Roger Espinosa and students produced this Digital Voice Award-winning video about a successful vocational education program for incarcerated students.  The contemporary video has a personal feel, shedding insight on students’ lives while demonstrating valuable lessons on electrical trade skills.

Roger is a teacher at Camp Kilpatrick in Malibu, California.  “Kilpatrick [...]]]>  

Roger Espinosa, Teacher and Documentarian at Kilpatrick High School

Roger Espinosa and students produced this Digital Voice Award-winning video about a successful vocational education program for incarcerated students.  The contemporary video has a personal feel, shedding insight on students’ lives while demonstrating valuable lessons on electrical trade skills.

Roger is a teacher at Camp Kilpatrick in Malibu, California.  “Kilpatrick High School” is part of Education Programs at Los Angeles County Office of Education, and helps incarcerated students get an education.  Roger is also a successful grant writer and recipient.

It’s teachers like Roger that contribute a great deal to the kids who most need strong insight, inspiration, encouragement and hope.

Click here to see the video.

Grants are important than ever,  and more competitive than ever.  But they are there, and with some smart effort, you can win them.

Once you do the first one, you’ll be doing more grants.  Get started.

2 Approaches to Begin

1. RFP Search in specific georgraphical or subject areas

2. [...]]]> Grant Writing  Notes                                                  Dave Boller |  Troxell, Los Angeles, CA

Grants are important than ever,  and more competitive than ever.  But they are there, and with some smart effort, you can win them.

Once you do the first one, you’ll be doing more grants.  Get started.

2 Approaches to Begin

1. RFP Search in specific georgraphical or subject areas

2. Create a Proactive Needs Assessment

Don’t spend time (waste time) on grants that don’t FIT what you want to do.

Don’t let needs assessment get too lengthy

You don’t necessarily need consultants to write it.

Informal needs assessment can work fine.

Steps in Needs Assessment

1. Clarify organizational expectations, goals, or objectives

2. Review current practices and though

3. Collect and analyze data

4. Identify areas of need

5. Determine where to start

Once you know your needs….Search for Solutions

-research and pilot projects

-Professional journals  Ed Leadership, Edutopia…

.. pages in back of journals that list grants

-Gov publications, including web sites 

 (What Works in Public Education website)

-Stakeholder resources

-Software companies

-Be creative

Who (what position ) do you write too a big corporation?…

make a call first,  find foundation manager or budget manager.

Additional educational grant information sources

-business

-journal lists

-local grant makers  (find their “Mission Statements”)

-state agencies

-foundations

-title programs

-SIGs

Use creative Boolean strategies in search engines.  See search engines listed here at smart-schools.com in addition to Google.

Try http://www.zuula.com as you can search all major engines in addition to Google.  We will post more on smart web searching later.  But it can help you find the “needle in the grant haystack” you’re looking for and increase YOUR chances of scoring the grant.  

Be creative in your thinking….get what you want and still satisfy the grant makers.

Getting Organized

Print RFP including all instructions

Form a grant writing team…DON’T DO IT ALONE

Form a list of partners.

Read all instructions, including rubrics and grant-maker goals.

Set up a timeline.

Assign responsibilities.

Gather data.

Begin writing.

Invite an employee from the grant offering company to help !!  Great way to keep on-target and build rapport.

Writing process

Divide into sections:

(can get grant writer help..but write the cost into the grant with % to grant writer)

Abstract

Intro

Needs

Goals & objectives

Activities and personnel

Evaluation

Budget

Communicate  with your grant maker along the way.  Even if you don’t have a serious question…email a question or a call or visit,  that way you accomplish them getting to know you…they know you’re working on it, you can bounce ideas off of them.

Utilize resources from nearby colleges/community.  Sometimes leverage them for specific projects in their training…help each other

Matching funds….?…

go to local businesses to secure matching funds…

FINAL STEPS

Double check requirements. Don’t risk losing it

Edit one last time

Let the grant maker know that the grant is on the way

Follow submission format

Send multiple copies if requested

Turn in on time

If mailing or facing, request a receipt

Make it happen

Follow the proposal

Stick to the timeline

Spend only the original budget, or request a modified budget         

Collect data

Document the project with notes, photographs, video, and testimonials

Celebrate

Give credit

Communicate

Share information

Complete all reports & evaluations on time

Thank partners and the grant maker

Plan for sustainability.   Look for ways to sustain the project….it is a personnel and time issue after the grant is all done…keep it alive and plan for it.

Individual schools probably even more eligible than district…more emotional, closer to the source, individual children.

 OTHER NOTES

At Risk/poverty and Spec Ed  money available ARRA

-research based  not brand new..proven as successful

-list WHO will be doing after school program,  must have one certified teacher at least to give program credibility .  Grant can pay teacher

-“Race To The Top” funds  ARRA be distributed on a competitive basis

 Hope something here helped you.

 Let’s do this!

Urbans students may still shy away from computer science.  LAUSD’s [...]]]> Only one in two thousand K-12 students in California took the AP test for computer science in 2008.  That’s .o5% … much much less than 1%.   Strange results considering computer science is more relevant than ever and remains amongst the highest categories in employment growth projections.

Urbans students may still shy away from computer science.  LAUSD’s John Landa, Todd Ullah and Diane Watkins are working to change that, along with Joanna Goode, University or Oregon,  and UCLA’s Jane Margolis.   The “Into The Loop” program is officially called the Computer Science Equity Alliance.  

Nerdy Computer Science Stereotype Blown-Away by LAUSD

The program has also helped blow-away nerdy stereotypes for computer science and is being expanded at LAUSD after after seeing an increase in computer science participation by women and “minority” students  by well over 100%, sometimes 500%. 

The National Science Foundation, UCLA and LAUSD have been partnering on the program to increase the number of students in California taking the AP test in computer science.  “Computer science is the iPhone.  It is social networking and downlading MP3s”, Joanna Goode stated in an LA Times article last year.  And leveraging the momentum that students already have in these ubiquitous areas makes computer science more fun and more relevant for todays’ kids as they consider their future careers.

Here is more info on Into The Loop and teacher resources.