OUR GRANTS 
At the heart of the Foundation’s efforts are grants, which are distributed each year and fall into three categories:
: : Curiosity —These grants are for students who want to explore in-depth a problem or issue they’ve been studying.
: : General — These give administrators and teachers the resources to purchase new equipment and to develop creative new programs or projects.
: : Incentive — These are offered to teachers for projects that enhance their in-class expertise. They can fund training, additional resources, in-the-field experiences, residencies, and partnerships.
For a grant application, click here. |
2006-2007 Grants
General Grants
Kellogg Elementary, Kindergarten
ABC Book: Children created their own ABC book, featuring pictures of themselves forming letters with their bodies and drawings of objects and words that begin with each letter in the alphabet.
Ryan Intermediate School and Gull Lake High School, Special Education
Strengthening Families: At-risk students and their families learned valuable family-building skills thanks to this program, presented in coordination with Prevention Works.
Richland Elementary and Bedford Elementary, Kindergarten through Third Grade
Disc O’Sit Junior Cushions: These one-of-a-kind cushions offer a creative and positive way to help young students get the movement they need during study times while staying seated.
Gull Lake High School, Performing Arts Company
Electric Piano: This portable, high-quality piano helped our acclaimed Gull Lake
Performing Arts Company perform to its usual high standards in the Michigan High
School Theatre Competition tour show and will be used in future productions.
Gull Lake High School
Model United Nations: For over 50 years, high school and college students have developed crucial leadership skills by participating in Model U.N. Our grant allowed 22 high school students attend this year’s event in Washington, D.C.
Gull Lake High School
Media Center Books: The high school media staff worked with book suppliers to identify and purchase outstanding contemporary titles for the new Gull Lake High School library.
Gull Lake High School
Wheelchairs: Two new wheelchairs were purchased for the new two-story high school.
Gull Lake Middle School
Appearance by poet Terry Wooten: As part of their ongoing efforts to encourage interest in the writing craft, teachers Lisa Miller and Danielle Vert asked for funding to support a series of four one-hour poetry presentations for seventh graders.
Gull Lake Middle School
Positive Character Program: This pilot program is designed to help strengthen and embrace the consistent habits for building positive peer relations and a strength-based culture within Gull Lake Middle School.
Ryan Intermediate School
Quilting Materials: Each year, fifth-grade teacher Margaret Ells uses a quilting project as a combined social studies and reading lesson. We provided funding for materials used. The class then donated the quilt to a local charity.
Ryan Intermediate School
Pedometers: Two fourth-grade teachers wanted to give students a hands-on—or feet-on—lesson in nutrition and exercise. The Foundation funded the purchase of 75 pedometers so students could monitor their progress toward a 10,000-steps-per-day goal, and learn to lead healthier, more active lives.
Ryan Intermediate School
Girls on the Run: We helped cover the cost of transporting the Gull Lake Community Schools’ Girls on the Run teams to their annual 5K run held at Western Michigan University. Nearly 100 of our elementary students learned the values of teamwork, self-discipline and fitness through Girls on the Run.
Ryan Intermediate School
Aesthetic Education: Since 2002, this exciting program has provided fourth- and fifth-graders two valuable art experiences each year and its impact on teaching and learning is growing. This grant allowed all Ryan Intermediate fourth- and fifth-grade teachers to participate in the weeklong Aesthetic Education training.
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Ryan Intermediate School
Fifth Grade Camp: This annual camp experience for fifth-graders has been a tradition in our school district for decades. Due to budget cuts in recent years, parents have paid for a portion of the program and community groups have donated additional funds. A grant from the Foundation helped make up the shortfall.
Ryan Intermediate School
Destination Imagination: When a team of fourth-graders placed second at the statewide competition for this creativity competition, we provided a grant to support a trip to the competition’s global finals in Knoxville, Tenn., where students competed with children from around the world.
Kellogg Elementary
New Library Books: With its collection carrying an average copyright year of 1993, the Kellogg Elementary library’s nonfiction collection needed an upgrade. The school also sought additions to its inventory of Accelerated Reader quizzes. The
Foundation supplied a grant to fill these needs.
Kellogg Elementary
Numbers Corner: This interactive program is a valuable tool for teaching math skills to second- and third-graders and introducing broad concepts throughout the school year.
Richland Elementary and Kellogg Elementary
Time Timers: Elementary teachers are using these tools to help manage time during activities, to teach students how to tell time, and as a visual time reference during timed tests.
Richland Elementary
Writer’s Toolboxes: A grant from the Foundation put Writer’s Toolboxes in the hands of children throughout Richland Elementary to foster writing skills. The students can take home these toolboxes weekly, and use them to create both a fiction and nonfiction book during the year.
Curiosity Grants
Gull Lake High School
National Young Leaders Conference: A grant from the Foundation helped a 10th grader attend this event in Washington, D.C., which draws students from across the country for six days of seminars, tours and discussions — encouraging future leaders and teaching them about the political process.
Gull Lake High School
Apple Laptop Computer: The Foundation’s grant helped purchase a needed laptop for a 12th grade student who suffered a traumatic brain injury, allowing him to more easily continue in his classes.
Richland Elementary School
Third Coast Writing Camp: Four second- and third-grade students attended this two-week camp for young writers at Western Michigan University. The experience expanded their skills and encouraged them to share the joy of writing with other students.
Richland Elementary School
Art Class/Kalamazoo Institute of Arts: A Foundation grant allowed a talented first grader to attend KIA summer drawing classes.
Incentive Grants
Richland and Kellogg Elementary
Art Conference: Art teacher Mary Michalak received Foundation support to attend the 57th annual Michigan Art Education Association conference, which offered extensive opportunities for professional growth. By helping fund one teacher’s attendance, we invested in the learning experience of 450 elementary students.
Richland Elementary School
Kindergarten Conference: Elementary teachers Jennifer Flickinger and Jacqualyn Klepper received funding to attend a two-day conference that provided new ideas for teaching key subjects and insight to help develop the district’s kindergarten curriculum.
Download and print a Grant Application here.
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