The Life of a Grant
The Education Foundation of BCPS, Inc. has awarded over 300 grants over the past 8 years amounting to nearly $475,000 in awards towards programs within Baltimore County Public Schools. These grants begin as ideas by our talented educators. Once their ideas are written down they become proposals that contain goals, broken down into steps which become plans, backed by actions which grow into programs and adventures that inspire the minds of our students. These grants help our future citizens reach beyond lessons in the classroom.
The grant money comes from community members who believe in public education. We recognize these community members as ambassadors to education whom we are sincerely grateful for. Grants help support new educational platforms by providing the ways and means to our educators receive additional resources. These resources assist them in exploring new ways of expanding lessons not typically supported through allocated funds.
Over the past two years, The Education Foundation of BCPS, has brought the stories behind the grants to light, by sharing their outcomes on the Foundation’s Web site through Watch Our Stories See Our Impact in video vignettes. Storyboards also reflect grant impact on the Web pages called Grant Impact 2017-2018 and Grant Impact 2016-2017.
Through the years, grant themes have focused on seven 21st Century Themes:
Arts & Culture
Civic Literacy
Environmental Literacy
Business, Economic, Entrepreneurial, and Financial Literacy (BEEF)
Global Awareness
Health Literacy
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
Grants have sustained several programs. To name a few; Salad Boxes and Inclusion, Community Art, Film Expos, Trout in the Classroom, Solar Powered Kinetic Sculptures, Mighty Girls and Good Guys, Transforming High School Learning Environments, Igniting Financial Literacy, Robotics, Duke Moot Court, the list goes on. Their successes and stories have inspired many.
To continue this initiative, Grant Applications are now being accepted for 21st Century Instructional Initiative Grants. To assist with the application process, the Foundation now offers assistance from Resource Partners. Some of the Resource Partners even offer “turn-key” grant assistance with pre-planned budgets. This is an initiative that the Foundation embraced due to the voices of educators who sit on the Foundation’s Advisory Council. They felt that input from professional resources would help bring their ideas forward. Resource Partners can be found on the Foundation’s Web site through the Web page called Resource Partners for Grant Opportunities.
Grant Applications are being accepted until Friday, October 19, 2018, on or before 5:00 p.m. Recipients will be notified on their application status beginning Friday, November 16, 2018.
If you are a community partner who would like to contribute to the Grant Initiative, it is easy to donate. Donations are accepted via check or online through our Web site. If you are interested in becoming a Resource Partner, please contact the foundation headquarters by calling (443) 809-8962 or by emailing Laura Lemon, Associate Director llemon2@bcps.org or Deborah Phelps, Executive Director dphelps@bcps.org.
The Education Foundation of BCPS looks forward to receiving new grant applications and supporting the new and fresh ideas which will broaden the minds of our students, by enriching, enhancing, and expanding the platform of knowledge.
The Education Foundation of BCPS, Inc. is a 501 C (3) tax exempt, nonprofit organization, under Internal Revenue Service regulations and is managed by a Board of Directors composed of dedicated and passionate professionals, Donations are tax deductible to the fullest extend allowed by law.