05 Sep This month in foundation history: Fund offers school grants
On Sept. 15 The McPherson Education Fund will close its current grant round for McPherson School teachers. With the recent activity with the fund, we’d thought we share this story from 2011 that shows how the fund operates and it’s importance to educators.
Are you a current McPherson educator and would like to apply for a grant? Reach out to Betsy@McPhersonFoundation.org
Story originally published in the McPherson Sentinel on Sept. 20, 2011
By Jenae Pauls
As the school year nears it’s one-month marks McPherson teachers are bringing their lesson plans into full swing.
But as they develop a year long vision for their students learning, sometimes the budget just isn’t enough.
That’s where the McPherson USD 418 Community Education Foundation comes into play.
The mission of the independent corporation is to “enhance the basic public support of the educational programs and goals of the McPherson Unified School district for the benefit of students.”
In other words, when other funds aren’t available, they provide schools with the opportunity for “education above and beyond.”
The annual opportunity for grant requests is coming up again Oct. 7.
Once teachers have an innovative idea for their classroom, they fill out an application form, sometimes with help from a grant writing workshop. There are typically 10 to 20 applicants. There is no cap on the amount a teacher may request, and each grant is situation dependent. Often, there is three to four times as much money requested than is available.
Their request then goes through a process of review, selection and approval. The approved grants are presented to the district board of education as a gift and given to teaches in December. Come spring, they must give a report of how the funds were used.
“Especially in these tough, lean years we’re facing and will face, for a teacher to have a new idea funded with our money is great,” said Kim Krizek, chairwoman of the foundation. “It’s a win-win situation. We’re fulfilling our foundation’s charter and also helping the teachers and ultimately the students.”
There are four grant categories. Grants to teachers, the most common category, funds projects designed by teachers to support school improvement efforts and focuses on student outcomes. Grants for experts fund resource people in an effort to enrich education opportunities, such as bringing in programs related to curriculum. School grants fun school improvement efforts by supporting building or district strategies as stated in their improvement plans, such as activities and programs. Professional growth and development grants fund staff development, such as building-wide strategies to meet school needs.
The benefits of a grant often carry on to future years. One provided high school students in a carpentry class the opportunity to compete at the Nation Builders Competition. In three years, participants achieved first place and later received outside funding and college scholarships through theater which has continued for 11 years. Since 1994, 179 grants have been awarded $185,377. Those grants affect and average of 1,200 students a year.
“What we’d like to do is benefit the most students,” said founding board member Virginia Luty, “From a teachers standpoint, the benefits are thee for years to come.”
The foundation’s tax-deductible donations come from a number of places and are strictly anonymous. A large part comes from the foundation’s endowment. Another chunk relies heavily on payroll deductions from teachers. Businesses, clubs, memorials and sub funds also add to the five to seven percent of this must be given annually. This does not replace state or local funds for school operation expenses and are not used for teacher salaries.
The [Education] foundation, in partnership with the McPherson County Community Foundation (Est. 2001), was incorporated in 1990 and started by a group who believed the quality of life in a community is directly related to the quality of its educational system. It took several years to get enough funds for the first grant which was about $5,000.
The foundation has come a long way. Last year, they were able to give about $18,000… Trustees comprised of a cross-section of the community, with 15 to 25 members. It conducts activities through four officers and four committees, which are led by trustees and include members from the community.
The allocations committee works closely with the grants, setting standards, receiving application, screening and recommending.
The finance committee provides oversight on all fundraising campaigns. The nominating committee proposes nominations for trustee and officer appointments. The public relations committee works to expand public awareness and enhance the public support of the foundation.
Luty said she believes the foundation is vital to the community.
“I think McPherson is a city of pride,” Luty said. “The teachers, the superintendent, the community wants our schools to be one of our star reasons why people come to McPherson. I think it’s important because funds are just not available to do everything. So this is, as our theme states, education above and beyond.”
To learn more about the foundation, visit www.mcpherson.com/418/ and click on the Education Foundation link on the left side.