The NEA Foundation Awards 53 Grants to Support Educators’ Innovative Ideas
WASHINGTON, DC (PRWEB) August 13, 2014 -- In Windsor Heights, IA, Heather Anderson, a first through eighth grade educator, will introduce urban students to agriculture through a school-to-farm program, with visits to small organic farms, historical farms, large production farms, and the Iowa State University Bio-Century Learning Farm. In Ridgeville, OH, Jody Yoxthimer, a tenth through twelfth grade educator, will embark on a 10-day field assignment in the Valle de los Cirios Biological Reserve in Baja, Mexico, where she will study unique desert and marine flora and fauna, and bring back to her students and colleagues information about medicinal plants, endangered species, and specialized adaptations that help organisms survive in isolated environments.
This is a small, random sample of the innovative work the NEA Foundation is funding with its latest round of education grants: awarded to 53 educators across 28 states for a total of $181,000.
“With these grants, we are supporting educator-driven solutions that contribute to improved student performance in public schools,” said Harriet Sanford, president and CEO of the NEA Foundation. “Our support enables educators to engage in a wide variety of innovative approaches to the benefit of students across the country.”
The NEA Foundation awards two levels of grant funding, $2,000 or $5,000, for two primary categories of grants to public education professionals: Student Achievement Grants for initiatives to improve academic achievement, and Learning and Leadership Grants for high-quality educational professional development activities.
A team of 20 educators, many former grantees, carefully reviewed all applications and evaluated each one against a set of criteria. Funded educator grants were selected for the quality of the grant proposal ideas and their potential for enhancing student achievement.
Over the past decade, the NEA Foundation has invested more than $7.1 million in teaching grants to support the work of almost 4,500 educators from every state in the country to help students succeed. Each year, the Foundation awards approximately 150 Student Achievement and Learning and Leadership Grants. To learn about these educators’ projects, visit the NEA Foundation’s Grantee Archive. Search for grantees and projects by most recent, grade level, subject, state, or keyword.
The NEA Foundation awards its grants to educators three times a year. The next education grant deadline is October 15, 2014. Application forms and a video with step-by-step instructions on how to apply can be found in the Grants to Educators section of the NEA Foundation website.
Note: Please use the correct name, the NEA Foundation. The NEA is never spelled out. It is not the National Education Association Foundation. Many thanks!
ABOUT THE NEA FOUNDATION
The NEA Foundation is a public charity supported by contributions from educators' dues, corporate sponsors, and others. The NEA Foundation supports student success by helping public school educators work with key partners to build strong systems of shared responsibility.
Carrie McCloud, The NEA Foundation, http://www.neafoundation.org, +1 202-822-7806, [email protected]
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