Local Area Grant Program For Teachers Of History!

A federally funded program designed to instruct fifth through eighth-grade teachers on how to get kids excited about studying American history will soon be available to educators in certain school districts.

Teachers who volunteer to take part will have the opportunity to visit historic sites and museums across the nation to acquire firsthand knowledge of peoples, cultures and ideas from pre-Colonial times to the present. They’ll receive additional training and personal coaching from history professors.

The grant, in the amount of $992,099 over the next three years, will pay for the program coordinator, guest speakers, field study and training expenses incurred by teachers and the professors who will provide some of the academic content.

In addition to saving at least one local teaching job, the grant will give elementary and middle school teachers a more detailed knowledge of history as well as new teaching strategies that make social studies more accessible, interesting and exciting for students. Aside from general history, the grant’s teaching curriculum will focus on the diversity of America and the impact of internal migration and immigration.

The project will begin this fall and is eligible for funding for up to five years.

At least 40 educators will take part in regular classes and field trips and about 200 teachers will be invited to attend occasional major events throughout the school year.

A similar $938,000 grant was issued by the U.S. Department of Education in 2008. That program was administered by a teacher Larry Jones in partnership with a Lutheran University and a library to benefit fifth-, eighth-, and 11th-grade teachers.

Local teachers who have already participated in the established grant program said the experience has already enhanced their teaching capabilities. One teacher who teaches 11th-grade history has attended every grant workshop, event and institute hosted by the program since the inception of that program last year. He said a recent New Mexico trip opened up a different aspect of history that is often overshadowed by major events that occurred simultaneously on the East Coast.
“Interacting with other teachers and seeing living history helped me to put things together for my students,” said the teacher, who shares what he learns from the program with other educators at his school.

Local school leaders haven’t yet selected a director for the new project but over time the two programs will work jointly.

School leaders are seeking an individual who has good recruiting skills to spark interest in teachers who qualify for the program. The program is wide open for other teachers to apply!

17 Daycare Facilities Receive Over $100,000 In Grant Money! Because of the damage from Hurricane Ike, 17 area daycare facilities will be receiving grant money to help with making repairs. A library also received over $100,000 in grant money to help renovate two conference rooms on the library’s upper floors. The improvements will help restore meeting space the library lost on the first floor. Damage to the first floor was so extensive it will take a while to fix. So far this recovery fund has raised about $3 million to help all the communities affected by Hurricane Ike and were pleased that they were able to help offer the financial assistance that was needed to help make repairs. After Hurricane Katrina, the recovery fund raised about $130 million for Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. As they did with the funding for Hurricane Katrina, this funding program allocated all of the money raised for Ike recovery for long-term projects at schools and other public buildings. A charter school that emphasizes math and science, got a $100,000 grant! The money came through the funding program from a former member who is also one of the school’s founding board members. The money was used to help with the school's rebuilding project. Ike flooded the school's 400 students out of their former home. The school spent the rest of the year at a nearby church, but with 520 students already enrolled for next year, the school needed a new home. The funding also provided $67,000 to 17 day care facilities and gave another $100,000 to churches that run day care operations.

The government has hired a company in Maryland, to redesign its Web site as part of a contract valued at $9.5 million to $17.9 million!

Student Receives A Full Music Scholarship! If you are interested in applying for a full scholarship to study music then this might just be the scholarship program for you! Even though thousands of music tapes were submitted only one was chosen to receive a full music scholarship. The most recent recipient of this scholarship submitted an application which included producing an original track that won out over thousands of others submitted! She wrote and produced her song while also working full time and completing her freshman final exams. The student, from Michigan is already a first year student at a music institution that offers a course in hip-hop. 2 other scholarship awards were also awarded. According to one spokesperson, "The recipients all demonstrate the requisite talent, ambition and academic achievement that this college likes to see in students who want to attend this outstanding music college. Each one also meets the requirements for financial aid, which more students are asking for in the current economic environment. We view these top scholarships as investments in the future of outstanding recording". To find out more about this scholarship program, just click here.