School leaders consistently identify high costs and shrinking budgets as a top barrier to implementing new technology tools and programs.
And while budget woes won’t improve overnight, schools and districts can boost their available funds with grants that are targeted to different areas of need.
Want to support science teachers or encourage engineering? Do you need to promote STEM learning opportunities? Or maybe you want to extend opportunities for partnerships between K-12 and the science community.
Look no further. We’ve got 7 grant opportunities to meet various levels of funding needs.
(Next page: 7 STEM and ed-tech grants)
1. NSTA’s Distinguished Teaching Awards [1] program honors NSTA members who are teachers that have made extraordinary contributions to the field of science teaching. Deadline: Dec. 17, 2018
2. The Maitland P. Simmons Memorial Award for New Teachers [1] provides selected K–12 teachers (up to 25) in their first five years of teaching with funds to attend the annual National Conference on Science Education. Award recipients will be mentored, tracked, and provided with continuing opportunities for meaningful involvement with NSTA and its activities. To be eligible, a teacher must be within the first five years full-time at the time of application and be an NSTA member in good standing; to the extent possible, recipients must have been a student member of NSTA as a preservice teacher. Deadline: Dec. 17, 2018
3. The DiscoverE Collaboration Grants [2] program facilitates collaboration within the engineering community to engage youth, particularly underserved K-12 students, with hands-on learning experiences and events that inspire an interest and understanding of engineering. Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
4. The Rebuilding Libraries [3] fund helps disaster-affected schools rebuild their book collections. Schools serving pre-K through 12th grade in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, all U.S. territories, and Department of Defense schools are eligible to apply for grants. The school must have sustained damage to the library during one of the 2017 hurricanes or the California wildfires. Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
5. The Paradigm Challenge [4] is an annual grants competition developed by Project Paradigm and the American Red Cross to inspire youth to use STEM skills as well as kindness, creativity, and collaboration to make a difference. It aims to generate new ideas to reduce waste in homes, schools, communities, and around the world. Youth are invited to submit entries, including posters, videos, inventions, public messages, community events, websites, mobile apps, or anything else that will help reduce waste. Deadline: May 1, 2018
6. Through Siemens STEM Day [5], schools will find an opportunity to promote STEM activities among teachers and students. Schools can enter daily. Deadline: April 27, 2018
7. The Research Experiences for Teachers in Engineering and Computer Science [6] program supports active long-term collaborative partnerships between K-12 STEM in-service and pre-service teachers, full-time community college faculty, and university faculty and students to enhance the scientific disciplinary knowledge and capacity of the STEM teachers and/or community college faculty through participation in authentic summer research experiences with engineering and computer science faculty researchers. Deadline: Sept. 19, 2018