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Sponsor: MetLife Foundation

Deadline: 7/8/2009

Amount: $3,000

Type: Education, Social & Economic

Description: A program of the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the MetLife Foundation, the Sharing the Dream Grants competition is designed to support elementary and middle school principals in their work to foster and encourage strong school-community relationships.

The program provides support to principals working to develop programs committed to heightening community leadership, communication, ownership, and involvement in their schools with the goal of improving achievement for all students. Program grants allow principals to test ideas about involving and engaging their communities to build greater ownership for the work of their school by sharing leadership and decision-making, by keeping all stakeholders informed about all school news, and by creating a school climate that fosters open communication, safety and security, and respect for every individual.

Elementary and middle school principals in the United States and its territories are eligible to apply.

Selected principals will receive a $3,000 grant to initiate a project designed to actively engage their communities.

Complete program guidelines can be download at the NAESP Web site.

Website: Link to RFP

Sponsor: Youth Service America

Deadline: 7/17/2009

Amount: $2,000

Type: Social & Economic

Description: Youth Service America invites organizations engaging youth in community service in one or more of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario, or New Brunswick to apply to serve as lead agencies for Global Youth Service Day (April 23-25, 2010).

Lead agencies increase the scope, visibility, and sustainability of Global Youth Service Day by leading city, regional, or statewide service projects. In previous years, lead agencies have been successful in garnering national media attention, developing new partnerships, and engaging elected and public officials in their service and service-learning projects.

Lead agencies will receive a $2,000 planning grant sponsored by State Farm Companies Foundation, travel support to attend the Youth Service Institute in Washington, D.C., and direct assistance from Youth Service America to ensure a successful Global Youth Service Day.

Complete program information and application are available at the GYSD Web site.

Website: Link to RFP

Sponsor: National Endowment for the Humanities

Deadline: 10/7/2009

Amount: varies

Type: Arts & Culture, Education, Social & Economic

Description: Building on the national distribution of its Picturing America program, the National Endowment for the Humanities invites proposals for local and regional projects that foster collaboration between K-12 educators and humanities scholars for the purposes of encouraging “engagement with the rich resources of American art to tell America’s story.”

The Picturing America School Collaboration Projects grant opportunity is designed to help teachers and librarians form connections between the Picturing America images and coursework in the school’s core curriculum. Picturing America is part of the endowment’s We the People program.

Funded projects should support one or more conferences of one or two days each, accommodate at least twenty-four participants at each conference, and provide opportunities for participants to engage with scholars, museum and library professionals, and other experts. Conference attendees may include public school teachers, teachers at charter schools, members of home school consortia, and faculty from independent and religious schools.

Grants of up to $75,000 will be awarded for projects involving one or more conferences. The grant period will be twelve months.

Any U.S. nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status is eligible to apply for a grant, as are state and local governmental agencies and tribal governments. Grants will not be awarded to individuals.

Visit the NEH Web site for complete program information.

Website: Link to RFP

There is a new online professional development course available called the Arizona Water Story. After successfully completing the Arizona Water Story online course, you will be able to use the curriculum and resources to teach students about Arizona’s history, geography, and water conservation as it relates to the state of Arizona. This course is designed for grade 4-6 teachers but anyone interested in learning more about Arizona’s water system is welcome to participate.

The Arizona Water Story online course was developed from existing curriculum materials provided by the Central Arizona Project (CAP). The course uses imagery, video, discussion forums, and hands-on activities that will allow you to immediately use the curriculum with your students.

During the course, we will be investigating the role of discussion forums in online courses. If you agree to complete this course (as a participant in a research study), you will be making a contribution to the information known about discussion forums in an online learning environment.

Please read the details below. If you are interested in taking the course click on this link and submit the request form – http://tiny.cc/YyISo.
Title: Arizona Water Story
Topics: Arizona Water System, Arizona History and Geography
Time commitment: 15 total hours
Mode of delivery: online
Start date: July 1 – July 30, 2009
Cost: $0 (the $50 registration fee is waived for participating in this study)

Todd Kisicki
todd.kisicki@asu.edu

Once again, FamilyFun.com has easy and creative activities for kids

Button Blossomsbutton-blossoms-craft-photo-180-FF0609SHIRTA02

A posy of pinwheeling blooms turns a plain tee into a wearable garden. Each flower is fashioned from looped ribbon and fastened with a button. It’s a great project for a rainy afternoon — and the perfect shirt for a sunny one.

CRAFT MATERIALS:

20-inch lengths of ribbon (we used 5/8-inch-wide grosgrain)
Needle and thread
Buttons
T-shirt or tank
Time needed: About 1 Hour
Button Blossoms - Step 1 1. To make each flower, form six 1 1/2-inch loops in the ribbon as shown.

