002.pdf

18. Local Funding

19. Within The School • Budget within the class, department, school, or school district • Teachers are allotted a certain amount of money each year by their principals (and occasionally division science supervisors) • Meant to be spent on materials • This money goes quickly considering one has to replace chemicals, buy probeware,etc...

20. Fundraising • Fundraising • The class • Individual student • Parent Groups

21. Fundraisers • Ideas: • Bake sale • Car wash • 5k run / walk • Pie in the face

22. Donations • One particular science department at a local middle school received an anonymous donation. • Bringing the yearly total to close to $6000 •  In general, this particular department receives between $500 and $1000 in donations each year.  

23. Partnerships • Community businesses • Neighborhood Organizations • Service Groups • Optimist, Kiwanis, Ruritans, ect. • PTSA

24. Acquiring Materials

25. Government Lending • Agencies lend materials to help educate students on important issues.

26. Example • The Soil and Water Conservation Offices in Virginia loan out water education trunks. • Include models to help teach about run-off and groundwater flow.

27. Work Shops and College Courses • Free to teachers • Offer lots of good materials

28. Examples • American Meteorological Society • Offers free graduate-level courses in which you receive numerous teaching aids. • http://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/DataStremeFrames.html

29. Examples • Earth Science Content Academy at JMU and the Earth Science Collaborative • Provide free, or low cost courses, that offer lots of materials.

30. Examples • Our very own Dr. St. John teaches classes for both, and “the materials that she provides are very good.” (Anonymous former student) • One particular teacher is using ideas and materials from a class • Use of convection currents and heat carrying capacity (or specific heat) of land and water.

31. Further Assistance From Local Universities

32. What They Can Do • Assist by • Answering questions • Hosting field trips • Loaning equipment.

33. Develop Relationships • Not all schools have direct teacher liaisons like our very own Dr. St. John. • Can write to the college’s department head. • Also, possibility that school’s division science supervisor can have existing relationships with local college faculty.

34. Join An Organization

35. What They Can Do • Provide: • Support • Publications • Websites • Conferences • Networks with other teachers

36. Examples • National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) www.nsta.org • local chapters: • Virginia Association of Science Teachers (VAST) www.vast.org • National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) www.marine-ed.org • local chapter: • Mid-Atlantic Marine Education Association www.mamea.org

37. References • Calvin (Buck) Buchholtz • John Jay High School, San Antonio, Texas • Jerry Cook • Phoenix Country Day School, Paradise Valley, Arizona • Dan Bregar • Crescent Valley High School • Corvallis, Oregon • Chris Kaznosky • Elkton Middle School • Vicki Clark • Virginia Institute of marine Sciences, Outreach and Education Director