2. Sew a few stitches through the flower’s center to secure the loops.

3. Place the flower on the T-shirt. Attach it by sewing a button in the center of the flower, running the thread through both the flower and the shirt. Repeat the process to add more flowers.

Glow-in-the-Dark Comet

Glow-in-the-Dark Comet
 
 

 


While you wait for the stars to appear on a summer night, play catch with this homemade Glow-in-the-Dark Comet.

CRAFT MATERIALS:

Tennis ball
Plastic shopping bag
Scissors
Clear tape
Glow-in-the-dark plastic lacing
Ribbons
Time needed: Under 1 Hour

1. Lay a plastic shopping bag flat, then trim off the handles and slit up the sides. Place a tennis ball in the middle of the bottom of the bag. Gather the plastic around the ball; secure the gathered neck with clear tape. Cut the loose part of the bag into 1-inch-wide strips and trim them, if desired.

2. Lay one end of a 7-foot length of glow-in-the-dark plastic lacing along the length of the strips and wrap the lacing around the neck a couple of times. Wrap the remaining lacing around the ball three times in one direction, turn the ball 90 degrees, then wrap it three more times so that the lacing crosses itself. Tie the lacing around the neck to secure it and trim the excess to the length of the strips.

Glow-in-the-Dark Comet - Step 3 3. Run a strip of clear tape around the ball perpendicular to the wrapped lacing to keep it from sliding. Tie a few thin ribbons and more strands of lacing around the neck of the ball.

American Express welcomes the nonprofit community to submit letters of interest for their next funding cycle. The mission of their philanthropic giving program is to bring to life the American Express value of good corporate citizenship by supporting diverse communities in which we live and work. They do this by supporting visionary not-for-profit organizations that are:

  • Preserving and enriching diversity and cultural heritage
  • Developing new leaders for tomorrow
  • Encouraging community service where their local employees and customers live and work

For more information on their giving program, and how to apply, please visit http://home3.americanexpress.com/corp/gb/submit.asp. The letter of interest submission deadline is Wednesday, July 1.

The ASU Lodestar Center’s Generation Next Nonprofit Leadership Academy targets emerging leaders in the nonprofit sector and provides them with a comprehensive experience to gain the knowledge and tools needed to take on leadership roles within the nonprofit community.

This monthly leadership development workshop and engagement series is offered across a 9-month program, during which time participants will learn best-practice approaches to leading and managing nonprofits from a variety of renowned professors and practitioner-instructors that engage with the ASU Lodestar Center.

Click here to apply now!

Questions? Contact the ASU Lodestar Center at nonprofit@asu.edu or 602-496-0500

Several new Child Trends issue briefs explore what we know and don’t know about measuring quality in early education settings, how different measures serve different purposes and the link between quality measurements and outcomes:

What We Know and Don’t Know About Measuring Quality in Early Childhood and School-Age Care and Education Settings

Multiple Purposes for Measuring Quality in Early Childhood Settings: Implications for Collecting and Communicating Information on Quality

Issues for the Next Decade of Quality Rating and Improvement Systems

Family Fun (familyfun.com)has great ideas for Fathers Day, For more gift ideas, sign up for FamilyFun’s free ARTS & CRAFTS NEWSLETTER, delivered to your in-box twice a month!

pad-for-dad-fathers-day-craft-photo-180-FF0609EFA03

A Pad for Dad

Even if Dad’s not the absent-minded-professor type, he’ll surely appreciate getting this rustic, pocket-size notebook for Father’s Day. (First to-do item: Thank kids by taking them out for ice cream!)
CRAFT MATERIALS:
 Three sheets of plain letter-size paper 
 Hole punch 
 Thin 

Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Cut three sheets of plain letter-size paper in half lengthwise. Fold the two sets of three sheets in half. Working on one set at a time, punch two holes 3/4-inch in from the fold and the side.

 2. Cut two pieces of thin cardboard the same size as the folded white paper, then trim about 1/8-inch from the short ends. Cut a 4 1/4- by 11-inch piece from a brown paper bag, then use glue stick to adhere it to the two cardboard pieces, leaving a small gap between them, as shown. Punch four holes 3/4-inch in from the gap and the side.

 3. Fold the brown paper cover around the two sets of white paper. Feed a loop of a 3 1/2-inch rubber band through each hole, and slide a small stick through the loops. Attach newspaper letters to the cover with glue stick.

This video sums up the need for all of us to model and motivate life long learning in our children. Take a look….